Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh at Kingdom Centre

Four Seasons Tenure

• Since 2023
• First Four Seasons Assignment: Current

Employment History

• Pierre Hermé, La Mamounia, Marrakech, Morocco; Ladurée Paris; L’atelier Jean Luc Pele, Cannes, France; The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort; InterContinental Resorts French Polynesia, Tahiti

Education

• Pre-apprenticeship Pastry chef; Professional aptitude certificate for pastry chef, ice cream maker, chocolatier and confectioner; Professional aptitude certificate for chocolatier; Pastry technician certificate; Master’s degree in Pastry - Cepal de Laxou, France

Birthplace

• Nancy, Lorraine, France

Languages Spoken

• French, English  

“Quite a lot of talent and effort goes into making such a beautiful spread of pastries, but the rewards are sweet,” says Steve Thiery of his role as Pastry Chef leading the creation of tasty and artistic treats for Pierre Hermé patisserie at Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh at Kingdom Centre. For Thiery, the rewards come from being an ambassador for the brand’s first boutique in Saudi Arabia. “I’m bringing the know-how, the training, and the best ingredients to ensure that everything we produce here in Riyadh is executed to perfection as Pierre Hermé conceived them.”

Located on the Lobby level of Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, the Pierre Hermé patisserie offers pastries, macarons, chocolates and more from legendary French pastry chef and chocolatier Pierre Hermé, whose originality has earned him renown as the “Picasso of Pastry.” The boutique is a work of art all its own, a realm where the refined artistry of the pastries and the architecture of the space blend.

It takes a team of 10 to keep the boutique’s elegant display cases filled with mouth-watering goodness, including chefs specializing in pastry production and chocolate, as well as bakers who play a complicated and essential role by managing the temperatures and growth of flour, and more. “Most people don’t realize how challenging the job of a baker is,” says Thiery. “It’s really a specialty: They have a lot to stay on top of.”

Thiery has trained everyone on the team, working exclusively with locals by demonstrating his deep knowledge of ingredients, techniques, and the essence of Pierre Hermé’s approach to pastry. He likes to be in the heart of the action as well as the kitchen, striving to instil motivation and being more than willing to demonstrate the myriad skills he has acquired over the years.

Like any craft, learning the art of the pastry from the start is key to making those skills stick. “We do very complicated things, so it is important for us to approach everything with our eyes wide open.” That said, Thiery endeavours to maintain a relaxed atmosphere in the kitchen, and he is happy to incorporate new ideas for organizational change. “I’ve always believed that everyone can learn from anyone else, and for me that means being accessible.”

Exceptional ingredients are essential to the brand’s mystique. Thiery combs the globe for chocolate from Valrhona, pistachios from Turkey, Piedmont hazelnuts from the northwest corner of Italy, and much more beyond. Vanilla from Tahiti, Madagascar and Mexico is mixed to create Infiniment Vanille, a stunning celebration of the widely used spice and one of the brand’s most renowned offerings. He also sources dairy products, sugar, and other simple raw ingredients locally.

A native of Nancy, a riverfront city in northeast France, Thiery got a taste for pastry early, making simple cakes with his mother and grandparents. He started doing pastry professionally after being inspired by a baker who made beautiful works of chocolate in a shop next to his parents’ home. “Every time I’d walk past his window, I’d be fascinated. The baker always told me it only takes a simple bar of chocolate to make the most beautiful creations.”  

Thiery joined the shop for a two-week internship over an Easter holiday when he was just 13, and it went superbly well. “I was working with two chefs who had all of their technical skills, and they were happy to pass them along to me.” He returned later for a four-year apprenticeship while continuing school, and then did four-year turn with another fine pastry chef before going abroad.

Thiery’s progress on the international stage built lasting skills. By age 22, he was pastry chef of a major international hotel in Tahiti, leading a kitchen brigade of 12. After moving on to another luxury address in Bora Bora he returned to France at age 27 to work for pastry and chocolate maker Jean-Luc Pelé in Cannes. And work he did: “We made 500,000 macarons per month.”

Those macarons added up, leading Thiery to join Ladurée in Paris, which took him to Switzerland, Lebanon, and finally Morocco where he stayed for four years in Casablanca. Once again, the job could be very demanding, with desserts created for a lot of events. “Our record was a wedding with 4,000 guests. We made a 12-layer wedding cake that stood more than three-and-a-half-metres high.”

Finally, he joined Pierre Hermé in 2019 as executive pastry chef at a luxury palace hotel property in Marrakech, contributing 60 different desserts across multiple menus. Meantime, he kept in regular contact with Chef Pierre Hermé, who called weekly, visited every other month, and sent trainers to build technique for the team whenever a new item was added to the dessert menu.

Speaking of desserts, Thiery’s own personal favourite is the Flan Patissier: “It’s a beautiful definition of gluttony,” he says with a smile.

Though he misses Morocco, Thiery is excited about his new turn in Riyadh. “It’s the place to be in the Middle East right now, with the door open for everyone to leave their mark.” It didn’t take him long to discover how much Saudi Arabians love cakes and sweets, he adds. “Almost as much as I do!”