See also: Top Tables 2017 lists Bangkok’s 100 best restaurants

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Carol Boosaba, Paris Mikki

Carol opened her fine pastry shop, Paris Mikki, about two years ago, and it quickly became the city’s favorite. Before then, she spent almost 10 years in Paris, where she learned her art in the hallowed patisserie grounds of Angelina and Laduree. Sticking to the traditional route, she uses French techniques and presents them in the most beautiful forms—Le Frasier cake (B210) so shiny its like a pink ice-skating rink, a celeste cherry tart (B210) with the ruby-rich color of the finest vermillion. We named her croissants (B85) the best in town in our blind taste test, and the same pastry goes into her millefeuille with decent vanilla cream (B195). She has just expanded to the newly-opened Central Embassy’s sixth-floor complex, Open House. 

1/F, Metha Wattana, 27 Sukhumvit Soi 19, 088-870-0020

Arisara “Paper” Chongphanitkul, Issaya

Her pastry education includes internships at patisseries like Sadaharu Aoki and Hugo & Victor in Paris, as well as Laurent Gerbaud in Brussels. Now, she applies European techniques to Thai flavors for the dessert menu at Issaya Siamese Club, where she’s worked since 2011. As group pastry chef for the Issaya group, she also takes care of the desserts at Issaya La Patisserie (for which she launched a cookbook just last year), Baan Phadthai, Kom-Ba-Wa and Le Cochon Blanc. She loves to give extra wow-factor to the Thai classics, as you can see in her current mango sticky rice creation (available at Issaya Siamese Club for B280)—a cut mango-shaped shell filled with coconut cream and fresh mango, served alongside sweetened sticky rice.

4/F, Emquartier, Sukhumvit Rd., 02-003-6136. BTS Phrom Phong

Yannis Janssens, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon

 

Growing up in one of the world’s chocolate capitals, Belgium, the chef learned the art of pastry early, before flying to the USA to open the Ritz-Carlton in Lake Oconee, Georgia and work with The Setai group in Miami and New York. There, he was named one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs by Dessert Professional magazine and won the Press Award as a US representative at the International C3 Competition by Valrhona Chocolate in Madrid in 2010. In Bangkok, he’s behind the beautiful desserts at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, including the local citrus, pomelo & tarragon emulsion (in tasting menu), which shows his love for locally sourced ingredients as well as finding and balancing new flavor combinations. With the recent opening of Le Salon de L’Atelier, he has just launched a few new creations including the Belgian waffles (starting B450) which took him years to perfect. At that outlet, he’ll also roll out more buttery French puff pastry classics, including kouign amann (Breton cake) and several different chocolate croissants. 

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, 5/F, Mahanakorn Cube, 96 Narathiwat Ratchanakarin Rd., 02-001-0698. BTS Chongnonsi

Davina Pickering, consulting chef, WWA

The Scandinavian side of her family exposed this Finnish-English chef to making pastries from scratch at an early age. After earning a chefs’ diploma with distinction and specialization in pastry from Westminster Kingsway College, she worked alongside British celeb chef Gary Rhodes and headed the BAFTA Members’ Club’s pastry kitchen. For seven years now, Davina has been behind WWA Cafe’s comforting and delicious food and desserts. She likes to play with simple dishes like brownies and create special experiences out of them. Here, we’re talking about the warm rum chocolate brownie cream shot (B160), where cold cream meets warm brownie, creating a mouthful of molten texture, complemented by chocolate ganache on the bottom. Her other projects include consultation for Lemoncurd Tea Room and running regular pastry workshops at The Commons. 

3/F, 428 Siam Square Soi 7, 02-658-4686

Illiana Karagkiozi, Islero

The Greek chef has had a well-traveled career, including a catering job in Buenos Aires and stints at Mugaritz in Spain, Paco Perez in Berlin, Chalet d’ Adrien and W Verbier in Switzerland. Here at Islero, she experiments with Spanish flavors resulting in the likes of a sublime multi-textured offering (B260) starring Valrhona’s 66-percent chocolate in the form of chocolate cream and saffron-and-olive-oil-infused jellified chocolate ganache, served alongside cocoa crumble, saffron meringue, mint gel and orange slices. We’re also impressed with her creative petit four, like cigar-shaped chocolate, mini cheesecake in the form of a cheese wheel, and gin tonic pearl on oyster shell. 

Islero, Athenee Tower, 63 G/F, Athenee Tower, 63 Wireless Rd., 02-168-8101. BTS Phloen Chit

Saki Hoshino, 80/20

This Japanese-native pastry-head at the rising Charoenkrung kitchen brings the skills and knowledge she picked up in Canada to Bangkok. The George Brown College-graduate trained mostly at Creme Brasserie in Toronto, a French bistro where she worked her way from pastry cook to pastry sous chef and learned all about artisanal bread. Sticking to 80/20’s made-from-scratch philosophy, chef Hoshino’s desserts often explore the many facets of singular ingredients. Her new creation, “Rice” (B230), for example, features the different textures of a range of rice products, including mochi, khao mak (house-fermented rice) ice cream, rice puff and sesame rice tuile.

80/20, 1052-1054 Charoenkrung Rd., 02-639-1135

Laurent Ganguillet, The Sukhothai 

The Sukhothai’s legendary pastry chef has been with the hotel since its opening back in 1991. After starting his career at Confiserie H. Walder in Neuchatel, Switzerland, the Swiss chef spent almost 10 years training in his home country before moving to Asia. Here, he’s known for the hotel’s famous chocolate buffet (B990), happening every Fri-Sun at the hotel’s Lobby Salon. His simple, easily understood desserts are imbued with memorable twists, like the customized hot chocolates he serves for each guest at his Liquid Hot Chocolate trolley.  

13/3 Sathorn Rd., 02-344-8888