The palace on Place Vendôme has reshuffled its pastry leadership, turning a once single-star role into a duo, with two familiar faces now shaping the sweet identity of one of Paris’s most watched luxury hotels.
A shared legacy after François Perret’s departure
For years, the pastry offer at the Ritz Paris revolved around one name: François Perret. His highly recognisable style, from airy cakes to cult take-away desserts, helped turn the hotel into a reference point for pastry fans from Tokyo to New York. When he left at the end of August, a big question hung over the palace: who could possibly take over?
Instead of naming a single successor, the Ritz has chosen a different route. From 1 January, two pastry chefs promoted from within the house officially share the keys to the sweet kingdom: Olivier Lainé and Joris Theysset.
The Ritz has moved from a “one chef, one vision” model to a more collective, two-headed pastry direction.
This new structure reflects both the scale of the Ritz’s operations and the growing pressure on top hotels to renew their dessert offer without losing their identity. The palace wants to keep its exacting standards while opening the door to fresh ideas and complementary talents.
Olivier Lainé, the discreet teacher stepping into the spotlight
The most visible part of the handover concerns the historic hotel itself: its fine-dining restaurant L’Espadon, the Bar Vendôme, the iconic afternoon tea and those lavish hotel breakfasts that many guests remember for years.
To take charge of these rooms, the Ritz has turned to an insider who has spent years away from the limelight: Olivier Lainé. For the past seven years, he has been training students at the École Ritz Escoffier, the in-house school that shapes future professionals in French gastronomy.
After seven years teaching technique and rigor at École Ritz Escoffier, Olivier Lainé now applies the same discipline to the hotel’s guests.
Lainé’s CV is solid and quietly impressive. He graduated in 2002, spent time in Brittany, then joined the production team for Café Pouchkine desserts, before moving to the Shangri-La Paris as deputy pastry chef. These steps gave him a hands-on understanding of high-volume luxury pastry and the unforgiving standards of the Paris scene.
➡️ If you want beautiful apples, this step is indispensable starting today
➡️ A revolutionary therapy could eliminate 92% of cancer cells while preserving healthy tissue
➡️ Turning the heating down before going out? It’s probably the worst reflex, here’s why
➡️ No scales needed: the 1-2-2-2 method for foolproof crêpe batter using a single glass
➡️ You’ll Love It: This Miniature South American Fruit Tree Thrives In Pots At Home
➡️ Before, My Plants Froze Every Winter – Until I Stopped Throwing Away This Green “Waste”
A style rooted in classics with a modern twist
Lainé has made no secret of his intention: he wants to respect the house’s heritage while imprinting his own style. He describes the Ritz as an endless source of inspiration, not a museum to be frozen in time.
His approach is built on revisiting classics rather than breaking them apart. Expect familiar formats and flavours, reworked rather than discarded: a millefeuille with refined layers and lighter creams, or a fruit tart that plays more boldly on acidity and texture.
Texture is central to his thinking. He often talks about contrasts: crunch, softness, melt-in-the-mouth sensations that unfold in a single bite.
- Crispy bases to bring structure and contrast
- Moist sponge or biscuit for comfort and depth
- Silky creams and melting inserts for a luxurious finish
For guests, that means desserts built like small architectural pieces, where every component has a purpose. Tradition anchors the recipes, while modern touches adjust sugar levels, intensify flavours and refine shapes.
For Lainé, flavour only reaches its full potential when taste and texture are in perfect balance.
Joris Theysset, the new face of Ritz Paris Le Comptoir
The second pillar of the new organisation sits just outside the hotel’s walls: Ritz Paris Le Comptoir, the pastry boutiques in the 1st and 6th arrondissements. These counters were launched under François Perret and quickly became a showcase for the Ritz brand on the street, far beyond hotel guests.
To steer this retail arm, the Ritz has promoted another internal talent, Joris Theysset. He joined the team in 2019, as part of the founding crew for Le Comptoir, and served as Perret’s right hand before becoming production manager in 2021.
Originally from Ardèche, a rural region known for chestnuts and honest family cooking, Theysset trained locally before gaining experience at Ladurée in Paris. The combination of countryside roots and big-city patisserie has shaped his style.
For the boutiques, the Ritz is betting on continuity: the chef who helped build Le Comptoir now takes full creative control of it.
A pastry language shaped by childhood memories
Theysset often talks about “sincere” pastry – desserts that feel comforting, readable, and emotionally charged rather than concept-driven. He draws heavily on flavours and textures that marked his childhood, then reworks them for a luxury context.
One recent example is his “Sucre d’Orge” Yule log, designed for the festive season. The name evokes candy canes and old-fashioned sweets, but the execution is more sophisticated, with layered textures and precise shapes. It signals a new chapter in which he can sign his own creations while staying loyal to the Ritz codes.
His ambition is twofold: act as guardian of the creative identity of Ritz Paris Le Comptoir, and help the brand grow beyond Place Vendôme without losing its soul. He likes to say that people remember what they ate more than what they said that day, which tells you where he places his priorities.
What this means for pastry lovers
This dual leadership offers a clear split in roles. Lainé focuses on the palace’s internal spaces, where the experience is tied to tableside service, luxury surroundings and longer tasting times. Theysset concentrates on pastries that must travel, be boxed, shared at home or in the office, while still reflecting Ritz quality.
| Chef | Main remit | Style focus |
|---|---|---|
| Olivier Lainé | Ritz restaurants, bar, tea time, breakfasts | Revisited classics, precision textures, balance between tradition and modernity |
| Joris Theysset | Ritz Paris Le Comptoir boutiques (1st & 6th arr.) | Comfort-driven, memory-based pastries, accessible yet refined |
For visitors planning a trip to Paris, this opens up two distinct experiences. Inside the hotel, afternoon tea might shift toward more structured, technically detailed desserts served on fine china. At Le Comptoir, you’re more likely to find travel-friendly cakes and signature items that echo childhood flavours with a polished finish.
Why luxury hotels are rethinking their pastry strategy
The Ritz’s decision reflects a wider movement in top hotels and restaurants. Pastry has become a major draw, strongly amplified by social media. Desserts photographed at tea time or unboxed at home can reach millions of feeds and influence bookings.
Managing this demand requires more than one headline chef. There is recipe development, production logistics, seasonal collections, boutique launches, and sometimes even collaborations with fashion or beauty brands. Splitting responsibilities between two leaders makes operational sense, especially when both already know the house from inside.
For chefs, this set-up also offers a safety net. Instead of carrying the symbolic weight alone, each can focus on a defined perimeter with room for experimentation, while still aligning with the Ritz’s image.
Key pastry notions behind the headlines
For readers less familiar with professional pastry jargon, a few terms help understand what chefs like Lainé and Theysset are trying to achieve.
“Revisiting classics” usually means keeping the core identity of a dessert but adapting its format, structure or flavour intensity. A traditional strawberry tart might become a small individual dome, with more pronounced fruit notes and less sugar, but you still recognise it.
Texture work is central in modern French pastry. Chefs often talk about the trio of crispy, soft and melting components. That balance prevents a dessert from feeling flat or heavy. In practical terms, it can mean a thin layer of crunchy biscuit under a mousse, or a hidden liquid insert inside a cake.
At the Ritz, both chefs lean on these principles, but with different goals: Lainé to fine-tune plated desserts that unfold over several bites at the table, Theysset to ensure that takeaway items remain pleasant even after a metro ride or a couple of hours in a hotel room.
Planning a Ritz pastry fix: a few scenarios
For travellers and locals, the new organisation invites some strategic choices. A pastry-focused weekend in Paris could, for instance, combine several experiences.
- Book afternoon tea at the Ritz to taste Lainé’s refined reinterpretations of grands classiques.
- Pick up a box of pastries from Ritz Paris Le Comptoir for a picnic along the Seine or in the Tuileries Garden.
- Compare textures: how does a plated dessert served immediately differ from a boutique cake enjoyed a few hours later?
There is also a financial dimension. Tea time at the Ritz is a high-end treat, closer to a full gastronomic experience. The Comptoir boutiques provide a more accessible gateway into the Ritz pastry universe, especially for younger visitors or those on tighter budgets who still want a taste of palace-level craftsmanship.
The risk for such a symbolic house is dilution of identity when expanding outside its walls. That is likely why the Ritz has chosen insiders rather than star recruits: both chefs already speak the same culinary language shaped by Place Vendôme. The bet is that this continuity, shared between two complementary personalities, will keep the Ritz’s desserts recognisable while allowing them to evolve with changing tastes and expectations.
