Jennifer Yee

The Climb

Training at Le Cordon Bleu, London and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone set the base for a career built through disciplined pastry rooms. Jennifer Yee moved from pastry commis chef at Connaught Hotel in London (2002–2003) to Pastry Chef de partie at Yauatcha in London, then on to Pastry Sous Chef at Gilt Restaurant in New York City (2006–2009) and head Pastry Chef at Aureole in New York City (from 2009). The sequence shows a standard pastry progression done at a high level: hotel rigor, restaurant pressure, and a widening command of service-driven dessert work. She later served as Pastry Chef at SHO Shaun Hergatt in Manhattan, New York City (until 2012) and as patissière at Lafayette in Manhattan, New York City (2013–2016). In 2017, Jennifer Yee became opening Pastry Chef at The Grill in Midtown Manhattan, New York City (from 2017) and Executive Pastry Chef at Hopkins and Company in Atlanta (2017–2023). Today, she is owner and baker of Bakers Bench (since 2021) and Executive Pastry Chef of Wynn Las Vegas (since 2023). Across these posts, the work spans opening discipline, ongoing leadership, and the tighter responsibility of a place she owns herself.

Today

Jennifer Yee has said, "The French celebrate weddings with a croquembouche—a tower of caramelized cream puffs—and I think it’s time the cannelé stood in the spotlight." The point is less novelty than recalibration: a classical form can be re-read without losing its frame. She has also said, "These nontraditional wedding cakes speak to a bride and groom who aren’t afraid to eschew the traditional and go with something outside of the box." That kind of work treats celebration as a construction problem as much as a stylistic one, with structure and finish doing the heavy lifting.

Signature

The combination tracks her broader approach: familiar formats pushed by contrast rather than by excess. Coffee cake becomes a place for layered flavor; cannelés carry more weight than a single-pastry stereotype, with caramelized edges and custardy centers doing the work of presence.

In Their Words “These nontraditional wedding cakes speak to a bride and groom who aren’t afraid to eschew the traditional and go with something outside of the box.” “The French celebrate weddings with a croquembouche—a tower of caramelized cream puffs—and I think it’s time the cannelé stood in the spotlight.”

Recognition

Jennifer Yee's honors include James Beard Foundation Outstanding Pastry Chef finalist, James Beard Foundation Outstanding Pastry Chef semi-finalist, Dessert Professional Top Ten Pastry Chefs, Food and Wine Best New Pastry Chefs, and StarChefs Rising Star Pastry Chef. The recognition reflects what the resume already shows: technical fluency, consistency across formats, and enough point of view to register across pastry’s established circuits.