Pastry Chef Grégoire Michaud
"Good bread will cure many ails. It is in the variety, patience and love you pour into the bowl, as to what will come out of the oven."
- Four Seasons Tenure: Since 1999
- First Four Seasons Assignment: Chef Pâtissier, The Regent Hong Kong (formerly a Four Seasons Hotel)
- Employment History: Le Tramway d'Octodure, Martigny, Switzerland; Four Seasons Hotel Dublin, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa, The Regent Hong Kong (formerly a Four Seasons Hotel), Beau Rivage Hotel, Biloxi, Mississippi, USA; Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; Le Tramway d'Octodure, Martigny, Switzerland; Pâtisserie du Pont, Martigny, Switzerland
- Birthplace: Rhône Valley, Switzerland
- Education: Fabilo Sugar School, Lucerne, Switzerland; Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Diploma, Bakery and Pastry Sciences, CFPS, Switzerland
- Languages Spoken: French, English, conversational Cantonese and German
Fine breads and patisseries are not the first edibles one would associate with Hong Kong, but thanks to the talented Grégoire Michaud, they are now locally famed as being unsurpassed when coming from the kitchens of Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong.
Raised in the Rhône Valley, Switzerland, Michaud’s love of food began at home with his parents. Family tradition insisted his life education would be in farm handling while also attending formal schooling. Raising goats and milking cows in his childhood, Michaud worked part time through the latter school years at a local pastry shop where he developed his passion for what would be the future. The nineties saw him taking diplomas and courses in bakery while simultaneously working either in his homeland or the USA.
In 1999 Michaud came to Hong Kong, where he joined Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts at the then Regent Hotel as Chef Pâtissier. Transferring in 2001 to the company’s Maldives resort, he realised not only his desire to be the finest baker, but to share his skills with others and so embarked on teaching apprenticeship classes. At this point Michaud departed working life to study again, this time at Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne for a degree in Hotel Management, successfully graduating in 2003, with the EHL Spirit Award (granted by peers for energy and time given to the good of the school and its students).
With another qualification under his belt, Michaud moved to develop his skill set in the service operation as Assistant Food and Beverage Manager, Four Seasons Hotel Dublin, but quickly decided his heart was in the crust and crumb. With the opportunity to open the new Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong in the most enviable location in the city as Head Pastry Chef, Michaud was on a fast boat back to Asia.
Having developed an 18-strong team of passionate bakers and pastry chefs, Michaud has been able to attend to the evolution of The Lounge’s renowned scones, Danish pastries and French patisseries, as well as the famed breads in three-Michelin starred Caprice, working closely with the artistic Vincent Thierry. As if his story so far were not enough, Michaud has now written four recipe books since returning to Hong Kong and with a unique and insightful style celebrates his first anniversary of a successful blog. Fondly regarded as one of the Hotel’s leaders in social media, Michaud certainly measures up against Hong Kong’s myriad glittering chefs.
For more from Chef Michaud, visit his website.
