At just 27 years old, Thomas Raquel joined Michelin three-star Le Bernardin as its pastry chef after spending years honing his craft and Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago including Acadia and Laurent Gras’ L20. He’s become known for his beautiful trompe l’oeil desserts, like his brown butter mousse with armagnac sabayon apple, or the peach dessert we featured in Robb Report’s food issue last year. But he’s also a student of the classics, like a perfectly canelé or a fitting tribute to National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day.
In this episode of Robb Report Culinary School, Raquel joins culinary editor Jeremy Repanich to discuss his favorite way to make a chocolate chip cookie, the future ecommerce project he has coming up involving rum cake, where he’d like to go once the pandemic is over and his secret to being a fit pastry chef (it does involve ice cream).
Odds and Ends and Additional Links
- Raquel likes to use a blend of three different Valrhona chocolates for his cookies.
- Le Bernardin is one of many restaurants across the country that has partnered with World Central Kitchen to use their kitchen space that has been shut down because of Covid-19 to cook for a good cause. Le Bernardin and it’s chefs, including Raquel, have been serving meals to the Bowery Mission in New York.
- Le Bernardin is one of only 14 restaurants in America with three Michelin stars.
- If you want the complete recipe for Raquel’s cookies, he has it saved in the highlights on his Instagram.
- Head to Robb Report’s Instagram page to check out more episodes of Culinary School, including Top Chef winner Mei Lin’s congee and James Beard Award-winner Chris Shepherd’s recipe for bacon chile jam.
Culinary Masters
Don’t miss the food event of the year. Register for Robb Report’s Culinary Masters now. Or, for more information, visit RR1.
