A life made sweeter
For over 28 years, Pierrick Boyer has been a pastry chef. His distinguished career has led him from France – his country of origin, to Southern California, Boston and the Plaza Athenee hotel in Paris. His skills as a patissier and in the culinary arts were further honed by working with other greats; Alain Ducasse, master patissier Christophe Michalak, Belgian chocolatier Pierre Marcolini and Stephane Leroux – one of the world’s greatest chocolate masters. A string of international appearances in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Japan ensued. Boyer’s renown also saw him offering expert consulting in setting up the Madeleine Café & Patisserie at The Spring Shopping Mall in Kuching, Sarawak.
On becoming a pastry chef
My dad was a plumber and my granddad in the coal business. I didn’t like either of the work that they did but was captivated by our neighbour – who was a pastry chef – from the time I was as young as five years old.
In my 20s I served as a UN peacekeeper in Yugoslavia before going on to work as a chef – first in the United States and then in Paris. The latter was one of my most amazing professional experiences; I was inspired by how they were truly at the top of their game, managing everything and being so creative while opening overseas franchises at the same time.
On heading to Australia
I’m now based in Melbourne and am excited to open the Pierrick Boyer Café Patisserie in Prahran, outside of Melbourne. I like rustic cooking in general and this new place will offer good, honest food – with both savouries and sweets. It will be a true reflection of what I like, such as burgers done in my favourite way.
On learning how to relax
What I’ve learnt is that life is so short and now that I’m 43, I realise I have some good years to go hopefully. So I enjoy the moments with family and at work. To relax, I unwind with a good cigar; it’s actually a very complex experience given that these cigars start off as tobacco plants and are harvested, dried, aged and rolled. So many things could go wrong and it takes years of experience to get it exactly right. My favourite cigars are from the Kauai Cigar Company which somehow reconnects me with Hawaii, a place which I’m very fond of.
On his daughter
I’ve just welcomed a new baby girl and called her Charlotte Tiffany Grace. I’ve been lucky to have been granted a chance to buy the Tiffany & Co-stamped Patek Philippe 5711/R Nautilus, to commemorate my daughter’s birth. This watch becomes a personal story for me and I’ve included her name on the ownership papers.
On lessons in life
What I’ve learnt as my most important career lesson is that in the process of chasing success, we always do things for passion, not to get something back. It’s in my personality to give to others and I do lots of charity work all over, from Malaysia – which was where I held my first international overseas charity dinner – to Australia where I work for the RSPCA.
