Pierre Marcolini
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Pierre Marcolini (; born 12 July 1964) is a Belgian chocolatier born in
Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...
, Belgium, in 1964.


Biography


Youth

Pierre Marcolini was born in Charleroi, Belgium, on 12 July 1964. His maternal grandparents hail from
Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...
, Italy. He studied at the (CERIA) and the Infobo of
Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...
.


Professional life

Having qualified as a chef-
pâtissier A pastry chef or pâtissier (; feminine pâtissière, ) is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bistros, restaurants, bakeries, b ...
, he was employed variously in Belgium and France, including employment at such prestigious institutions as Wittamer and
Auguste Fauchon Auguste Félix Fauchon was a French food merchant who was born in Ellon (in the Calvados department) in 1856 and died in Courbevoie (near Paris) in 1939. He was the founder of the Fauchon gourmet food brand. Life and career Arriving in Paris in ...
. In 1995, he won the "World Champion Pastry Chef" in
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
and opened his first shop.Fruit, Clémence (2014) "Pierre Marcolini, Ambassadeur de la Haute Chocolaterie", ''Pâtisserie & Compagni'' Novembre - Décembre 2014 (in French). Visiting the chocolaterie of Maurice Bernachon, he was inspired by the artisanal methods of the Lyonese, henceforth considering him one of his mentors, along with the pâtissier
Gaston Lenôtre Gaston Lenôtre (, 28 May 1920 – 8 January 2009) was a French pastry chef. He is known as a possible creator of the opera cake (''gâteau opéra''), the founder of Lenôtre a culinary empire, whose brand includes restaurants, catering services, ...
. In 2007,
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
acquired a 6% stake in the business. Marcolini then creates a chocolate flavour for Nestle subsidiary
Nespresso Nestlé Nespresso S.A., trading as Nespresso, is an operating unit of the Nestlé Group, based in Vevey, Switzerland. Nespresso machines brew espresso and coffee from coffee capsules (or ''pods'' in machines for home or professional use), a ...
, whereupon Nestle increased its share to 29%. The partnership ended in December 2011 as Marcolini and other shareholders bought out Nestlé's share. The following year, Marcolini raised additional capital from investment group NEO Capital. As of 2012, the corporation had 350 employees and as of 2015 holds 30 shops, most notably in London, Tokyo, Paris and Brussels. In 2012, it generates 32 million Euros in revenue. The corporation has a manufacturing facility in Sablon, one of the most upmarket parts of Brussels. Marcolini controls his production "from bean to bar". He artesanally produces his own
couverture chocolate Couverture chocolate () is a chocolate that contains a higher percentage of cocoa butter (32–39%) than baking or eating chocolate. This additional cocoa butter, combined with proper tempering, gives the chocolate more sheen, a firmer "snap" w ...
, and selects his suppliers from among plantations in Brazil, Equatorial Guinea and Mexico. In 2012, the company produced 150 tons of chocolate. Marcolini has collaborated with other creatives such as the stylist Olympia Le-Tan and fashion label Kitsuné.


Television

As of July 2013, he is a member of the jury of culinary reality TV show ' (''Who will be the next great pastrymaker?''), broadcast by
France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...
.


Books

* ''Éclats'', Les Chocolats de L'iris, 2007 * ''Dix petits doigts pleins de chocolat'', Racine, 2010 * ''Chocolat Café'', Éditions Laymon, 2011 * ''Chocolat Plaisir'', Éditions Solar, 2014 * ''Cacao, de la Fève à la Tablette'', Éditions de la Martinière, 2015 * ''Best Of Pierre Marcolini'', Alain Ducasse Éditions, 2015 * ''Cacao : del haba a la tableta'', Librooks, 2016 * ''Chocolat: From the Cocoa Bean to the Chocolate Bar'',
Rizzoli International Publications Rizzoli Libri, formerly Rizzoli Libri S.p.A. and RCS Libri S.p.A. is an Italian book publisher and a division of Mondadori Libri, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. RCS Libri was a former subsidiary of RCS MediaGroup, but ...
, 2017 * ''Chocolat - Carnets de Voyages : Un tour du monde en 70 recettes'', Éditions de la Martinière, 2017


Awards

Marcolini received the first national prize of artistic merit in 1988. In 1991, he was named "premier pâtissier glacier de Belgique" (best Belgian cake-and-icecream maker). In addition to the ''
Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie The World Pastry Cup (French language, French:Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie) is an international pastry contest taking place every two years in Lyon, France. Qualification for the Cup is via national competitions, such as the Campionato Itali ...
'' in 1995, Marcolini won the coupe européenne de pâtisserie in 2000. The tourist office of Brussels has named him "Ambassadeur du Tourisme" (tourism ambassador). In January 2015, Marcolini received the honorary title of "Officier de l'Ordre du Mérite Agricole" (officer of the order of agricultural merit).


See also

*
Belgian chocolate Belgian chocolate (; ; ) is chocolate produced in Belgium. A major industry since the 19th century, today it forms an important part of the Belgian economy, nation's economy and Culture of Belgium, culture. The raw materials used in chocolate p ...


Notes and references


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcolini, Pierre Chocolatiers 1964 births Living people People from Charleroi