Philippe Conticini


Philippe Conticini is a French chef and pastry chef born August 16, 1963 in Choisy-le-Roi, Val-de-Marne.
Having worked in France, in the United States and in Japan, he conceived four innovations including verrines in 1994, which display dishes traditionally served on plates in a vertical and transparent container.
After receiving several awards and working in Michelin-starred restaurants, he is the confounder and head pastry chef of the Pâtisserie des Rêves, a patisserie with outlets in France, Japan and the UK.
Very active in the media, Conticini appeared in the show Le Meilleur Pâtissier on French TV Channel M6 in 2012.

Biography

Youth and apprenticeship

Conticini was born on August 16, 1963 in Choisy-le-Roi. He spent his childhood in his parents’ kitchens at the Restaurant du Rocher in Vitry, then at the Michelin-starred Restaurant du Parc in Villemomble. His apprenticeship began in 1980 at Alain Dutournier's double Michelin starred Trou Gascon, just before taking on pastry-making at Maxim's Roissy outlet.
After getting his CAP in Pâtisserie he began his career in 1983 as a pastry assistant at Jacques Chibois' double Michelin-starred Gray d'Albion, which he left for Peltier in 1985.

Rise

In May 1986, he opened the restaurant La Table d'Anvers, a restaurant he co-owns and where he was head pastry chef until 1998. During that time, he incorporated techniques originally used only in savoury cooking.
Elected pastry chef of the year by the Gault Millau magazine in 1991, he distinguished himself in 1994 by inventing verrine desserts, which according to his own description allowed him to control the sensations diners feel, and transmit his own understanding of taste to others.
His growing notoriety led him to intervene as a cooking consultant for several companies in the food industry, and in several medias and shows so as to popularize "contemporary" pastry. He therefore organized in 1996 the Des arômes et des hommes, cofounded the "Art et Dessert" association and started a two-year collaboration with Thuriès Gastronomie Magazine, where he kept a monthly column. He was twice named President of the jury of the French Dessert making championships, in 1997 and 1998.

International recognition

A collaboration started in 1999 with the House of Petrossian, in Paris and New York, as a cooking consultant allows him to gain recognition outside his native France. He becomes head pastry chef at Petrossian in Paris, and the restaurant is rated 17/20 by Gault Millau two years later. In 2000 he creates a café-boutique concept for the 7th Avenue outlet of Petrossian noted by the “Dining Out” section of , and the newspaper invites him to contribute eight successive columns.
He starts working again with the Peltier pâtisseries, in Paris and starting from 2002 in Tokyo. In January 2003, he coaches the French team to win the title of world pastry champion in Lyon.
He then focuses on personal projects such as the launch of his high-end catering company, Exception Gourmande, then in 2009 of the Pâtisserie des Rêves par Philippe Conticini, with a first Parisian outlet rue du Bac, a second one rue de Longchamp in 2010, and finally two Japanese outlets opening in Kyoto and Osaka, Japan, in 2012.
He is named president of the national final of the amateur macaroon competition, and of the 40th edition of the French dessert championship.

Innovations introduced by Philippe Conticini

- Verrines : he transforms the world of gastronomy and pastry by being the first to serve dishes and desserts “vertically” in glasses rather than horizontally in plates.
- Gourmet cooking with mass consumption products : willing to prove that gastronomy is not reserved to an elite, he's among the first chefs to work with mass consumption food products. As soon as 1994, at La Table d'Anvers, he starts using Coca-Cola, in the jelly of his Cocajou dessert. In Tentations en 2004, he publishes a recipte using Nutella. Ferrero contacts him soon after and he publishes Sensations Nutella the following year, a book of recipes using the chocolate spread. He goes on by publishing Concentré de délices, a book of recipes using everyday food products. The book's cover purposely imitates Andy Warhol’s Campbell's Soup Cans II artwork ; in 2007, he also publishes Le Thon c'est bon, a book of recipes using canned tuna as the main ingredient.
- Reinvented classics : he is among the firsts to reinvent classic French pastries, adapting them to today’s taste "Just like Ferran Adrià did it with traditional paella, he managed to revisit the great classics of our pastries entirely, bringing the infinite lightness, softness, and simplicity of his own." writes Joël Robuchon, in his preface of Sensations, Philippe Boé, Philippe Conticini, La Martinière, 2009, notably through his tarte Tatin, his Paris-Brest or his Saint-Honoré.
- The choux bar : he introduces the concept of choux-bun bar". The à la minute assembly on the spot allow a structure of textures and tastes capable of retrieving all the taste characteristics of the product far away from the kitchen where it is prepared. Since then, choux-buns have enjoyed a growing success and are about to become the next leading pastry after macaroons and cupcakes.

Awards

Concurrently to his activities as a chef, Philippe Conticini has been eager to pass on his experience of taste. Besides his articles in the specialized press he participated in the editing of a number of books, and to the conception of several TV shows, such as Jeux de Goûts on Cuisine TV starting from 2006; he also intervened in Le Meilleur Pâtissier, the TV show broadcast by M6.

Articles

- Thuriès Gastronomie Magazine : publishes a monthly column called Tanganyika from 1996 to 1998
- New York Times : publishes 8 weekly columns in 2001
- Zeste : publishes a 5-page column in each issue starting from September 2012.

Television

From 2006 onwards, he has been designing and hosting “Jeux de Goûts”, a TV show produced and broadcast by TV channels Odyssée and Cuisine TV.
This programme is about explaining how he is capable of finding the rights seasoning using cheap and easy to find ingredients, therefore enabling the inexperienced cook to conceive a quality seasoning by working on taste.
He also intervenes in the show Le Meilleur pâtissier on M6.