Jean Spielmann, executive pastry chef at the Resort
Serendipity If you’ve tasted the wickedly luscious Chocolate Black Out Cake or tangycreamy Key Lime Tart or Heavenly Carrot Cake with warm walnut sauce, you’ve tasted the work of the Resort’s executive pastry chef, Jean Spielmann, and his 18-person crew. A 21-year Resort veteran who grew up in Switzerland and studied at the famed Ecole Lenotre in Paris, Spielmann’s dessert wizardry is on display in such Serendipity showpieces as the Pirate’s Treasure Chest and Golden Opulence Sundae, not to mention all manner of custom chocolate and pastry creations, from chocolate golf bags complete with gloves and towel to a 15-foot chocolate replica of the Eiffel Tower to approximately 700 wedding cakes a year. The Treasure Chest is a Birthdays Gone Wild centerpiece, a “chest” made entirely of dark chocolate, dusted with edible gold leaf and filled with a “treasure” of more than a dozen different ice creams, cupcakes, cookies, berries and more. The $1,000 Sundae proves conclusively that nothing succeeds like excess, especially when it involves 50 scoops of house-made ice creams and sorbets, chocolate truffles, maraschino cherries, caramelized nuts, marshmallows, chocolate shavings and chocolate sauce. In Spielmann’s hands, even vegan desserts can be decadent, like one that features tofu chocolate mousse and fudge-glazed chocolate chip cake, vegan ice cream and poached fruit in a syrup sweetened with organic honey. Though he recently turned 65, Spielmann has no plans to retire any time soon. “I love my job,” he says. “I enjoy being here, I enjoy what I’m doing.”
Where: In the grand hallway between the hotel lobby and the Palm Court Ambience: Retro kiddie whimsical Don’t miss: Pirate’s Treasure Chest
Pirate’s Treasure Chest from Serendipity mizner’s dream
dining2012.indd 59
59
11/23/11 4:18 PM