When Antonio Bachour talks about baking, one thing quickly becomes clear: He didn’t choose a career path, but rather followed his calling. After all, this owner of several restaurants in Miami and Mexico is not just a trained pastry chef – and as such one of the best in the world. No, Antonio Bachour lives for and above all loves baking.
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And he wants to pass this love on to people with his products. “My mission is quality. I want to offer my customers the best ingredient and the best product – the best of the best,” says Bachour. Now you might think creating such perfect food is based on complex recipes. However, the opposite is the case, explains the pastry chef. “I work with simple recipes. I just want our food, our desserts, our baked goods, our pastries to taste delicious.” Antonio Bachour embodies this credo not only when baking, but also in his patisseries and restaurants. These include the Lebanese Habibi in Merida, Mexico, or Tablé by Antonio Bachour in Miami’s upscale Design District, which offers French-Mediterranean cuisine. The same applies at all of the Puerto Rican-born chef’s restaurants. “We always give 200 percent. This is because we believe what makes our cuisine unique is our passion for what we do. We work, we cook, we bake with heart and soul.”
Passion and dedication
This passion began four decades ago in his homeland Puerto Rico, where Antonio’s parents owned a bakery and pastry shop. “I watched every day and saw how happy everyone was there because they were able to bake cakes, macarons, pastries and bread with passion and attention to detail,” says the now 49-year-old. “And I fell in love with it. With baking, and this passion. I wanted to do that too.”
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And that’s just what Antonio Bachour did. He did so well, in fact, that he moved from Puerto Rico to the USA at just 25 to become head pastry chef. There, he worked in Michelin-starred kitchens and took on other managerial roles in hotels and companies. In 2018 and 2022, he was named World Best Pastry Chef as part of the Best Chef awards. He has also published several books and trains up-and-coming pastry chefs around the world in the art of baking. Eventually, he became an entrepreneur himself by opening his own restaurants. What brought him back to Miami, however, was what has always played the main role in his art of baking and his life in general: dedication.
In this particular case, dedication to the city itself. “I love Miami. I love the people, I love the culture, I love everything here. In the end, I decided to open restaurants here in Miami because I knew that this was exactly what was missing here. And fortunately, it was a great success.” For example, one of his bakeries, Bachour Miami, was awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand for the second time in a row in 2023.
Passion is therefore the key ingredient for Antonio Bachour’s very personal recipe for success – for work, the best products and the best restaurants. However, one could argue that this passion is also brought to the table by others in the industry. That others also embody their calling in the truest sense of the word. So what really distinguishes the best in his profession from all the others who have also dedicated their heart and soul to the art of baking? What is the true secret of Antonio Bachour?
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Professional equipment for the best results
His answer is clear. “It’s about getting the perfect ingredients and cooking systems. We work with the best suppliers and companies to make our food the best, too. The top priority for me is a perfect professional oven, and that’s what we have with the one from Rational.” He loves the challenge of creating perfection every day, explains the star pastry chef. “Rational helps me achieve this. In my cakes, in my croissants, in my macarons, in all my products. We use the Rational oven for everything – from bread and sourdough to baguettes and pastries.”
Antonio Bachour particularly raves about one product from his vast range. “Croissants. I love croissants. I’ve been making them for 35 years, and they are a challenge every single day. When you bake a cake, dessert or macaron, the consistency is always the same. But the texture of a pastry or bread dough can change due to humidity, fermentation and temperature. That’s why it’s so difficult to make the perfect croissant and/or the perfect bread every day.” However, his professional kitchen equipment makes exactly that possible, says the master pastry chef. “Our croissants are get really big. They puff up nicely. With this oven, I have full control. I love the temperature control. I love the fan control. And I love the moisture control. You can use it to stop the moisture supply completely, you can add 50 percent or you can remove moisture. You can even prepare crème brûlée by adding water. It’s an intelligent oven. It’s even smarter than a phone,” he laughs.
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Consistency, garnished with savings
The secret to being the best pastry chef is rounded off with two ingredients. The first: consistently good results. What Antonio Bachour serves his guests comes out of the oven with the same quality every time. The second ingredient: “Saving time, ” says Bachour. Thanks to this powerful equipment, you can bake faster in his restaurants than anywhere else. “Croissants in a conventional oven take 22 to 25 minutes. However, with a Rational oven, they only take 17 to 18 minutes. This gives you six, seven minutes more preparation time.” With (among other things) 1,000 croissants baked daily and up to 10,000 macaroons a week, the time saved is also reflected positively in the costs. The oven is also reliable – even though it is in continuous operation for 15 hours a day. ”
Antonio Bachour’s conclusion will therefore hardly come as a surprise. “I think Rational is one of the most important things in my business. I have been working with this manufacturer for over 18 years now – I can no longer do without it. Because without it, we can’t do what we do. This is the only way we can bake high-quality products. Bread, croissants, macarons, cakes, cookies. The best of the best.”
The many years of success certainly prove Antonio Bachour right. This success is certainly due to the extraordinary skills of the native Puerto Rican, along with his tremendous passion. “Confectionery and baking are my passion, my love,” Bachour concludes. “I always say my first love wasn’t my wife. It was my work, baking, confectionery.” One is inclined to believe him.
