About Alex

I was born in the spring of 1973 in Podolsk, Russia.

Growing up, I always had a sweet tooth. But my brother Tolya, who’s four years younger, and I were not allowed to eat candy. During lean Soviet times candy was hard to come by, so if the adults managed to buy sweets, they always tried to hide it from us, to no avail. We would always find the precious bag and gobble the candy up. Mom was in shock. At one point, I realized that sweets are not just candy, but also pastries, scones, cookies, apple pies, honey cakes, chocolate ganache and a gazillion of other things. Well, at first I was more into eating than baking, but gradually I became interested in the creative side of cooking. My mother and grandmother were busy, so at first I simply repeated their recipes.

At 14 I decided to go to a culinary school to become a pastry chef. However, my parents insisted I go to college to become an engineer. They did not try to talk me out of studying at a culinary school, but they did want me to receive a graduate degree. So upon high school graduation, I enrolled into the Textile academy. However, after my junior year at the academy, I decided to enroll into “Tsaritsyno” vocational school. I graduated with honors from “Tsaritsyno” and got a job at a prestigious “Metropol” hotel in Moscow. Of course, they did not make me a pastry chef right away, in fact, they didn’t even let me work in a bakery. So all day long I had to wash fruit and vegetables at the kitchen, next to the bakery, inhaling sweet cinnamon smells and thinking “How do I get there?”

So I gathered all my courage, approached the pastry chef and told her I wanted to work under her. She was just looking for an assistant, and I got hired. They told me they wouldn’t cut me any slack, and they didn’t. At first I was making truffles day in, day out. Later on, I was trusted with making batter, and, finally, the entire cakes. Funny, but my textile engineer training proved very handy – sometimes you need to calculate proportions very precisely. In a small cake there is room for a little give-or-take, but in a large one, precision is very important, otherwise you risk your cake to become an unformed mess. Once I was told to cut a cake into 10 pieces, 150 grams each, and if I didn’t cut it correctly, the cake would have been ruined at my expense. Luckily, I have a sharp eye.

When “Eldorado” restaurant opened up a bakery, I decided to apply for a job. My “Metropol” background proved very helpful and I got hired. Right after I started at “Eldorado”, their pastry chef resigned, and I was left in charge of the shop for almost half a year until they found a new chef. Later I studied under Didier Renaurd, a renowned French pastry chef, who taught me how to bake complex French cakes, a famous “Opera” pastry and different petit fours. Another French expert, Michel Chavez let me in on his secret in making chocolate mousse. At “Eldorado” I also worked with a famous Japanese chef Hedeki Morikava, who was at the top of his game with desserts and successfully mixed Japanese and Austrian culinary traditions.
Even these days I’m always looking for a chance to improve my skills and learn something new. I have graduated from culinary schools in France, Switzerland, and Belgium. I go to France twice a year, for a two-week course in pastries, petit fours, wedding, custom-made and European cakes. In Belgium I learned to work with chocolate – created compositions and studied recipes. In Lausanne I made truffles. Now I’m dreaming of going to Switzerland to Fabi’s school – they teach you how to make edible flowers using English technology, and the flowers look almost real!
If you want to become a true professional in anything, you have to work really hard. For a pastry chef – and everyone else in other occupations – the greatest achievement is the acknowledgement and respect earned from colleagues. A world-renowned chef needs to win a number of professional competitions. I’ve been participating in a lot of these and have won quite a few. However, I always remember that I work for people, my customers, and I derive special pleasure from people’s favorable comments on my cakes. One can not live just to compete, it gets old pretty quickly. I realized it when I became the winner of the all-Russian pastry chef competition.
A couple of years ago I came to a conclusion that I was through working for other people and was willing and ready to open up my own business. My partners and I analyzed the market and decided that the most promising industry trend is making high-quality custom-made cakes. In 2004 we created the Patisserie Selezneff.
In 2005 my first book “Sweet Stories” was published. A year later I wrote “Culinary holidays with Alexander Seleznev”, the book that quickly became a bestseller. In 2007 “Sweet Recipes” was published, followed by “Pastry Chef Bible”. At present I’m the author of more than 20 books.
However, I won’t describe myself as a culinary maniac, workaholic and ladder-climber. Other than working, I travel a lot, read voraciously, garden and enjoy spending time with my dogs. I do have a lot of professional awards, but my ultimate goal is to pass on my knowledge to people and help everyone feel like a renowned chef in his/her own kitchen.

Yours sincerely,
Alexander Seleznev

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Alexander Seleznev

• The absolute champion of Russia's confectionery skills

• Recipient of the World Cup for cookery in Luxembourg

• Gold medalist championship of Russia on the art of confectionery

• Chief Director, "Confectionary House Alexander Seleznev "

• Author of more than 20 books on the art of confectionery and food, leading programs "Sweet History", "Ask the cook" on TV "Domashniy".

• Alexander is a leading television channel "Domashniy" more than 4 years

• Holder of diplomas culinary schools in France, Switzerland and Belgium.

• Among the admirers of talent and clients Alexander Seleznev - many Russian stars: popular singers, actors, politicians.

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