Author(s)

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  Chef Sanjana Patel

  La Folie

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  Sanjana Patel is Co-Founder, Creative Director and Executive Chef at La Folie, where she manages their luxury segment. She is currently responsible for production operations and creative direction for the brands La Folie Du Chocolat and La Folie Lab. The passion that drove her to build the brand is a reflection of her love for the art of beautiful, hand-crafted French chocolates and pâtisserie.  Sanjana’s journey is an aptly sweet one and started at an early age. After receiving graduate degrees in Food Management in London and Chocolate Technology in Germany, she moved to France to explore her creative side at Ecole Grégoire Ferrandi in Paris, one of the most respected pastry and chocolate art schools in the world. At 22, Sanjana started as an apprentice at Pierre Hermé, and soon become the first Indian chef to have worked in their labotoire, assisting in the recipe development at Vaugirard. This was followed by other stints with talents such as Jean-Charles Rochoux, Patrick Roger and Olivier Bajard, she donned the role of the Chief of Chocolate Production under Chef Camille Lesecq at Hotel Le Meurice. She moved on to Hotel Plaza Athénée in the Dorchester Collection, under Chef Christophe Michalak and Chef Alain Ducasse. With seven years of invaluable experience in France under her belt, Sanjana returned to India, where she soon became known as the first Indian Pastry chef to be making a real difference to the way pastry and confectionary was looked at and approached, in India. Her passion for her craft and expertise as a flavour artist resonates in every creation at La Folie. Over the years, she has received national and global accolades. She was crowned India’s Pastry Queen in 2015 and ranked as the 4th Best Pastry Chef globally at the World Pastry Queen Competition in 2016. Her domestic and international successes only serve to spur her creativity further, as she creates her unique avant–garde, couture-style French delicacies, which have earned her titles like ‘The Scientist’, ‘Game Changer’ and ‘The Original.’ Now, she has embarked on a journey to create chocolate from its origin – the bean. She travelled to cacao farms across four continents to source fine flavour cacao for creating unique blends of couverture chocolate. She shares her adventures at La Folie’s small batch Bean to Bar Chocolate Factory and Café in Mahalaxmi, Mumbai, which also houses The Classroom, a state-of-the-art studio for immersive cooking and interactive learning.