Jean-Marc is a third generation pastry chef
from a small town in Brittany,
in the northwestern part of France known for buttery pastries. Though his father and grandfather were bread bakers who owned boulangeries (bread bakeries), Jean-Marc went on to become a pâtissier (a pastry and cake baker).
Jean-Marc apprenticed four years with Master Pastry Chef
George Merlet in Chateaubriant, France and earned Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle in pastry,
ice cream, and chocolate candy making from Chambres
des Metiers in Nantes, France.
In 1983, at age 21, Jean-Marc arrived in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in response to a bakery's ad looking for French pastry chefs. He soon headed west to Los Angeles and worked in several well known restaurants and French pastry shops before meeting his Pittsburgher wife who promptly insisted they move to
Pittsburgh.
Jean-Marc worked as the Executive pastry chef for Pittsburgh’s renowned La Normande
restaurant and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort before opening his bakery in Millvale in 1992.
Though his customer base has grown, he keeps his bakery small, more similar to a typical French village patisserie. The special something that customers find in Jean-Marc's pastries and cakes comes from his ability to meld his French training along with his American culinary experience to produce pastries and cakes that delight sophisticated as well as sensible palates.
. |