The life of a pastry chef is very different from an executive chef.  Each night the pastry chef observes diners enjoying large scrumptious meals after which their highly tempting dessert menu is finally presented.  But who has room for those temptations after a large meal?  Some of us specifically save room for dessert because we know dessert is often the highlight of the meal, but many do not.  The result - the hard work and amazing creations of the Pastry chef is often overlooked while executive Chefs seem to get all of the glory.  Not today - today we explore the life of Pastry Chef Carlos Sanchez from Parcel 104 (Santa Clara, CA).  Recently selected as one of the top four pastry chefs in Silicon Valley, Chef Sanchez is known for his dessert sampling plates that present several small desserts to create a complete taste sensation.  

Chef Sanchez grew up in Columbia.  At 18, he planned on becoming an architect, but when an opportunity arose to go to Switzerland for a year to work in a hotel he accepted the position to earn some extra money.  Once in Switzerland, Chef Sanchez was initially delegated primarily to kitchen prep work at a station that so happened to be next to the pastry chef.  As he says "I never touched a plate. It was all prep work".  While not the most glorious job, Chef Sanchez made the best of it.  Growing up, Chef Sanchez says "My dad always taught me 'no matter what you are doing you have to do it right'.  While in my mind I was going back to be an architect I still did my best in the kitchen".   That hard work paid off.  At the end of the year he got the opportunity to stay another year in Europe.  During this time Chef Sanchez says "the pastry chef told me 'you have the talent, you have the touch'. In this business cooking is like an art; you have to have it in your blood. You do the best you could but if you don't have it in your blood you won't go anywhere".  Chef Sanchez has it as he says "in his blood" and after his second year in Europe he got an opportunity to go to New York to work.  As Chef Sanchez says "I never looked back and became a pastry chef".  In New York, Chef Sanchez had the good fortune to be mentored by Chef Hans Egg who, as he says, taught him "You have to have integrity for the business and integrity in life. You must have a lot of discipline, a goal, a plan for that goal and work hard for that plan".  Chef Egg also helped Sanchez attend the Culinary Institute of America where he was formally trained.

We asked Chef Sanchez how a pastry chef's daily life differs from an executive chef.  One important difference Chef Sanchez described was the amount of time spent in the kitchen.  As Sanchez says "what I see is they have a lot of paperwork; a lot of meetings; and sometimes they are missing being in the kitchen".  In contrast, Chef Sanchez spends the majority of his, often very long day, in the kitchen where he likes to be.  Arriving around 11am, Chef Sanchez begins his day reviewing what fruit came in for the day to determine his dessert menu.  He then begins prepping.  At 2pm, his five member team arrives to assist him with the remaining dessert preparation.  All of the preparation must be complete by 5:30pm when the restaurant opens and service begins.  After the restaurant closes and clean-up is complete, Chef Sanchez finally leaves at around 10:30pm resulting in days that typically span 12 hours in the kitchen.  While this is a lot of work, Chef Sanchez is upbeat and excited throughout this discussion and clearly enjoys what he is doing.  At home, Chef Sanchez relaxes with his family but he doesn't leave his chef life behind.  Each Wednesday he watches the latest episode of Top Chef that his wife records for him.  In fact, Chef Sanchez even applied to be a contestant on the third season of Top Chef.

Recently, Chef Sanchez attended the Star Chef conference in New York City where Chef Sanchez says he observed "all these pastry chefs are using chemicals - to do different things".  When we asked what he though of this trend his response was emphatic:  "I am more organic, more to flavor, and use the real product - pure, pure fruit, pure flavor. I don't use stabilizers, not even pectin or anything at all like that".  In fact, it is this organic and seasonal approach that is one of the tenets of his cuisine along with the influences of his Latin American heritage and French culinary training.  An example of his cuisine is the recipe below for tapioca pudding which is currently part of one of his desserts samplers.  The sampler also includes his French toast, Chocolate cake, and Crème Brulee. Chef Sanchez is particularly known for his unusual French toast dessert.  As he describes it "The French Toast is made with very traditional classic brioche from France but then I add some cardamom and banana" which infuses his Latin American influences.

While it is said that first impressions make lasting impressions, Chef Sanchez's attention to detail and strong passion results in such amazing desserts that we're certain you'll find the final taste of your meal to make an equally strong impression of Pastry Chef Carlos Sanchez.  

Pastry Chef: Carlos H. Sanchez
Parcel 104 At The Santa Clara Marriott
2700 Mission College Boulevard
Santa Clara, Ca 95054
(408)970-6104

Tapioca Pudding

• 1 cup of small tapioca pearls
• 1 ½ cup of sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 gallon of milk (regular)

1. Bring ½ gallon of milk, vanilla bean and sugar to lukewarm temperature

2. Add tapioca pearls

3. Stir constantly, slowly add remainder of milk as needed

4. Tapioca becomes clear when it is finished cooking

Approximate time 1 hour

Custard

• 14 egg yolks
• 1 qt heavy cream
• ½ vanilla bean
• 1 cup sugar

1. In a bowl combine 14 egg yolks and 1 cup of heavy cream

2. In a sauce pan combine rest of heavy cream, vanilla bean, sugar and bring to boil

3. Temper hot mixture cream in to egg yolk.

To serve, add custard to the tapioca pearls and warm it.