Two concurrent noteworthy items from the world of Chicago pastry chefs: First comes news that Thomas Raquel is departing South Loop’s Acadia for New York. He will be taking over as executive pastry chef at Le Bernardin, the renowned seafood-centric restaurant in Midtown Manhattan headed by chef Eric Ripert. Last September, the Tribune named Raquel one of the city’s up-and-coming pastry chefs to watch.
“This is a job of a lifetime,” said the 27-year-old Raquel. “At the same token, I’m leaving a family here. My pastry chef peers here, they become your family. That makes it tough. But I will be back in Chicago; one day I’ll move back here.”
This marks the second time this year a Chicago chef has taken over a three Michelin-starred pastry program elsewhere — Patrick Fahy, formerly of Blackbird and Sixteen, moved on to The French Laundry this past spring.
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The other news, more relevant to Chicagoans, is who’s replacing Raquel at Acadia: Ji Yoon, the French Pastry School graduate who most recently headed the pastry program at The Gage and Henri. The Korean-born Yoon, 38, previously logged time at Boka, Blackbird and Balsan/Ria at the former Elysian Hotel.
“Working at a gastropub (The Gage), what you see is what you get. A tart has to be a tart,” Yoon said. “But at Acadia, you can break it down, it doesn’t have to be its traditional component. I just thought wow, I could really have fun with this.”
Yoon started at Acadia two weeks ago.
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