Alexandre Thabard: “My main concern is sugar content. I love pastry, but not when it is too sweet”

For the epicurious, food writers, and adventure travelers who are looking for what is next—the United Arab Emirates capital is flying to the top of every food lover’s bucket list in the region. Expats make up the majority of Abu Dhabi’s population and are the work force behind this upscale metropolis and its glamorous high flying neighbor Dubai. As a result, The Emirate has a thriving gastronomic scene featuring cuisines from around the world from Peruvian, Thai, French, Japanese, Indian, and Ethiopian, to traditional Emirati cuisine to pasta, to high-end Mexican food, offering endless options to enjoy a fantastic meal.

Vetted by two very important culinary guides; Michelin and the 50 best,  North African and Middle East restaurant dining in the UAE has arrived on the world stage. In previous decades, talented chefs from around the world have made the seven Emirates their new home, bringing their knowledge and talent to a very demanding clientele.

Like a tale of the one thousand and one nights, Abu Dhabi is home to the Mandarin Oriental Palace, a luxurious hotel that is a mix of Islamic architectural elements such as balance, geometry, proportion, rhythm and hierarchical emphasis alongside modern methods of design and construction. The central dome features elaborate geometrical patterns and is lined with 23-carat gold leaf, which gives a rich, burnished sheen. Another 114 smaller domes are spread over the building. Gold leaf is a sheet of gold, which is hammered until it is less than a millimeter thick and then placed in a book between layers of tissue paper. It is extremely delicate and can be blown away or torn easily. The leaf was applied by hand using a small brush. Gold leaf has been used to gild ornaments and buildings featured across civilizations and cultures since antiquity. Now we also use it to decorate cakes and pastries.The color of the building was inspired by different shades of sand found in the Arabian Desert. The hotel features 12 dining venues including the one-Michelin-starred Talea by Antonio Guida, as well as Episodes, described as “a tea apothecary, a deli, a cake shop, and a gelateria”.

I recently traveled to Abu Dhabi and I was amazed with this hotel, the architecture is stunning, and the decor is out of this world. It was not a surprise to find some of the most beautiful pastries in Abu Dhabi in this hoteI. The cake shop display was professionally designed, full of pastry jewels. I had the pleasure to interview Executive pastry chef, the Parisian Alexandre Thabard, who is the creator of such exquisite desserts.

 How did you decide to become a pastry chef? What made you become a pastry chef?

My career path began with an apprenticeship covering every facet of the sweet world: pastry, ice cream, chocolate, and confectionery. The Maison Lenotre, where I worked for five years, gave me a lot in terms of knowledge and values. I like simplicity combined with straightforward flavors. Being attentive to consumer needs, I create gluten-free and vegan products, as well as low-sugar pastries, illustrating my commitment to healthy, gourmet cuisine.

Examples of important Pastry Chefs are  Maxime Frederic, Pierre Herme, and Etienne Leroy. I decided to become a pastry chef because I have great memories of when I was young. I started following pastry chefs on social media and found the pastry world fascinating. I was 15 years old when I decided to join a pastry school back in 2013. I began my career doing an apprenticeship in a pastry shop outside of Paris, where I would attend the school for one week and two weeks at the pastry shop. This was a very traditional pastry shop where I learned the basics of French pastry. I worked there for two years when I decided to transition to chocolate shops.

I like simplicity combined with straightforward flavors. Attentive to consumer needs, I create gluten-free and vegan products, as well as low-sugar pastries, illustrating my commitment to healthy, gourmet cuisine

Where and who hired you for your first professional job as a young chef?

First I finished with my patisserie BTM, a highly technical professional diploma. Shortly afterwards, I was hired to work for Maison Lenotre in Paris, one of the most important pastry operations in the world with a brigade of more than 200 chefs. I transitioned through the different departments of the company such as catering, pastry production, ice cream production, and more.

This is the most important job in my career because I learned from some of the best pastry chefs like Jean-Christophe Jeanson MOF and Guy Krenzer, twice Meilleur Ouvrier de France, (or Champion Craftsman of France in delicatessen, catering and “cuisine”), creative director and executive chef.

Do you have any interest in participating in any international pastry competition?

At the moment, I am focused on my job but I might try a competition in a few years. I had the opportunity to assist Jean-Christophe Jeanson and Guy Kenzer for the MOF. I competed at the Relais Dessert, where I won the prize of Meilleur Espoir Patissier in 2018. This was a very good experience for me. I think about this competition and I would try another international competition. All this happened while working at Lenotre.

How would you describe your pastry style?

For me my main concern is sugar content. I love pastry but not when it is too sweet. I want to directly create my recipe and compare it to previous pastries. I don’t use fake food coloring so all the pastries in the pastry shop are all natural.

We make our own praline, our marmalade is also very natural, and we have about 1,000 bees, so we make our own honey. Our signature Mandarin Oriental Palace dessert is my honey cake, in which we use pollen, honey, and mix it with lemon to create a delicious signature cake.

For me it is important to propose vegan and gluten free options because here we have a lot of guests with food allergies.

We make our own praline, our marmalade is also very natural and we have about 1,000 bees, so we make our own honey

After Paris, when did you decide to explore the world?

I decided that what was happening in other countries was very important for me, to learn English, and for my personal development. I have been working for one year. And for me it is very important to understand the vision of the guests and the staff, that is also very important, since the staff and the ingredients are not the same.

Why did you decide to come to Abu Dhabi and not other places?

I came here for holidays and I explored the hotel and when I opened my computer, I called the chef franchisee, who is a French chef also. We talked and I fell in love with the hotel. I did a tasting, a big tasting, I did an interview and then I was hired.

What was your major challenge when you started working at the hotel?

My challenge was the hotel. I have never worked in a hotel before so I was surprised by the last minute orders like pleasantries and room amenities because in my previous job, there were last minute orders but never like at the hotel. So I had to learn fast and manage everything. At Lenotre I experienced catering, so volume was not a challenge. I manage a brigade of 15 in pastry and bakery. We prepare things like kids desserts and desserts of all the restaurants. We have up to 2000 dessert plates with the catering department. It is a 24/7 operation.

My challenge was the hotel, I have never worked in a hotel before so I was surprised by the last minute orders like pleasantries and room amenities. We have up to 2000 dessert plates with the catering department. It is a 24/7 operation

How do you manage your everyday stress with such a big operation?

The “stress” I think I don’t have too much of because I know about organization, big volumes, and when I create one cake I take in consideration that I will have to make thousands of them, which is what I learned at the  Lenotre research and development department where I worked for a year. So I apply that daily.

We do our jobs and we are well-organized so when you run a tight schedule, it is easy to manage stress. I have very nice people working at the pastry shop from different parts of the world like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and more. We are like a family.

Being in a Muslim country, does the hotel prepare for the holidays? Do they celebrate all faiths in the Hotel?

We have a marketing plan, so we are ready for the events ahead of time. I am ready for Easter, I try to finish Christmas before summer ends.

When you came to work here, did you have to change a lot of things?

I changed it all, a la carte menu for the restaurants, I included gluten free and vegan options for our guests. I changed all the pastries in the cake shop making it with my own personality and little by little, I started to create desserts with local ingredients like camel milk ice cream. I created the Emirates palace cake.

What do you like to do the most? If you had to choose between one, what is the pastry craft that you like the most?

I would choose ice cream! Love making ice cream and creating pastries with ice cream.