Roland Mesnier
Roland Mesnier (born July 8, 1944 in Bonnay / France ) is a French-American confectioner and cookbook author. He gained fame through his creations during his 25 years at the White House as head pastry chef. He is married and has a son.
Life
Mesnier was born on July 8, 1944 to a family of railway workers in the French village of Bonnay. He and his eight siblings grew up in poor conditions. In order to “never be hungry again”, he decided to become a pastry chef at the age of twelve and got an insight into the job in his brother Jean's bakery.
education and profession
At fourteen he started training in a pastry shop in Besançon . He had to work from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week and received $ 5 wages, lodging, and cooking lessons. He finished his training at the age of 17 and started working in a Paris bakery near the Paris Opera . Since, in his opinion, the French confectionery trade was stagnating, he went to Germany on the advice of his boss. He works in the opera confectionery in Hanover and later in the confectionery Kranke in Hamburg-Altona . There he learned how to prepare Dresdner Stollen , marzipan , macaroons , bee sting , Baumkuchen , etc. a. In addition, he learned the German language.
After that he was employed in several renowned international hotels. Among others, the Hotel Savoy in London, the George V Hotel in Paris, the Vivarois Restaurant in Paris, the Princess Hotel International in Bermuda, the Acapulco Princess and the Homestead Hotel in Hot Springs , Virginia.
To learn English he wanted to work at the Savoy Hotel in London, but was called up for 18 months of military service beforehand. Then he started in the Savoy. At the age of 23 he moved to Bermuda and took a job at the Princess Hotel International. During this time he met the American Martha, whom he later married and with her has a son George. After six years he moved back to Paris and became head pâtissier at the George V Hotel. But he soon took up a job again as the joint chef of nine hotels. To get back to work in the kitchen, he went to the United States in 1976 and started working at the Homestead Hotel in North Spring, Virginia.
The White House
In 1979, guests at the Homestead Hotel who knew the presidential family informed Mesnier that the first lady Rosalynn Carter was looking for a head pastry chef. He then applied and the first lady hired him after an interview as Executive Pastry Chef . The new head pastry chef abolished the custom that desserts were delivered by the party service. During his tenure, all desserts in the White House were freshly made and no dessert was served twice. In total, he created the desserts for five presidential administrations: Jimmy Carter , Ronald Reagan , George HW Bush , Bill Clinton and George W. Bush . After serving the White House for 25 years, he retired on July 30, 2004.
retirement
Mesnier lives in a villa furnished like a French country house in Virginia. He wrote several books.
Works
- Dessert University. Simon & Schuster, 2004, ISBN 0-743-22317-9 (English) (with Lauren Chattman)
- Sucré d'Etat. DOCS TEMOIGNAG, Flammarion 2006, ISBN 2-080-68789-1 (French) (with Christian Malard)
Web links
- Chief Roland Mesnier - Website of Roland Mesnier
- Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier - official portrait at the White House
- 25 Years in the White House - Washington Post article
- Superpower Confectioners - Articles in Time
- Sweet secrets from the White House - Article on N24.de
- Calorie bombs for the president - article in the Berliner Zeitung
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mesnier, Roland |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French-American pastry chef and cookbook author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 8, 1944 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bonnay |