Cacao Barry® Ambassadors Club adds new Member
Cacao Barry® is honoured to announce Jean-Marc Guillot, Pastry Chef at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal as a Cacao Barry® Ambassador
Montreal, September 2017 – Cacao Barry® the premium French brand which brings great cacao from remarkable places to celebrate the diversity of flavours and origins for professionals is proud to announce that Jean-Marc Guillot, Pastry Chef at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal has been appointed as the newest member of its international Ambassadors Club.
In this new role, Jean-Marc will collaborate with other pastry chefs and chocolatiers to influence the world of pastry through innovation, artistry and technical expertise.
With this appointment, Jean-Marc Guillot becomes one of the only 16 Cacao Barry® Ambassadors located in Canada. This club of talented chefs includes a global membership of more than 100 pastry Chefs and chocolatiers from over 20 countries.
Jean-Marc Guillot has been surrounded by great food all his life. With his father, a butchercharcutier, from a young age, he actively participates in the life of the shop and delivered fresh meat and charcuteries to restaurants. His first steps in the restaurant business are made when he is only 11 years old when a client of the butcher shop invites him to work in his restaurant for the holidays. But it is at 14 that Jean-Marc falls in love with pastry after spending the summer working in a pastry shop in Annecy. “It was clear to me that I wanted to be a Chef Chocolatier-Pastry and Caterer.”
He then undertook an apprenticeship in Annecy with the Compagnons du Tour de France des devoirs unis. "Meeting with professionals from different regions, cultures and with varied working approaches is what has enriched me. It is know-how and life skills, one shares a lot, it is a true brotherhood. "
The aspiring companion then rubbed shoulders with cabinetmakers, stonecutters, and jewellers. Their exchanges with people trained in different trades inspired them mutually because a common objective brought them together: To be on top of new technology and always strive to create quality products without omitting the transmission of knowledge to the next generation.
Over the years, Chef Jean-Marc Guillot went from boutique pastry to restaurant pastry where the daily work is much different. "We have different constraints in a restaurant. We work with fresh produce a lot and we have a direct return from the customer. It is another approach and what is interesting is the contact with the cuisine chefs, they open our eyes to fresh and seasonal products. This stuck in my approach to pastry."
Chef Guillot has always worked in institutions where competitions were part of the integral life of the company. He won his first contest in the entremets tasting category in 1983 when he was only 21 years old by making a chocolate and saffron dessert. And that was enough to develop his interest in competitions. Jean-Marc Guillot has participated in over 50 competitions since focusing on chocolate bonbons, artistic showpieces, sugar, ice cream and pastry. Ice cream making came naturally to him. “During competitions, I always felt more confident when making ice cream and it allowed me to stand out in this category. I love the technical aspects that have to be mastered to make great ice creams”. The consecration was the Pastry World Cup in 1993 with Patrick Casula (sugar) and Jean-Paul Savioz (chocolate), as well as the MOF Glacier (Meilleur Ouvrier de France) in 1997, his last competition. “Now I am a member of the jury”, explains Jean-Marc with a smile.
“The MOF competition was a great personal achievement, and I was very proud to receive the recognition of my peers. This competition was the culmination of years of hard work. I did it above all else for myself, but it is also a stage that opens new doors and especially an opportunity to share knowledge to the younger generations and motivate them to move towards excellence”. But he admits that the competitions are also true stepping stones in a career: "After winning, you get more attention from the media and receive more requests from great institutions". After winning the World Pastry Cup, Jean-Marc Guillot worked as a pastry chef with Chef Georges Blanc, 3 Michelin Stars were he would prepare for the MOF semi-final. He then goes to work for Chef Marc Veyrat, together they will work to get the restaurant’s third Michelin Star.
Canada had always been a dream of Chef Guillot, and he would not resist any longer, aside from pastry his other passion is hunting. By moving to Canada he could practice his hobby and be closer to his wife’s family in Columbia.
There was no better place than Quebec for this French Chef and an opportunity came up as Executive Pastry Chef for the Europea Group in 2012. Then he worked for Essence Glacier where he developed all their ice cream and sorbet flavours, before being approached by the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth team for a new challenge.
Jean-Marc Guillot has gone from boutique pastries to high-end restaurants to luxury hotels. "It's a new job every time. The boutique is a year-round job with big holiday periods; the hotel business is another approach because of the larger volumes and bigger teams. The Michelin Star restaurants are great, and we have access to beautiful products, but we are always at the mercy of customer comments and media reviews. Fortunately, I adapt easily enough; Companionship is a good school for that. Now I'll have my 3 experiences together (he smiles). At the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, we will combine the work of the hotel: banquet/catering, restaurants, and room service, and we even have a market within the hotel with pastries and chocolates. "
Jean-Marc Guillot already has a great track record, but his biggest challenge is to convey the values of work that have allowed him to surpass himself in his profession to the younger generations. The advice that Chef Jean-Marc Guillot gives them is to "Work, work hard and work with passion!"
And to stay relevant, Jean-Marc is interested in everything around him, beautiful products, nature "herbs and plants are my favourite products", and art for colours and textures. But also his peers such as Chef Breton Ronan Kervarrec located in Saint-Emillion near Bordeaux in France for his easy-to-read and comprehensive cuisine as well as chocolatier Ramon Morato, creative director for Cacao Barry who is now one of the references in pastry "Because he understands that taste is the most important thing to share with people. He is avant-garde; he is lucky to be able to focus on creating all year long and has the generosity of transferring his knowledge right away. "
For Jean-Marc, the title of Cacao Barry Ambassador is a privilege. "If you are chosen as Ambassador, you believe in the product and you want to pass on your knowledge." What is important for him is to exchange with other Ambassadors about their different perspectives on a common product.
On the eve of the official inauguration of the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, we wish the very best to our new Ambassador who will live up to this new challenge.
- In addition to Jean-Marc Guillot, the Cacao Barry® Canada Ambassador team includes:
- Christophe Bonzon – Owner of Chez Christophe, Vancouver, British Colombia
- Jean-Pierre Challet – Executive Chef at the Fifth Grill & Terrace, Toronto, Ontario
- Marc Chiecchio – Pastry Chef, Owner of Marius et Fanny Pâtisserie, Montréal, Québec
- Roland Del Monte – M.O.F. Glacier, Executive Pastry Chef at Le Renoir restaurant of the Sofitel Montréal Hotel, Québec
- Christian Faure – M.O.F Glacier, Owner of Maison Christian Faure, Montréal, Québec
- Peter Fong – Pastry Chef, Owner of Ganache Pâtisserie, Vancouver, British Columbia Dominic Fortin, Executive Pastry Chef, Bearfoot Bistro, Whistler, British Columbia
- Ludovic Fresse – Master Chocolatier, Montréal, Québec
- Jonathan Garnier – Executive Chef, Co-owner of La Guilde Culinaire, Montréal, Québec
- Greg Hook – Master Chocolatier, Owner of Chocolate Arts, Vancouver, British Colombia
- Joseph Montinaro – Pastry Chef, Owner of Docini by Joseph, Kleinburg, Ontario
- Christophe Morel – Master Chocolatier, Owner of CM Chocolatier, Boucherville, Québec
- Laurent Pagès – Master Chocolatier, Owner of Laurent Pagès Pâtisserie, Blainville, Québec
- Nancy Samson – Master Chocolatier, Owner of Samson Chocolaterie, Trois-Rivières, Québec
- Philippe Labbé – Executive Pastry Chef - La Gascogne, Montréal, Québec
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