Etienne Leroy, a relentless quest for Excellence

"Excellence is continuously improve techniques."

Étienne, what values guide you as a Pastry Chef?

My goal is to always try to attain Excellence. And that happens particularly when you are teaching. It’s great to try to be good on your own, but what is really exciting, is trying to help others improve. For me, Excellence is an illusion, an objective that you never really manage to reach. It’s more of a philosophy. Always trying to outdo yourself, to do better.

 

For you, what is the link between pâtisserie and Excellence?

The link between pâtisserie and Excellence lies precisely in the link we have with our teams. To help them make progress. We start with a product that is already excellent, by nature, and for us, our work is to try to take it to the next level, without ever denaturing it. It really is the quest for taking a product to its absolute best.

 

And as a trainer both in France and abroad, what do you want to pass on?

Today, I try to teach all of the above out of respect for the product. And this desire, on a daily basis, to always do better, to never lose your motivation, to not rest on your laurels. Excellence is everywhere, whether you are a pastry chef in a pastry shop, restaurant, luxury hotel or bakery. It also lies in simplicity. A very simple product can be very well made. The idea is to always aim for the best, always outdo yourself,  and in turn please the customer.  

 

What about Elle & Vire Professionnel® Excellence Cream? How would you describe it?  

Its main quality is its simplicity. It has such a fantastic creamy flavour and a high fat content that allows us to get the most out of flavours when we are infusing vanilla, tea, coffee... It really brings out the flavours. Another of its aspects, and this is a dealbreaker for us, is that it is dependable. It’s stable, and so it always whips the way we want it to, has a flavour that never changes, which allows us to be consistent in what we make on a day-to-day basis.

 

Without overthinking it, what do you like about this cream?

Its reliability, there’s no doubt about it. I travel all over the globe to train chefs and each time I am able to use the same Elle & Vire Professionel® Excellence Cream whether it be in France or on the other side of the world. That allows me to always be very consistent in what I produce, and in turn, in the way I pass on techniques about how to use the cream.