bake - April 2016 - 10

personality

Thomas Keller
Ever the innovator, acclaimed chef Thomas Keller began his
culinary career at a young age, working in the Palm Beach restaurant managed by his mother. He relocated to France in 1983,
where he worked in several Michelin-starred houses including
Guy Savoy and Taillevent. He opened his ﬁrst restaurant, Rakel, in
New York City in 1986, and then moved westward to California to
work as the executive chef at the Checkers Hotel in Los Angeles.
In 1994, Keller took ownership of The French Laundry in

BOUCHON BAKERY

Yountville, California, quickly garnering nationwide acclaim. His

family-style recipes that received awards from IACP and the

French bistro Bouchon debuted in 1998, with Bouchon Bakery

James Beard Foundation, in addition to appearing on The New

following ﬁve years later, both in walking distance from The

York Times Best Sellers list for six weeks in 2009 and 2010. His

French Laundry. The other restaurants in the group include his

best-selling cookbook "Bouchon Bakery" was on The New York

family-style restaurant Ad Hoc also located in Yountville, Per Se

Times Best Sellers list for nearly two months after its release in

and Bouchon Bakery & Cafe in the Time Warner Center in New

October 2012.

York City, and outposts of Bouchon and Bouchon Bakery at The
Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

Opening New Doors
In July 2003, Keller opened the doors to his ﬁrst Bouchon Bak-

Spreading the Word

ery in Yountville. It was ﬁrst conceived as a way to provide his

Keller is the author of ﬁve cookbooks, of which more than

restaurants with one-of-a-kind breads, but it quickly blossomed

one million copies are in print. His award-winning "The French

into a retail establishment among Napa Valley's most popular

Laundry" cookbook debuted in 1999, followed by "Bouchon"

destinations. Modeled after classic French boulangeries, Keller's

and "Under Pressure," a cookbook dedicated to sous vide

bakeries feature a wide selection of artisanal breads and tradi-

preparations. He also authored "Ad Hoc at Home," a book of

tional French desserts drawn from his memories of life in France.
Distinctive Flavors
Janine Weismann, Bouchon Bakery's pastry chef in Yountville,
explains signature products like the birthday cake macaron,
which involves replacing roughly 40 percent of the traditional
almond ﬂour with white cake crumbs that are dried and ground
into "ﬂour." Says Weismann, "We literally make our own cake
ﬂour, and we ﬁll the center with pink cake pop ﬁlling. We do it
seasonally around Easter, and it goes with the trends."
Bouchon Bakery features a range of sweet treats that are plays
on nostalgic favorites. One prime example is called the TKO
(Thomas Keller Oreo), which is made with black cocoa from
Guittard Chocolate and ﬁlled with a whipped white chocolate
ganache. "We use Guittard for a good amount of our baking,"
Weismann says. "That ﬂavor proﬁle works for us, and it is a
consistent chocolate to work with." And staying on the cutting
edge of innovation keeps Bouchon Bakery at the forefront.

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