Sebastien Rouxel recently joined Stephen Starr Restaurant Group as corporate pastry chef to oversee current properties as well as new ones in the works. Prior to this, Sebastien served as executive pastry chef for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group for 15 years, overseeing all aspects of the pastry department for the group’s 11 establishments: The French Laundry, Per Se and Ad Hoc, as well as the Bouchon Bistros and Bouchon Bakery outposts in Yountville, Las Vegas, New York City and Los Angeles.

Rouxel joined the organization in 1999 as pastry chef at The French Laundry in Yountville, California, where he quickly became known for creating dessert menus with unusual flavor combinations designed to perfectly complement Keller’s distinctive cuisine. Rouxel relocated to New York City for the opening of Per Se in 2004, and was tapped once again for the opening of Bouchon Bakeries New York city in 2006 and 2011.

Rouxel grew up in the Loire Valley of France, and began his culinary education at a very early age. At the young age of 16, he was in training as a savory cook at Les Jardins de la Forge a Michelin one-star in Champtoceaux.(France). Realizing that patisserie was his true interest, Rouxel took an internship at Le Peché Mignon in Nantes, where he experienced an intensive training, and earned his Mastery Diploma.

By age 20, Rouxel, for his military duty, was appointed pastry chef at the Palais de L'Elysée, the house of the President of France. Afterwards, went on to become pastry chef at the Michelin two-star restaurant Le Grand Véfour inside the Palais Royal in Paris. In 1996, Rouxel came to the United States and worked at L'Orangerie Restaurant in Los Angeles and at Lutèce in New York before beginning his long-standing culinary relationship with Thomas Keller.

In 2005, he was named a “Rising Starchef” by Star Chef Magazine.

In 2006 and again in 2008, Pastry Art and Design Magazine declared him one of the “Top Ten Best Pastry Chefs in America.”

Sebastien is the co-author of Bouchon Bakery, a #1 New York Times Bestseller.

Sebastien's Book: