Sebastien Rouxel
Sébastien Rouxel serves as Executive Pastry Chef for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, overseeing all aspects of the pastry department for the group’s properties; The French Laundry, Per Se and Ad Hoc, as well as the Bouchon and Bouchon Bakery outposts in Yountville, Las Vegas, Beverly Hills and New York City.
Rouxel joined the organization in 1999 as Pastry Chef at The French Laundry in Yountville, California, where he quickly became known for creating dessert menus with unusual flavor combinations designed to perfectly complement Keller’s distinctive cuisine. Rouxel relocated to New York City for the opening of Per Se in 2004, and was tapped once again for the opening of Bouchon Bakery New York city in 2006.
Rouxel grew up in the Loire Valley of France, and began his culinary education at a very early age. At the young age of 16, he was in training as a “pre apprentice” at Les Jardins de la Forge in Champtoceaux. Realizing that patisserie was his true passion, Rouxel took an internship at Le Peché Mignon in Nantes, where he experienced two years of intensive training, and earned his Mastery Diploma.
By age 20, Rouxel was appointed pastry chef at the Mess de L'Elysée, the house of the President of France, and afterwards, went on to become pastry chef at the Michelin two-star restaurant Le Grand Véfour in Paris. In 1996, Rouxel came to the United States and worked at L'Orangerie Restaurant in Los Angeles for one year and at Lutèce in New York for two years before beginning his long-standing culinary relationship with Thomas Keller. In 2005, he was named a “Rising Starchef” by Star Chef Magazine. In 2006 and again in 2008, Pastry Art and Design Magazine declared him one of the “Top Ten Best Pastry Chefs in America.”