L'Espalier's Jared Bacheller Snags Food & Wine Pastry Nod

"I love being playful, nostalgic, even silly," Jared Bacheller tells Food & Wine, which has just named Bacheller and four other chefs around the country the "best new pastry chefs" of the year. The magazine notes that Bacheller's "whimsy coexists with a serious fascination with science."

The CIA grad worked his way through several Ritz Carltons before landing at L'Espalier, beginning as assistant pastry chef a few years ago. While at L'Espalier, he also took time to stage at Noma, Per Se, Eleven Madison Park, Le Bernardin, and beyond. Nowadays, he heads up the L'Espalier pastry team, "taking a whimsical approach on the restaurant's elaborate and intricate desserts," according to the restaurant's website.

Food & Wine includes a glamour shot of one of Bacheller's desserts, "Through the Forest," which is comprised of marshmallow "mushrooms" (which include candy-cap-mushroom-infused cream), a "moss" cake of chestnut flour and green tea, and a "maple leaf" tuile of dehydrated and baked cookie batter.