Antonio Bachour
WORLD RENOWNED PASTRY CHEF, GABLES BAKER
Antonio Bachour grew up in the shadow of his family’s bakery in Puerto Rico, where he worked and dreamed of becoming a pastry chef. A graduate of New York’s French Culinary Institute, Bachour worked for the Westin and Ritz Carlton in Puerto Rico, then at Saluda in Miami and at the Westin and Trump Soho in New York as pastry chef. In 2013, he released his debut cookbook “Bachour”, which sold out. He has since published three others. He returned to Miami in 2015 to start Bachour Bakery + Bistro on Brickell. After selling his bakery, Bachour was approached by Coral Gables developer Armando Codina, who convinced him to set up a bakery, pastry shop and restaurant at Codina’s new HQ building at 2020 Salzedo.
LATEST ACHIEVEMENT
Bachour was named the 2018 Best Pastry Chef by the Best Chef Awards, held in Milan and sponsored by Barilla, which basically means he is the best pastry chef in the world. His new Gables pastry shop, bakery and restaurant opens in January.
WHAT HE SAYS
“I think they gave me the award because I am influential with other people. There are a lot of good pastry chefs in the world, but this is about influencing other pastry chefs through social media, traveling and my books,” he says. Known for the beauty of his pastry creations, he says, “People eat with their eyes first, so I want to create something that gets a ‘Wow’ reaction. At the same time, it has to taste amazing, better than it looks.”
Asked what is trending in pastries, he says, “Less fat, more fruit and less sugar. A lot of butter and cream used to be used, but people don’t want their stomachs to feel heavy, they want to feel light,” he says. “Also, lemon dough is trendy right now.”
