Oppermann admits that he sometimes cringes when he has created a showpiece for a corporate event or a wedding catered by the hotel.

"When some people want to eat a decoration like that, it's a little bit painful because it took many hours to make.

"My way to make desserts is to make something tasty first, then beautiful," he says as he pipes curlicues of walnut cream onto a gleaming bar of chocolate. "If you do the opposite, make them beautiful but without taste, no one will remember the desserts no matter what they look like. If you make something tasty, people will remember it."

As a top-flight pastry chef, the young Frenchman has to deliver some "wow factor" before the first bite is taken. He acknowledges that his game has become pretty competitive.

"It's kind of a fashion, very trendy whether you are making pastry or you are any kind of chef. There are so many TV shows now about cooking, so it is difficult to play your cards and shine."