Chef Jean-Francois Favy grew up in Clermont-Ferrand, central France and was inspired to bake from a young age. He watched his father run a pastry business since the age of 6 and would often volunteer to help him in the kitchen. His culinary journey has taken him around the world, teaching culinary arts in Korea and Japan Le Cordon Bleu institutes, before joining the London team.
Chef Jean-Francois joined Le Cordon Bleu London as Head Pâtisserie Chef in 2023.
Chef Jean began his journey as a young apprentice at his father’s business, whilst studying for a diploma in Pâtisserie, followed by a diploma in Chocolate tempering and a master’s in Pâtisserie.
Chef Jean has experience in both the craftmanship side of Pâtisserie as well as the corporate side of it through his many placements in reputable establishments. He was Head Chef of the chocolate department at Maison Pillon-Thuries in Toulouse, France, where he handled the production of different local specialty bakes and managed a team of ten specialised pâtisserie chefs. He worked at Pierre Hermé in Tokyo, Japan, providing technical support to the hotel and boutique branch in Asia.
He also worked at the confectionary manufacturing giant Nestle in York, supporting the merchandising of products to global supply chains. As Senior Confectioner, Chef Jean was vital to the company’s development of a premium chocolate Nespresso brand that became highly popular in the European market.
After training different teams of patisserie chefs, Chef Jean discovered a real passion for developing others, and moved on to become a pastry instructor at Le Cordon Bleu Seoul in 2012. Here, he managed the superior course for pâtisserie and created new concepts for Korean food magazines. He was interviewed by the KBS World radio on the Korean chocolate market and even led a special demonstration for ‘Salon du chocolate’ in Korea.
Chef Jean also taught at Le Cordon Bleu Tokyo, where he became Pastry Technical Director, developing new programmes and teaching materials for the school. He continued to bring his knowledge to Le Cordon Bleu Shanghai as a Pastry Technical Director consultant in 2021, and eventually joined Le Cordon Bleu London as Deputy Head Pâtisserie Chef in 2023.
