Praline Tart

Everyone that’s ever worked with me knows about my affinity for garnishing with gold leaf. Gold sheets, gold flake, gold luster, gold dust or shimmer, I’ll take them all. The more the merrier. Gold leaf makes a statement – is there anything more luxurious?

Grand Macaron au Citron

At Robuchon, I fell in love with our gilded garnish – showering our guests with the most lavish pastry added to the opulence of  their experience there, and mine. In many cases, too much gold leaf wasn’t even close to enough. Finishing a 5″ tart with an entire sheet was a daily occurrence. And it felt good.

Palet Chocolat

It wasn’t until elBulli that I began to understand the other properties of this deluxe embellishment, namely the movement that one small piece could add to a composition.   Like a flickering flame, our gold leaf would dance away to the sala to be admired by some lucky guest. Maximum height and motion were our intentions.

Golden Raspberry Yuzu

And, finally at L20, my enthusiasm for gold reached new heights, as we individually wrapped “ingots” of yuzu gelée with the fluttering sheets, in order to melt them into gold flecked consommé tableside – God forbid there was a draft in the kitchen.