There are few things in life finer than a decadent dessert. Angela Beitz spends an afternoon with one of Abu Dhabi’s top pastry chefs to create not one but seven unique and delicious post-dinner treats.
We’re in the open kitchen at Aqua restaurant at the recently-opened Rosewood Abu Dhabi on Al Maryah Island, meeting executive pastry chef Francois Leo. When we shake Francois’ hand we notice that, in
good pastry chef form, it is covered in flour.
This isn’t just a friendly visit, however. The kitchen is all set up for us to get to work. So we don our chef’s whites, a tall hat and get started.
We kick off with something simple. Pineapple carpaccio with dragon fruit, mango and kiwi with a lemon peel sorbet – it is one of the desserts on the dinner menu at Aqua. We start by shaving thin pieces of pineapple and then making them into a jellyfish shape before placing them into a round mould. This takes some time to perfect so while we’re fiddling about we speak to chef Francois about his career.
‘I started at 16 in a four-star luxury hotel in my hometown Annecy, France. In the beginning I approached the culinary world as a chef de cuisine but slowly started to develop a strong interest in pastry and plated desserts as a specialty. When I was 18, I was approached by chef Laurent Petit from Le Clos des Sens, a two Michelin-starred restaurant in Annecy le Vieux, and was offered my first Michelin star challenge as head pastry chef.’
This experience brought his knowledge to a higher level, making him one of the youngest pastry chefs in the world to reach the Michelin Guide expectations. Chef Francois could be described as an artist when it comes to making pastries and desserts, so it’s fair to say we are pretty intimidated and don’t want to stuff anything up while under his watchful eye. He’s talented and creative with an endless range of impressive, and sometimes painstakingly intricate, desserts that he seemingly puts together with ease.
It’s now time to move the pineapple carpaccio mould onto a plate and cut up all the other fruit to surround it on the plate. Our cutting isn’t very neat and chef Francois puts us to shame with his slicing skills. He’s very patient and friendly though, and tells us practising is the only way to learn.
We arrange the fruit creatively (we hope) around the pineapple and spread a generous amount of mango puree over the top. The last step is to place a scoop of lemon peel sorbet on top of the whole lot and chef Francois shows us how to get the perfect ‘egg’ shape from the scoop of sorbet. Ours looks very average compared to chef Francois’ creation but we tried.
As we move onto the next dessert we are curious to know what are the common mistakes people make when working with pastry. ‘People rush too much. It needs to be perfect. I won’t send something out until it is perfect. I will keep doing a dessert five or six times or as long as it takes to get it right. I’ll do a couple of different bakes of croissants and other pastries to make sure we get perfect ones.’
Chef Francois explains that a lot of the produce he uses at the Rosewood is from France. He uses Lescure butter and Weiss chocolate from France.
The flour he uses, Moulins de Paris, is also from France and it is milled in a particular way so that it withstands humidity – certainly an issue in the UAE. He also tells us that he uses very cold mineral water, even icy cold, for the dough. ‘It’s so important or you split the pastry. You need to have cool hands as well otherwise you will melt the chocolate and the desserts, but I nearly always work in an air-conditioned environment so it’s fine.’
We move on to make a range of desserts served at outlets throughout the hotel including Sweet Memories from Catalan which consists of milk chocolate mousse, soft caramel, vanilla parfait and peanut praline.
We also make a meringue filled with strawberry ice cream and red berries jelly, a dark chocolate velvet cone with a honey ice cream, a dark chocolate nougatine with milk chocolate and Earl Grey tea chantilly cream and a fresh raspberry and tarragon sorbet (our personal favourite) and finally a Pomme D’Amour, which is a twist on a toffee apple with fresh green apple sorbet, chocolate crumble, coconut chantilly cream and red caramel.
We also find out that his rise to the top came via a very well known master of cuisine. In 2006, Gordon Ramsay spotted him and offered him the position of head pastry chef for the opening of the famous La Noisette restaurant in London (now closed), which was awarded its first Michelin star only four months later.
‘I always enjoyed working with Gordon Ramsay. He was always very nice to me. He tasked me with coming up with more creative desserts,’ he says. ‘He is known for his simplicity and needs to have things like crème brûlée and lemon tart on his menu but he enlisted me to help him mix this with exciting desserts.’
In April 2008 chef Francois reached a new professional goal: becoming the executive pastry chef at Ramsay’s restaurant Trianon Palace Versailles, France, which obtained two Michelin stars seven months after opening.
He’s also worked in Barbados and Switzerland in some of the best restaurants in the world.
Try chef Francois’ desserts at the Rosewood Abu Dhabi, Sowwah Square, Al Maryah Island (02 813 5555).
More decadent sweets
Quest: Try the molecular delights at this Pan-Asian restaurant, such as the five lychee dessert, which consists of fruit prepared – you guessed it – five ways.
Jumeirah at Etihad Towers (02 811 5555).
Pearls & Caviar: Go for a classic with a twist with the crème brûlèe. The rich pistachio filling is topped with raspberries, chocolate and pistachios frosted with gold leaf.
Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri (02 509 8777).
Dolce: Try a few of the huge variety on offer. From tarts, cakes and pastries to a selection of ice cream made in-house.
Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal, Khor Al Maqta’a (02 818 8888).
