The Untold Truth Of School Of Chocolate's Amaury Guichon
Here at Mashed, we've been waiting with baited breath since August when Netflix announced the new show "School of Chocolate," that's set to premiere this fall (via Deadline).
While we're still waiting for a trailer and more information to be released by Netflix to get properly excited, the premise of the show sounds promising. It's said that eight contestants, purported to be accomplished pastry chefs and chocolatiers in their own right, will create unique confections and compete for a career-changing opportunity as they learn and grow under the mentorship of the host, famed pastry chef Amaury Guichon.
Widely hailed as the most followed pastry chef on Instagram, the French-Swiss chef was a natural choice to host the show. He currently has more than 4 million followers and counting, and has taught at culinary schools all over the world while developing a niche specialty in chocolate.
In an interview with Delish, Guichon revealed that, while his passion for pastry and chocolate took time to develop, it's now vital to his work. "I think the work I can do can only be done with chocolate," he said.
We're intrigued and of course needed to find out everything we could about Amaury Guichon. Here's why he's the chocolate king.
Amaury Guichon got his start as a pastry chef as a teen
Many know Amaury Guichon as one of the most famous pastry chefs in the world, but he had to start somewhere like everyone else. And, as it turns out, a lot of formal education laid the groundwork for his wildly successful career.
Amaury Guichon has been dedicated to his career as a chef since he was very young. However, he was not drawn to pastry at first. When he began his career at the age of 14 by moving to France and studying at the famed L'École Hôtelière Savoie Léman, Guichon originally focused on gaining the skills he would need as a savory chef that prepares hot food and dishes, according to a bio on MG Academy.
Soon enough, Guichon realized that he needed to pursue his passion as a pastry chef and decided to continue studying at Germany's Wolfsburg College in 2007. He specialized in pastry for two years and started winning awards even as a student, including first place in the Apprentice Chocolate Showpiece Contest (per MG Academy) — a sign of the impressive chocolate sculptures to come in his future. He then went on to focus on chocolate at Lenôtre in Paris, where he was awarded the title of "Best Apprentice of France."
With student accolades and many years of formal training in pastry and chocolate, Guichon was poised to begin his prolific rise to the top of the culinary world.
Guichon has appeared on reality TV before
While we're all super excited to watch Amaury Guichon on the forthcoming Netflix show "School of Chocolate," this isn't his first time he's appeared on a reality television show. And his return to competition reality TV this fall will be a way for his career to come full-circle, as he competed on a similar program early in his career.
In 2013, Guichon proved himself worthy to compete in a French show called "Qui Sera le Prochain Grand Pâtissier?" or "Who will be the next great pastry chef?" The show aimed to highlight talented young pastry chefs as they created delicious and beautiful desserts and competed for the life-changing title. The show gave Guichon the opportunity to receive mentorship from some of the most famous pastry chefs in France and the world, including Christophe Michalak, Christophe Adam, Pierre Marcolini and Philippe Urraca (per Les Gourmantissimes).
Guichon finished the show in third place, and was offered a job with the world-famous Jean-Philippe Patisserie because of his performance in the competition (via The Taste Lab). The luxury pastry brand was headed up by Jean-Philippe Maury, who came up with the idea for the world's largest chocolate fountain, and had locations at the Aria and Bellagio hotels in Las Vegas until 2018 (via Eater).
As Amaury Guichon returns to television on the other side of a culinary competition, we can't help but wonder how his experience competing on "Qui Sera le Prochain Grand Pâtissier?" will shine through as he acts as mentor and judge.
Guichon's tantalizing Instagram draws people in to see what he creates
Amaury Guichon's Instagram has made him one of the most-followed pastry chefs in the world, and has clearly contributed to his rise. What started out as a fun way to share his work, make how-to videos, and show off the beautiful pastries and chocolate sculptures he makes turned into a key piece of his career when his videos started getting attention online. As his follower count grew, Guichon started improving his videos with better lighting and sound techniques to satisfy his fans. The chef still thinks the main attraction of his account is the chocolate, which draws in viewers and fans who love to see the beautiful and delicious pieces he makes, according to his interview with Delish.
He says that while his pastry content used to get the most interaction on his Instagram, his chocolate showpiece work has garnered the most attention ever since 2016. Guichon attributes this to the higher volume of great pastry chefs sharing work online compared to the lower number of chefs working specifically with chocolate to create stunning sculptural work in the way he does.
A move to Vegas changed everything
After finishing third on the French pastry competition show, Guichon had the opportunity to move to Las Vegas for new opportunities. He told Delish that one of the show's judges had a connection in the city, which is what landed him a job at Jean-Philippe Patisserie at the Aria and prompted him to move to the U.S.
It turns out that decision was a crucial moment in his career. "At the beginning of that first year, I decided to stay. I started to focus more on the chocolate side of the pastry field, I started teaching classes all over the world ... and my followers started growing," Guichon said. His move to Las Vegas was the catalyst for much of the work he is known for today, including his show-stopping chocolate sculptures and his wide internet presence. Not to mention opening his own pastry school in the city, called Pastry Academy by Amaury Guichon.
He runs a pastry school where he guides future chocolatiers
Another reason why Amaury Guichon is particularly qualified to mentor and judge the competing pastry chefs and chocolatiers on Netflix's "School of Chocolate" is because he's already been doing so with his Las Vegas-based school, simply called The Pastry Academy. Guichon is the head instructor and co-founder of the school, which guides a small group of cohorts through a ten week or 400-hour program of all the foundational skills they need to succeed as professional pastry chefs.
The school is currently open, and if you want to study pastry with Guichon, he teaches classes in the curriculum and is highly involved in the programming, according to the FAQ page for the Academy.
His bio also notes that he has taught all over the world in places like Russia, Paris, Mexico, Beijing, Melbourne, Indonesia, and elsewhere. With such a wide teaching experience, Guichon will hopefully be able to impart tons of meaningful knowledge to the contestants on the new Netflix show. We can't wait to see what tips and guidance Guichon has in store for them when "School of Chocolate" debuts.