New executive pastry chef to the top Hong Kong hotel, Carles Codina creates ornate desserts reminiscent of modern art pieces.

Creating one dessert can take Carles Codina 100 hours from idea to serving in a menu at Amber, the two-Michelin star restaurant at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental; it will take him 50 hours at the neighbouring French bistro SOMM.

The Spanish executive pastry chef is new to Hong Kong, spending only 17 months at the hotel under culinary director Richard Ekkebus. Dishing out desserts, pastries, cakes, and sweet snacks for the hotels’ restaurants and bars, his sweet creations have taken on a new meaning for what the culinary arts stand for.

Having finished a term working in the remote Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with Mandarin Oriental prior, Carles ventured to Hong Kong by way of work in Paris that began his life in the pastry arts.

Carles Codina pastry chef The Landmark Mandarin Oriental

“Starting my career in culinary, I was hooked into creating desserts for menus. However, that was never in the picture for me when I began,” Carles tells Foodie. “I was told to study pastry and specialise in it. [Creating pastries] is not like picking up a book and you will have what it is in the picture. I needed the challenge.”

The challenge came in the form of studying the precise art of pastry, its refined techniques, glazing, spraying, tempering chocolate, piping, organising service, and crafting new items. Carles details a laborious process for creating typically the final course of a restaurant menu. It is hard. “I have always had this inquietude to try and investigate this art on my own.”

His Instagram account is now decorated in lavish shots of desserts crafted by him and his pastry team. A fluffy mango cake has come to life with portions of coconut dacquoise, Taiwanese dragon mango, passion fruit crémeux, and Madagascar vanilla; it could easily be taken for a dessert served in a Pixar film.

Carles Codina pastry chef The Landmark Mandarin Oriental
Photo Credit: Instagram/@carles_codina

For Easter this year, he led his team to create two green and yellow-washed milk chocolate eggs wrapped in a glossy plastic-like shell. 

A dessert released earlier in January presents a bubbly ‘LOVE’ created with elements of Amalfi lemon and raspberry; its shell is reminiscent of a plush felt couch. Texture is a vital element for his creations.

Evidently inspired by modernist art, with its bouncy forms, consistent textures, and bright primary colours, Carles is intentful to sharing his artistic identity with each outlet of the hotel, be that Michelin star restaurant or hotel bar. 

Carles Codina pastry chef The Landmark Mandarin Oriental
Photo Credit: Instagram/@carles_codina

“Every outlet has its own identity, so it is very important to make that difference. Amber with two Michelin stars and a daily free concept, our desserts here need to have this kind of personality of fine dining. With SOMM, an elevated bistro, you can find more classical dishes. What you read in the menu is what you find on the plate.”

The chef is largely inspired and educated in the French world of pastry baking, “the best there is.” His hometown Spanish sweet treats are not common on the menu at the hotel. France takes the front stage. “Spanish desserts are more rustic and traditional and less elevated like the French. The French created the millefeuille, the Saint Honoré, croissants, and the baguette.”

When asked why 100 hours is worth the time and energy to craft one dessert for Amber and the hotel’s other restaurants, Carles explains that “we are here to always deliver the most optimal product. When you work in the luxury industry, you have all the toys, elements, and tools to create and make new desserts.” 

Carles Codina pastry chef The Landmark Mandarin Oriental

“That’s why we need to try to elevate, to surprise our guests. Even a simple millefeuille, you want to give a twist and elevate it to the place where we are serving.” SOMM’s millefeuille brings a strong, full bodied aroma of hazelnut, bourbon vanilla, and salted butter caramel for a clashing of nutty and robust flavours. 

Even the Basque cheesecake, an export of his nation and a celebrated dessert internationally, “is visually less appealing than other more Instagrammable desserts. It puffs up in the oven like a souffle and it is not perfectly sharp and shiny. It is a product that becomes less beautiful in view but is incredibly tasty when the texture is correct.” 

Last year in November and December, Carles led the Freshly LMO Freshly Baked Special Edition Pop-up in Central. The Spaniard delivered four highly popular cheesecake flavours – original, bourbon vanilla, matcha, and kabocha pumpkin – that proved his pure skill in raising the standard for desserts in Hong Kong.

Carles Codina pastry chef The Landmark Mandarin Oriental

Head chefs in Hong Kong typically find themselves becoming the face and brand of the restaurant they represent. Fewer attention is paid to the team operating in the kitchen away from the lens of Instagram or the media. “I do not feel behind the scenes,” Carles responds in where he sees his position in the grand scheme of food operations at the hotel. 

“Chef Richard [Ekkebus] always places me in front of my work, especially with the cheesecake pop up last year. He wanted my name on the project having just recently arrived. The desserts we create come from the team as we follow trends overseas and logically in Hong Kong.”

“It takes time when you build a team in any establishment, so you have to prove yourself.” Where Carles’ creations come into play, heads have turned over in the past year over his consumable art sculptures presented on the plate.

Visit Cakes by Amber to taste executive pastry chef Carles Codina’s beautiful creations or book yourself in at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental’s venues here.

Rubin Verebes is the Managing Editor of Foodie, the guiding force behind the magazine's delectable stories. With a knack for cooking up mouthwatering profiles, crafting immersive restaurant reviews, and dishing out tasty features, Rubin tells the great stories of Hong Kong's dining scene.

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