Training at Germany’s Elisabeth-Knipping Schule in Kassel and completing his formal apprenticeship at Café Alheit gave Ron Paprocki a rock-solid, Old-World foundation in the techniques and practices of the pastry arts. But however serious his schooling, and however seriously he took it, Paprocki never lost his love of fun, imagination, and play. It has endured the rigor of European training and continues to show up in his desserts, even in the typical solemnity of fine dining.

When Paprocki moved to New York, he became head baker and assistant pastry chef at the celebrated Financier Patisserie. Not content to let his pastry knowledge stagnate, the chef attended a chocolate sculpture seminar the following year at The French Pastry School under master chocolatier Jean-François Castagne. Paprocki’s next move was to help develop and open the Sascha Bakery/Restaurant in the Meatpacking District as pastry sous chef in 2005. And he when the opportunity came to join the opening team of Gordon Ramsay at The London in fall 2006, Paprocki didn’t let it pass.

As executive pastry chef of Gordon Ramsay, Paprocki melds imagination—that childlike sense of play—and his years’ of technical expertise to create a modern pastry menu that’s as elegant as it is pleasantly surprising. It’s also award-winning. In 2010, Paprocki was one of the StarChefs.com New York Rising Stars, was the first winner of the StarChefs.com International Pastry Competition that same year, and was named one of the Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America by Dessert Professionals Magazine in 2011.