He's an artist and a creative maestro at Valrhona. But, first and foremost, Fr'd'ric Bau is a talented French pastry chef who has trained alongside some of his industry's biggest names. Born in 1965 in Lorraine, he first discovered pastry-making at home, then began an apprenticeship with Pierre Koenig in Metz. At the age of 17, he won the title of Best Apprentice in France, and the following year, his dream of working with Claude Bourguignon came true. The famous Metz pastry chef became his mentor, and introduced him to Pierre Herm' two years later. Fr'd'ric Bau joined the master of modern patisserie in Paris, and discovered another vision of his profession: 'before, I made cakes. With Pierre Herm', I became a pastry chef'. In 1987, he came to work at Valrhona and refined his knowledge of chocolate. In 1989, he founded the Valrhona 'cole du Grand Chocolat and directed it for 20 years, making it a reference for technical chocolate expertise. To this day, the biggest names in international pastry-making still share their ideas and techniques at this pioneering academy, which has become a benchmark for all food artisans.