Laurent Branlard, the only person to win the World Pastry Team Championship competition twice, has joined the staff of the soon-to-open Lake Nona Wave Hotel as its pastry chef. Branlard had previously been pastry chef at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort.
“I’m very excited because it is a boutique hotel,” Branlard, pictured at left, said by phone Monday. “We won’t have to mass feed and do mass banquets.”
The Lake Nona Wave will have 234 “high-tech” guest rooms. An opening date has not been announced but Branlard said it will be late fall. (Tick tock.)
Branlard joins executive chef Guillaume Robin, who was the opening chef for the JW Marriott Bonnet Creek hotel.
The Lake Nona Wave will have two main restaurants, Haven Kitchen, a three-mealer with a Mediterranean menu, and Bacán, described on the hotel’s website as “Influenced by the many flavors of the Americas and centered around a dramatic open theater kitchen.”
Another venue, the Living Room Bar, will offer cocktails and small plates.
Branlard, a native of France, won the prestigious pastry competition in 2002, the year he joined the Swan and Dolphin, and again in 2008.
