Jean François Bonnet began as pastry chef at DANIEL in October 2003. Living above a bakery-pâtisserie in the tiny town of Frejus, as a child Jean François was entranced by the aroma of baking breads and pastries, where he was offered a job as an assistant. This early exposure, while still in grammar school, evolved into a lifelong passion for everything surrounding the art of baking. The feel of the dough, the motion of kneading, the warmth of the ovens and the scents of Provençale pastries are his inspirations to this day.

While Jean-François’ work belies the precision of his classical French training, his desserts emerge with inventive and whimsical touches, not infrequently paying tribute to a fondness for American ingredients such as peanuts or rice crispies. Yet when it comes to chocolate, this pastry chef is a purist, almost always insisting on bittersweet for its body and intense flavor. He maintains the DANIEL tradition of offering both fruit and chocolate based dessert menus. His favorites this season include a Chilled Pink Grapefruit-Orange Trifle with Sherry Sabayon and Almond Financier. On the chocolate front, his Single Estate Venezuelan Chocolate Fondant with Nougatine, Milk Jam and Almond Praliné Ice Cream steals the show.