Mr. Bill Goes to Washington

Pastry Pro Bill Yosses unpacks his whisks at the White House.

Meryle Evans
Posted: March 17, 2007

When George Washington's cook served a fine looking trifle at a dinner party in the presidential mansion in 1789, Senator William McClay, a vehement government critic, recorded a juicy bit of gossip in his diary: Mrs. Robert Morris, seated next to the President, whispered to Washington that the cream was rancid. The President sent his plate back to the kitchen, but, McClay noted, "Mrs. Morris added with a twitter that Mrs. Washington ate a whole heap of it." Soon after, Washington fired the cook and put an ad in the newspapers for a replacement.

Nowadays, there is little risk of rancid cream emerging from the White House kitchen, and presidents are too preoccupied with affairs of state to manage their ménage. Finding creative, talented chefs who are willing to relocate to the Capital and can survive scrutiny by the FBI is a challenge for the first lady and her staff.

So, congratulations, Laura Bush, for anointing the extremely popular, mentor-to-many, slightly irreverent, and notably talented Bill Yosses. The renowned French patissier Pierre Hermé called one of his creations the best dessert he had eaten in the United States, and food writer Bryan Miller, with whom Yosses co-authored Desserts for Dummies, observes that "his desserts have a great purity and a sort of balance like wine, with its fruits and tannin."

Yosses, who grew up in Toledo, Ohio, in a family that was German/Polish on his father's side, Irish on his mother's, recalls, "We always cooked and baked at my house, especially for holidays. My mom loved to try recipes from magazines, and that is probably where I got my sweet tooth." Later, in Paris as a graduate student, he worked at a traditional French restaurant, La Foux, reveling in early morning visits to the wholesale market, Rungis, with the chef.

Back in the States, Yosses graduated from New York City Technical College and joined Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller, then at Polo Lounge. Eager to concentrate on pastry, Yosses returned to Paris to work with master chocolatier Robert Linxe, pastry guru Gaston Lenôtre at Le Pre Catalan, and Hermé, then at Fauchon.

When the groundbreaking restaurant Montrachet opened in TriBeCa in 1985, Yosses joined executive chef David Bouley and soon moved with Bouley to his eponymous establishment for a steadfast 12 year stint. Miller, then the restaurant critic for the New York Times, remembers that in the early days at Bouley, Yosses was doing basically French classical desserts that later became more French-American: "I wrote that 'the chocolate soufflé is legendary—airy, intense, and belching steam—draped with hot chocolate sauce that makes you tremble.' He also had a hot raspberry soufflé and a chocolate/pear soufflé; he's always used a lot of fruit."

Heading uptown to Citarella, later renamed Josephs, Yosses continued to concoct light, simple, and intensely flavored desserts, like a signature vanilla cake with 12 bean vanilla ice cream. Several trips to Japan and Southeast Asia resulted in an expanded repertoire of tropical fruits and flavors, and as a partner in restaurant Boi on Manhattan's East Side, Yosses today offers delectable sweets that are American in shape, Vietnamese in inspiration—lemongrass flan with caramelized pomelos, jackfruit/toffee pudding, and sweet basil seed tapioca with pomegranate molasses and mango chutney.

A pastry chef for all seasons, Yosses has delved into Aztec mythology, constructing a tableau based on Mayan artifacts for a chocolate exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, created a series of fragrance inspired recipes such as a hibiscus Cosmopolitan to pair with Miss Dior Cherie perfume, and penned witty summaries of the annual Worlds of Flavor Baking & Pastry Arts Invitational Retreat at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, California, for Food Arts. Until recently, when he was commandeered by the White House, Yosses was preparing healthful desserts for chef Michel Nischan at Dressing Room, the new restaurant co-owned by Paul Newman, in Westport, Connecticut.

Yosses' illustrious predecessor, Roland Mesnier, whose 25 year tenure at the White House satisfied the sweet tooths of five presidents, has just published a memoir. All the Presidents' Pastries concludes with a list of "Ten Golden Rules for My Successor." Among them are axioms Yosses has already mastered: "Use the finest possible ingredients. Don't let a compliment go to your head. Remain humble. Stay hopeful and keep smiling, even when it hurts, when it really hurts."