Sébastien Vauxion in 5 desserts

Crowned Pastry Chef of the Year by Gault&Millau 2023, Sébastien Vauxion doesn't do anything like everyone else. In his restaurant Sarkara, at the K2 Palace in Courchevel, you won't find conventional desserts, but a genuine menu of starters, main courses and desserts, where pastry-making techniques are at the service of fruit, vegetables and herbs, with no added salt or sugar. This unique concept may seem hard to understand, but it's so original. That's why Sébastien Vauxion has selected five recipes that he believes will help you get to grips with his extraordinary world of patisserie.

Herbs

"This dish marked the beginning of a turning point for me at Sarkara; the time when I said to myself that I had to go further than just a dessert restaurant by creating a complete experience within my pastry universe. So this dessert was conceived as a crudités starter, with a herbed crème pâtissière, parsley jelly, a bit of raw candied Buddha's hand, a lemon-persil sorbet with balsamic vinegar and a few fresh herbs. It was the first 'starter/dessert' I created," recalls Sébastien Vauxion.

Tuberous chervil ravioli

"Following on from this idea, I wanted to propose a hot starter. I poached a pear in a Chilean wine and recovered the broth, which had a rather tense acidity, to rework it with candied cranberries for balance. Next, I drew inspiration from the chefs by preparing a raviole pastry that I stuffed with tuberous chervil, a product I adore - a real treat! The pastry notes are quite present, but it's a dish worthy of a chef on the menu", emphasizes the pastry chef at Sarkara - Le K2 Palace (4 toques).

Mushrooms and coconut

"This is yet another starter in the spirit of autumn. Mushrooms and coconut are two very soft, silky, comforting products, which both go very well together but are also surprising. I brown the mushrooms in sparkling butter, reduce with white wine and cream with coconut milk. We also have mushroom and toasted coconut chips, all served with a fine citron water. In the end, we get very pleasant notes of undergrowth, softened by a mushroom caramel", describes the Pastry Chef of the Year 2023.

Grapefruit and saffron

"Grapefruit is a fruit I love to work with in winter. Here, I've worked it in the form of a 'real' dessert, with a very lively white beer sorbet, a mango-saffron coulis and a milk taken panna cotta-style. I think it's a good reflection of my world, with touches of the far-off (the mango), but also ultra-local products like the beer brewed in Savoie and the saffron I pick up in the valley. In this recipe, the tastes are not distorted and everything is very well balanced."

Celery

"This last dessert was conceived as a dish and marks the evolution of my cooking - yes, today I dare to talk about cooking, even though I don't have a degree (laughs). It's a palet of roasted celery with truffle butter, all-vegetable red wine sauce, onion condiment, grapefruit, vanilla, tonka bean and tarragon. It's served with a special bread, caramelized at the last minute, for saucing. The menu revolves around this dish, which takes pride of place on the table! In addition to the chronology of the menu, there's a real effort to transform this dessert into a dish, with always a few pastry notes as a breadcrumb trail", concludes the Sarkara's pastry chef.