Other
Xavi Donnay
In charge of pastry
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Restaurant pastry at Lasarte Restaurant in Barcelona has required a controlled finish to the menu since 2010, when Xavi Donnay took charge of the sweet side of the kitchen. The work is plated, paced for service, and built around restraint: desserts and pastries that close a meal without overrunning it. In that register, sweetness is not the main event; balance, texture, temperature, and timing carry the plate. Japanese culture and a disciplined attention to good products shape the pastry language associated with Donnay’s work. The useful tension is between refinement and play: visual impact is allowed, but only when flavor, texture, and the logic of the dish remain intact. The dessert stays in its proper place, connected to the courses before it rather than detached as ornament.
The Trajectory
Restaurant dessert technique was sharpened early through pastry work at Zuma Japanese restaurant in London, where Xavi Donnay worked as Pastry Chef. A setting informed by Japanese culinary culture rewards clean structure, measured contrast, and close control of temperature and texture. In that context, each element on the plate has to justify its presence. Fine-dining pastry, as developed in Donnay’s later work, treats the final course as a controlled language rather than decoration. Technique carries expression through small decisions: crackle against softness, density against air, a final note that registers without excess. The plate is composed for rhythm as much as for appearance. The pastry program at Restaurant Lasarte continues that discipline through desserts and pastries built for consistency and precision. In Donnay’s current role, structure and surprise have to survive service, not just design; the craft depends on repeatable execution as much as invention.
Present Day
Since 2010, the pastry station at Lasarte Restaurant in Barcelona has been Donnay’s responsibility, covering the desserts and pastries program. In that environment, exactitude is practical: every cream, glaze, crumb, and finish has to serve the restaurant’s larger sequence. Mini pastry is a stated area of focus: “my wish is to share a working method and a vision of mini pastry that is renewed and has a lot of potential.” The statement points to concentration rather than reduction. In small formats, technique, personality, and freshness have less room to hide; clarity becomes the standard.
Signature
Signature pastries include Mini and Traditional Panellets. The forms place a familiar pastry tradition beside Donnay’s more contemporary handling, keeping recognition and refinement in the same frame.
Recognition
Xavi Donnay has received The Best Chef Awards: World Best Pastry Chef (2020). Xavi's honors include World’s Best Pastry Chef (2020).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Xavi
What role does Xavi Donnay hold?
Xavi Donnay is in charge of pastry.
Where did Xavi Donnay work before?
Earlier in their career, Xavi Donnay worked at Zuma Japanese restaurant.
What recognition has Xavi Donnay received?
World’s Best Pastry Chef (2020).
