Pastry chef at Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio - Melbourne, AustraliaDarren Purchese
“I was always helping my mum prepare fruity desserts. We grew a lot of our own. I remember berry crumbles, apple pies, trifl es… I was lucky to work under master chocolatier William Curley at the prestigious Savoy Hotel in London. When I learned about one of their most famous dishes, the ‘Peach Melba’... I knew I wanted to be a chef.
"It's so important to stay fresh. Not only to keep your customers interested, but to really refine and establish a regular product as your own signature dish."
Now, I just love working with my wife Cath. We’re humbled to receive visitors from all over the world. Seeing customers’ positive reactions is the best part. It’s so important to stay fresh. Not only to keep your customers coming back with new innovations but to try and evolve and establish your own signature style. But some desserts I simply cannot change. They have become part of the Sweet Studio experience. Keeping the range creative without upsetting my customers is the biggest challenge. I’m also excited to do things diff erently. My creations really are ‘must-haves’, colour is very important. I’ve developed a take home dessert range called ‘tubes’ which provide my customers with restaurant-quality desserts at home. Today, technology allows us to be more creative. But there’s also a temptation for young chefs to copy social media. Hopefully, they will create their own classics and traditional craftsmanship won’t be lost.”
