Acclaimed pastry chef Claire Clark has turned her back on plans to open a business in London, accepting an offer to become executive pastry chef at iconic Barbados luxury resort Sandy Lane.Clark, a two-time winner of the Craft Guild of Chefs' Pastry Chef of the Year award, spent nearly four years at Thomas Keller's three-Michelin starred French Laundry in Napa Valley, California.
She left the iconic restaurant to return to London earlier this summer, with the ambition of launching her own business. While looking for potential sites, she pursued patisserie consultancy working with Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, the Langham hotel and upmarket event caterer Rhubarb.
However, Clark, a former head pastry chef at Claridges and The Wolseley, has now changed her mind about staying in London and is moving to warmer climes in Barbados.
Luxury resort Sandy Lane has announced that Clark is joining its culinary team, alongside Conny Andersson, who has been appointed executive chef.
She has been talking about and briefing journalists about opening her own business for at least the last 8 years now.In the meantime both Paul Young and William Curley( both ex MPW pastry chefs) have 4 shops between them.