BEN ROCHE

Pastry Chef, Moto Restaurant & Director of R & D for Cantu Designs

Twenty-five year old Ben Roche discovered a fascination with the scientific process early on, conducting experiments such as creating Alka Seltzer “bombs” as a boy in his best friend’s kitchen in Beaufort, South Carolina. So it seems fitting that this young, aspiring pastry chef now creates technically innovative and “explosive” desserts at Moto, where the kitchen resembles a lab with tanks of nitrogen gas, helium and liquid nitrogen. Roche’s love of science and his culinary degree (Johnson & Wales, 2001) are in perfect harmony.

Now side-by-side in the kitchen at Moto with Chef Homaro Cantu, Roche creates new dessert experiences like “No Smoking in Chicago” and “Chili Cheese Nachos” with the help of innovative kitchen technology, unusual ingredients and a love of liquid nitrogen. His creative and “outside the box” approach to food development have allowed him to act as a “behind-the-scenes” R&D collaborator for Cantu Designs as well as several major food manufacturers.

Roche has shared the stage speaking with many distinguished innovators and food specialists and his talent as a pastry chef has caught the attention of the media and the world. His appearances include The Food Network’s Sugar Rush, Iron Chef America, and Dinner Impossible and the global gastronomic forum, Madrid Fusion.