Pierre Hermé (in French pronounced as /pjɛʁ ɛʁme/; born 20 November 1961) is a French pastry chef and chocolatier. He began his career at the age of 14 as an apprentice to Gaston Lenôtre. Called "the Picasso of Pastry" by Vogue, Hermé was awarded the title of World's Best Pastry Chef in 2016 by The World's 50 Best Restaurants.[1] He was also ranked the fourth most influential French person in the world by Vanity Fair.[2] In 1998, Hermé created his own brand with Charles Znaty. He has written or co-written over 40 books.
Heir to four generations of Alsatian bakery and pastry-making tradition, Pierre Hermé arrived in Paris at the age of 14 to start his first apprenticeship with Gaston Lenôtre.
He created the Maison Pierre Hermé Paris in 1998 with his associate Charles Znaty. The first Pierre Hermé Paris boutique opened in Tokyo in 1998, followed in 2001 by a boutique in Paris, located in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés fashion district at 72 Rue Bonaparte. Success was immediate in Tokyo and Paris alike. Every day, enthusiastic gourmets discovered Hermé pastries, macarons and chocolates. In late 2004, a second Parisian boutique with its very innovative interior design opened at 185 Rue de Vaugirard. In early 2005, Tokyo saw the inauguration of the latest Pierre Hermé Paris concepts: the Luxury Convenience Store and the Chocolate Bar. Both establishments are situated in the Omotesando district, where all of the major imported brands and fashion houses active in Japan are also present. In 2008, Hermé and Znaty launched the first Macarons & Chocolats Pierre Hermé Paris boutique on Rue Cambon in Paris. In 2010, they inaugurated the Maison Pierre Hermé on Rue Fortuny in Paris, home to the Atelier de Création. The brand is a member of the Comité Colbert and has an established partnership with the Raffles group and Ritz Carlton group and Dior since the opening of the Café Dior by Pierre Hermé in 2015 in Seoul.
The company has been expanding strongly since 2010 on the international scene with several boutiques located in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Since 2012, his desserts have been served on All Nippon Airways.[3] [4] In 2017, Hermé entered a partnership with La Mamounia, Marrakesh, to cater products on site.
Preferring discreet pastry decors and "uses sugar like salt, in other words, as a seasoning to heighten other shades of flavour" and refusing to sit on his laurels, he is always revising his own work, exploring new taste territories and revisiting his own recipes. As a result, praise has often been lavished on Pierre Hermé, who has been called "pastry provocateur" (Food & Wine), "an avant-garde pastry chef and a magician with tastes" (Paris Match), "The Kitchen Emperor" (New York Times)[5] and "The King of Modern Patisserie" (The Guardian), along with honours and decorations, as well as – most importantly – the admiring gratitude of connoisseurs of gourmet sweets.
Hermé was the youngest person to be named France's Pastry Chef of the Year, and is the only pastry chef to have been decorated as a Chevalier of Arts and Letters.[6] He was awarded Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by Jacques Chirac in May 2007.[7]
In October 2023, an online class where Hermé teaches Iconic Pastries launched on PastryClass.[8]