Richard Leach – Pastry Consultant

Richard Leach was born in 1966 on Long Island, New York.   In 1980, at the age of 14, he became interested in cooking while working in a local restaurant.  Following school, he attended the CIA and graduated in 1987.  His first job in 1987 was as a line cook at the River Café in Brooklyn, where he worked with Great Chefs to be, David Burke and Charlie Palmer.

In 1988, when Great Chef Charlie Palmer left to open Aureole in New York City, he took Chef Leach over as well, to work in his pastry department.  Three years later in 1992, Chef Leach moved over to work for Great Chef Christian Delouvrier at Lespinasse.

The following year, in 1993, he moved to become executive pastry chef for Great Chef Albert Portale and his One Fifth Avenue Restaurant. Later that year, the Great Chefs Television team showed up to tape Chef Richard Leach for the Discovery Channel’s Great Chefs of the East television series (episode # 4).

In 1997, Chef Leach left to join the Park Avenue Season Restaurant Group in New York City (Spring, etc.), and stayed with them until 2014, when he went on to open his own consulting firm that he runs today in 2016.