Executive Pastry Chef Zac Young’s Shocking Sweet Tooth

“I don’t like dark chocolate.

“And I know it’s terrible, but I really don’t.

“We use it. People love dark chocolate. It’s just never been big for me.

“Growing up as a kid I used to sneak in to the store — my mother wouldn’t let us have candy — and I’d always buy white chocolate. And you know, it’s not really chocolate either. But I love it; I mean it’s fat and sugar. I mean, it’s the best! But I guess what I enjoy the most about chocolate is really using it as a medium. And I’ve been lucky enough to spend time in France, you know, with the team at Valrhona and the team at Chocolate Michel Cluizel. So, chocolate, for me, is much more of an artistic medium than a flavor. I mean of course, flavor is first, but at the end of the day, I prefer a salted caramel over chocolate.

“Sweet and salty has always kind of been my thing.”

Zac Young is the Executive Pastry Chef for David Burke Group

Interview by Nicole Witko and photo by Dillon Burke