Remy Funfrock

Coming Up

French pastry in Remy Funfrock’s hands is built on schooling, repetition, and a line of kitchens that demanded control. Lycee Jean Rablais and Culinary school in France supplied the base; Bechard in South of France, Cap Estel in Côte d’Azur, France, and Moulin de Mougins, France each added another layer of technique. The work moved from ice cream making into pastry and kept tightening around the same priorities: texture, structure, restraint, and desserts that are assembled with intent rather than stacked for effect. Moulin de Mougins and, in 1997, Daniel in New York City, New York, mark the point where that French training entered a faster, more international setting. As executive pastry chef at Daniel, Remy Funfrock carried a vocabulary shaped by French technique into a different scale of service and expectation. Later roles at The Four Seasons Hotel & Resort, the Penrose Room of The Broadmoor, and The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, South Carolina kept that same pastry discipline in circulation across different houses, with the settings changing and the craft remaining fixed. Since 2019, La Patisserie has been the current frame for that work, with French pastry still sitting at the center of what Remy Funfrock does.

Where They Are Now

Since 2019, he has been executive chef at La Patisserie in Charleston, where the daily work of a patisserie leaves little room for drift. The pace is measured against precision, and Funfrock describes the craft in terms that suit a pastry kitchen: exactitude, clean lines, organization, scale, and the chemistry behind the finished product. For him, pastry is a discipline of control as much as expression. That discipline still moves inside a kitchen that does not stand still. Funfrock reduces the rhythm of the line to a simple repetition — “It just goes, goes, goes.” — and that is close to the reality of pastry service: constant motion, repeated technique, and ongoing attention to flavor, texture, and finish. At La Patisserie, that tempo sits alongside the French training that continues to define his approach.

Signature

Remy's signature dishes include chocolate and hazelnut tart with mango-black tea ice cream. The pairing works through contrast: rich against bright, nutty against aromatic, structure against a cold, layered finish. It reads like a pastry built by calibration, where each part is set to support the whole and nothing is left to chance.

In Their Words The line points to a practical view of pastry inside a broader dining operation. For Remy Funfrock, dessert is not decorative; it is part of the structure that makes a restaurant feel complete. The thinking is direct: if the savory side is strong, the pastry work has to hold its share of the standard.

Honors

Remy's honors include James Beard Award nomination, Patriot Award, participation as part of the US team at La Coupe du Monde de La Patisserie, one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America (2002), silver medal (2000), and bronze medal for chocolate and hazelnut tart with mango-black tea ice cream at the First National Dessert Competition (1999). Taken together, those recognitions track a career that has been measured for technical command and consistency across France, New York City, New York, and other notable kitchens.