Pierre Hermé

One of the world’s finest patissiers and chocolatiers, Alsace-born Hermé travels the world with his work. He speaks to Alicia Miller about chocolate plantations in Latin America and eating out in Shanghai

I have always been in the universe of bakeries

My family in Alsace owns a bakery and I remember working in the shop when I was young. I would help my father peeling chestnuts and making purée. My family still lives in Alsace and when I go back I eat at Le Bistro des Saveurs in Obernai (bistro-saveurs. fr). The chef is a friend and has an amazing selection of wine and uses local products. He made me a dish of simple whole roasted carrots as one of the starters, which was wonderful.

There are so many gastronomic restaurants

in Paris that it is difficult to tell you all the ones I like. Arpége (alain-passard. com) is one of my favourites – the chef Alain Passard is very talented and makes some great dishes. I remember an onion gratin with parmesan, and salt crust-cooked vegetables. I also love Le Baratin (00 33 1 43 49 39 70), a bistro with excellent fish on a small street in the 20th arrondissement.

The best desserts I have tried

have been in two different restaurants by the same person – Hélène Darroze at the Connaught hotel in London (the-connaught.co.uk) and Hélène Darroze in Paris (helenedarroze.com). It has something to do with the mix of classic and creative, and that the dishes are very simple to understand. There is no fussy presentation, but they are very precise in taste.

Two or three times a year I come to London

and I always like to discover new restaurants. I enjoy eating at Scott’s (scotts-restaurant.com), just behind the Connaught, and also at the Peruvian restaurant Coya (coyarestaurant.com). Zuma (zumarestaurant.com) is good too, but a little too noisy for me.

Cocoa from Venezuela has a perfect chocolate aroma

I have visited plantations at Lake Maracaibo (Pedregal plantation) and Choroní (Chuao plantation), and now we use these chocolates in my macarons. The chocolate from there has a long finish and isn’t too bitter – in contrast, the chocolate that I use from Brazil is more acidic and has some baked pineapple and caramel flavours. I’m visiting the plantation there, Paineiras, later this year and I will also use the trip as an opportunity to explore the Brazilian restaurant scene.

My favourite Japanese restaurant in the world

is in New York and is called Masa (masanyc.com). The ambiance is great; the quality of the fish is excellent; and everything is simple, fresh and precise. Of course, I also visit Tokyo three or four times a year and there are many places I enjoy there, such as Honmura An (honmuraantokyo.com), which specialises in soba, or kunn, which is Japanese-Spanish fusion.

The restaurant I most want to go to in the world

is Ultraviolet (uvbypp.cc) in Shanghai. There are only ten seats and you are picked up from a meeting place before so you don’t even know where the restaurant is! The chef, Paul Pairet, makes it a true dining ‘experience’. pierreherme.com