• Flavian Dobre, Master Pastry Chef since 24 years, owns Kanel confectioneries, is the founder of the Flavian Dobre Academy for Confectionery, Ice Cream, Kitchen and Bakery & Pastry and created a unique high-tech concept for events called Fusion Bar.
Flavian Dobre studied at prestigious gastronomic educational institutions in the world: University of Culinary Arts in Oslo, Ecole Lenôtre in Paris and Academia Etoile in Italy.
He participated in international profile competitions, where he represented Romania and got on the podium. In 2015, at the World Confectionery Championship in Germany (IBA Cup), in the individual category, he won the gold medal in the decoration category and the silver medal in the taste category, thus entering the Top 30 Confectioners of the World.
Two years later, in the European Confectionery Championship, organized in Prague, he obtained the bronze medal, and in the European Confectionery Championship held in Rimini, in Italy, Flavian Dobre obtained the silver medal. In 2020, at the "Culinary Olympics" in Stuttgart, Germany, he was awarded the bronze medal.
This year, 2022, within the Carnexpo Grill event, in the Olimp resort, under the auspices of the Flavian Dobre Academy, the "National Confectionery Championship" was organized, the only professional confectionary competition ever held.
In June 2022, PASTICCERIA opens, a high-end confectionery, where we can find refined creations, unique recipes thought up by Master Pastry Chef Flavian Dobre.
1. Who is, in a few words, the man Flavian Dobre?
Flavian Dobre is a man, a young man who managed to make his passion the most beautiful and the best.
2. When did you discover your passion for confectionery and what motivated you to choose this highly competitive field?
I discovered this passion for confectionery in Norway, where I was studying gastronomy in general at the Academy of Culinary Arts in Oslo. I gradually became fascinated by this "sweet" side of gastronomy, which for many was of no interest. The field of desserts, as the teachers used to say, is close to "pharmacy", it's an exact science, where you don't add spices gradually. Here everything is rigorously measured and many are put off by this side of 100% accuracy and correctness.
3. What is the biggest obstacle you had to overcome on your way to success?
If you had asked me this 8 years ago, I would have given as an example a competition, or a certain situation. Today I answer that there are obstacles every day. But the biggest obstacle is relating to people. Today you have a partner, an employee, tomorrow things change.
I give you an example of the situation of an employee, whom I discovered 6 months ago and who came to the confectionery business from a completely different field. Although he has a special talent for the field of confectionery, the man clicked. He wants to go back to what he was doing before. I pointed out to him that he was the diamond that I, the jeweler, had begun to polish. And my diamond now, after 6 months, wants to disappear, to go back to nothingness, to the abyss.
Confectionery is a very difficult field. As early as 2012, people were saying that it was a dying field. After 10 years, I can say that there are few real professionals left.
4. The ambition to excel in the chosen field was rewarded with numerous awards in the competitions where you represented Romania. Which of these awards do you consider to be the most important, or closest to your heart?
In all the competitions I participated in, I did it with all my heart. Even if the prize consisted of a bronze medal, or a mention, I was proud of my participation. At the same time, every participation in the competition was constructive.
The competitions that made me ambitious are the European Championships, in which I always participate with love. Why? Because they are the type of competitions where you fight with yourself, where every two years (because that's how they are structured) you try to outdo yourself. This is how you see how much, or if, you have evolved during this time. These are the competitions that have shaped me into who I am today.
5. What does a typical working day look like for a Master Pastry Chef?
A Master Pastry Chef goes to the laboratory in the morning, where he goes through the daily plan together with the employees: orders to send, what we have to produce the following days, and if we have time left at the end of the day, we see what we can innovate and look for new ideas. As for me, if until 2020 I was working with my people in the laboratory, today I share the time, because, in addition to the confectionery part, I also have other businesses. But I'm still in the lab three or four times a week.
6. What are your favorite ingredients to work with?
I am very fond of chocolate. I think chocolate is a book that everyone judges by its cover. I've always liked to delve into complicated things. I find that chocolate is a very, very difficult book to understand. Like a book written by the Irish author James Joyce, extremely complex and requiring a trained mind to understand.
The same thing happens with chocolate, my main ingredient: not everyone can work with it. Another ingredient that I really like and that also inspired the name of my confectionery, Kanel, is cinnamon. These two would be the preferred ingredients. Beyond these, I always try to find tastes and combinations of novel and trendy ingredients: violets, macha, anise. Educating the customer to be willing to try new tastes and experiences is an art in itself.
7. We know that you also implemented a dessert concept at the events, called Fusion Bar, something that no longer existed at our place. How was this idea born and why?
Fusion Bar is a concept that we implemented in 2016 or 2017. Since 2012, we were among the first confectioneries to offer the candy bar part. Until then, all confectioneries only made dessert bars, or buffets, which seemed trivial to me. This is how the idea of creating avant-garde concepts was born. I wanted something with lots of plants. In this sense, we started a collaboration with those from Micro Greens, to whom I thank them, because together we managed to create a garden where we can place top cakes. This was the first Fusion Bar concept, called "Into the woods". Then followed "Rock and stone", with decorations made of stones and rocks, followed by a "Water concept", with aquariums, fish, marine plants. The "Up in the air" concept is the most often used by us, where the cakes are mounted on cradles, on suspended supports.
A new concept of Fusion Bar
From this developed a new project for Fusion Bar, which we will use for the first time on August 31, 2022, called "The Hanging Gardens of Semiramide". We will use elements from Ancient Egypt and, thanks to the use of props in the creation of the new concept, the result will be unique. Being part of the cinematography industry, I now have props and molding workshops, something that helps me a lot in the confectionery industry.
We have recently signed some contracts with large chocolate companies and we are preparing some trendsetter cakes for these companies, which they will use in the niche market in the next two, three years. I created the first cake of this kind in March, like a piece of marble. I realized how much it helps that I got into this movie industry by being able to mold this cake in just two days.
I was talking yesterday with the prop master, who is helping me build a three and a half meter high cake, for this "Hanging Gardens of Semiramide" concept... I realized that I could not have conceived something like this without his help and the help of others team people.
8. Another success of yours is the Flavian Dobre Academy, which has had no shortage of passionate students since its establishment. Do you have a special memory you would like to share with us, a memorable moment?
The Flavian Dobre Academy, "my child" as I like to call it, was established in 2015, the first location being in Bucharest. If the first promotion of students had a number of 80 graduates, in 2022 we finished with a number of 480 students. Indeed, from the opening and until, due to the pandemic, we had to suspend classes, the number of students was constantly increasing. I did not agree to the online version, because the Flavian Dobre Academy is based on practice. The special memory related to the Flavian Dobre Academy concerns a birthday celebrated together with all the students, a surprise party.
9. Tell us a little about the frozen cake factory in Buftea. How did you think about this type of business?
The frozen cake factory in Buftea was established in 2016. It was a real success because, at the time, it was something new on the market. These frozen cakes were needed for restaurants. We started with an idea, but ended up doing something completely different. This factory did not make cakes for HoReCa, but for confectionery. We ended up exporting these cookies, because we realized that the domestic market was looking for a cheap product, and we couldn't provide that. That's why we concluded an external contract and everything was sent to the Iberian Peninsula.
10. In June this year, PASTICCERIA Flavian Dobre opened its doors. What does it bring to the profile market?
My biggest wish was to open a location that bears my name. Everyone tells me it took courage to open a location with my name on it. Because, when you put your name on an institution, there are advantages and disadvantages. You can lose your credibility, or you can grow beautifully, being appreciated for what you do. Thus in June we managed to open, in my opinion and not just mine, the most beautiful confectionery in Romania. Pasticceria Flavian Dobre it has 200 mXNUMX of sales space and comprises seven different profiles of cakes, a patisserie part and a Turkish confectionery part.
Importers of the Emiroglu brand
We are also importers of the Turkish brand Emiroglu, producers of the best baklava in the world. In our confectionery, we also have a section of mini-cakes, but not the classic ones, but on the Italian model, such as cannelloni or sfogliatelle. There are also sliced cakes, single portions, eclairs, the chocolate section, macarons and the gelato section. Already after only three months since its opening, Pasticceria Flavian Dobre has reached a location that tourists also visit for the way it looks. They simply take selfies to show where they are. It's a soul concept that I implemented, but I won't stop there. We have already started the action of making Pasticceria Flavian Dobre a franchise, and at the end of the year we will open the first external location of this concept, in Madrid, in Piata Centrala Mayor.
11. Recently, the tastes of Romanian consumers have turned towards premium products. Do you think this trend will continue, increase or decrease due to the difficult situation we are going through globally?
For some people premium only means high price. To me, premium is not just about price, it reflects superior quality. In the current economic conditions, the price of cookies has seriously risen. A premium product is primarily one that creates an emotion for you. I think that's the most important thing. Second, it is the one that is made with the best quality ingredients and the most time invested in its creation. And be different from other products.
In Pasticceria Flavian Dobre we have seven types of monoportions, different from head to tail, starting from the counter, to the last decoration. People have started to appreciate quality products, but the customer must distinguish and understand what a premium product and very good quality raw material mean. For example, I only work with mono-origin chocolate. Certain customers, who have never encountered that taste before, found it unusual. That's why we also need to educate customers' taste in premium products.
12. We know that you also wanted to open a Center of Excellence in Gastronomy. Is it still part of your future plans?
It's a project I want to develop. We had an attempt at the beginning of this year, but we have not yet found the right partners to open this Center of Excellence. We must take the example from outside the country, where every established brand relies on collaboration with a Chef, which is not yet happening in Romania. The chef comes up with the innovation and the brand implements it. And to build the Center I need these partners, these brands with which to lay the foundations of the project for Romania, not for Chef Flavian. I want it to be a place where all established chefs from Romania can come and develop gastronomy on a national level. To come to the Centre, work, innovate and bring novelty and freshness to the industry.
13. Do you have a person who motivates you or a motto that guides you in life?
An example for me is my father. And my motto is the same since I was a kid. It is the phrase said by Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon river: "Alea Iacta Est" meaning "The dice have been cast". I'm not a very flexible person, I can't change from one day to the next. Any decision I've made or will make in life, I don't change it anymore, I assume it.
NR: The photos appearing in this material were made available to us by Master Pastry Chef Flavian Dobre.
Audio version of the interview:
Interview conducted by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
Read on White Art and:The First Queen of Romania and the cake that bears her name
