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William Yosses
Pastry chef
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
William Yosses has worked in pastry as a disciplined line between structure and expression. Best known for serving as White House Executive Pastry Chef from 2007 to 2014, with his work centered in Washington, D.C., William Yosses brought control, scale, and detail to one of the country’s most visible kitchens. He was also the owner of Perfect Pie in New York City, carrying that same point of view into a more direct, everyday form of pastry.
The Path
The foundation of the work came through formal study, then through kitchens that demanded accuracy. William Yosses trained at New York City College of Technology, University of Toledo, and Rutgers University, building his base before moving deeper into professional pastry. He then worked under chefs Gaston Lenôtre and Pierre Hermé at France, placing his practice alongside two of the field’s most closely watched names and sharpening the precision that would define his later roles. From there, the career moved through a sequence of restaurants that map a serious pastry résumé in New York City. William Yosses served as chef at Bouley and Montrachet, then as chef at Polo, and later as chef at Tavern on the Green. Each position added another layer of responsibility and technical range before he became owner at Perfect Pie in New York City (until 2020). That ownership period shifted the work from institution to personal expression, while keeping the same attention to finish and balance. His most public assignment came when William Yosses served as White House Executive Pastry Chef at The White House in Washington, D.C. (2007–2014). In that role, pastry sat inside the larger machinery of hospitality and protocol, where consistency and presentation carried real weight. Afterward, he returned to the restaurant world as pastry chef at Four Seasons Restaurant (2018–2019), bringing a long-built vocabulary back to a New York dining room.
The Work Today
He left the White House in 2014 to focus on new projects related to food literacy and education. That move extended the work beyond production and into teaching, with William Yosses applying pastry knowledge to how people understand food, learn about it, and engage with it.
Signature
William's signature dishes include Desserts For Dummies, The Perfect Finish, and The Sweet Spot: Dialing Back Sugar and Amping Up Flavor: A Cookbook. Read together, those titles show a pastry practice built around clarity, access, and control of flavor. The through-line is not excess but precision: making dessert legible, practical, and direct.
Acclaim
The White House appointment from 2007 to 2014 remains the clearest public marker in William Yosses’s career. It placed his pastry work inside a national setting where the standard is consistency under scrutiny. Perfect Pie added an ownership chapter in New York City, giving the résumé a commercial scale outside institutional kitchens and rounding out a career that moved between restaurants, public service, and independent ownership.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of William
Where did William Yosses train or study?
William Yosses trained at New York City College of Technology and University of Toledo.
