Chef Jody O’Sullivan with his Christmas cake, “Buche de Noel.”
JODY O’Sullivan debuts as the new pastry chef at Hyatt Regency Saipan by making his first Christmas cake on the island. He joined the Hyatt family in November, and according to him, island life is really good.
“It is really familial here, and in the kitchen, it is a tight-knit community which is really enjoyable. There is a lot of chatting daily which makes it really easy to come to work. My team and I are working very engaged to further improve the quality of the pastry experiences here at the Hyatt. Some recipes have already changed and now we are working on refinement so that there is an elevated pleasure for our guests,” he said.
“This year’s cake offering is ‘Buche de Noel.’ It is a classic seasonal dessert that can be the centerpiece of your table because not only does it taste great but it also looks amazing. We are keeping the decoration simple yet classic. The Buche is meant to resemble a log from the forest. There is ‘moss,’ some ‘toadstools’ and a chocolate bark encasing a vanilla roll cake with Swiss chocolate, meringue, buttercream and a rich ganache on the outside,” O’Sullivan said.
For a reasonable and attractive price of $45, Buche de Noel is perfect for the holidays. It is available at Hyatt’s DJ Corner and can be ordered at least 72 hours prior to pick up. It can be a unique gift or part of your Yuletide menu.
“I am Irish and I grew up in Limerick, a small city in southwest Ireland, which dates back over 1,000 years. I had always been interested in the culinary arts and I told my kindergarten teacher that I wanted to be a chef when I grew up. As a teenager, I had done some work in some kitchens but took a different career path. The passion remains as I still loved baking, so I decided to leave my accounting job and fulfill my dream by becoming a pastry chef. I have not looked back,” he said.
O’Sullivan trained in France as a pastry chef then moved to London where he acquired work experiences with Michelin-starred chefs. He moved back to Ireland to work in a five-star hotel before starting his own macaron business that developed into a café. In 2016, he and his wife moved to Puebla, Mexico where he taught at Instituto Culinario de México for two and a half years. In 2018, he was part of the Mexico team at the Culinary World Cup. In 2019, he and his family moved to the United States where he taught at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and Bunker Hill Community College until September 2023.
His passion for baking was greatly influenced by his grandmother. “She was a Home Economics teacher and she passed on some incredible baking skills to my mother, so I grew up eating really good cakes, desserts and Irish soda bread. My mum makes the best sponge cake I have ever had. The passion grew naturally,” he said.
“One of my favorite sayings: ‘If you are standing still, you are moving backwards,’ and I think that is very important to keep in mind when we are creating new ideas,” he added
According to O’Sullivan, 2024 will be an exciting year for cake offerings at Hyatt Regency Saipan. “Our target is to modernize and update the cake variety, both for celebration cakes and also for weddings. We will offer a more tailored repertoire to our guests, with more updated finishes available. I am confident, with the ability that our pastry team has, that all guests will be impressed by what is to come.” he said.
“My team and I are very much looking forward to seeing you throughout the holiday season here at the Hyatt,” he added.
