Valbella Pastry Chef
Pastry
Chef
Raphael Dequeker
Who makes the best tiramisu in Greenwich and perhaps the world? Meet Pastry Chef, Raphael Dequeker - he lives in Glenville!!! The son and grandson of pastry chefs, Raphael was born in France and began his career at the young age of 11, helping in his family-owned Patisserie Dequeker in Brittany. Days often began at 3 am, preparing the sweets for the shop’s opening. Raphael’s talents were discovered and in France (where there is serious competition in the culinary arts), Raphael became the assistant pastry chef at the renowned Restaurant Alain Ducasse in 1996. In 2002, while on a vacation visiting his wife’s parents, residents of Greenwich, Raphael met David Ghatham, owner of Valbella. This meeting was an extraordinarily fortunate one for us. Raphael, his wife Charlotte, and three boys moved to Greenwich and Raphael became the Valbella pastry chef. Now the restaurant, already rated the top for Italian cuisine, has a chef determined to produce the best desserts anyone has ever tasted. From the start he insisted on preparing everything from scratch: sorbets, ice creams, and pastries (no prepackaged dough or other ingredients are allowed in his kitchen.) French pastries and Italian ones abound on the menu. Raphael calls his selection European. By any name, his soufflés, napoleons, apple tarts, lava cake, and tiramisu taste heavenly. This is a restaurant where I never skip dessert.
Working in a restaurant is almost the reverse of the hours required of a patisserie. Raphael’s day begins around 11 am and can last until 11 pm. He enjoys this schedule as he can play with his sons (now age 10, 8, and 7) on Saturday mornings and on Sundays when the restaurant is closed. Karate, soccer, baseball, and biking are their family sports. At home, Charlotte, who Raphael describes as an excellent cook is in charge of the kitchen. Is there a recipe easy enough for us to make in our home kitchen? Raphael shared his recipe for Panna Cotta. Raphael uses leaves of gelatin, however since I couldn’t find leaves in our local stores, I used granular gelatin instead. I had fun making it! I hope you do too.
Recipe for Panna Cotta
Happy Holidays!
Carolyn
ANDERSON ASSOCIATES
Greenwich Real Estate Specialists
www.GreenwichLiving.com
164 Mason Street, Greenwich, CT 06830
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