Jörg Amsler - Pastry Chef; Instructor, Sugar Arts Institute

From the time he was little, Jörg Amsler loved to work with his hands. Drawing, painting and building backyard projects were activities he enjoyed after school in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. He attended pastry school in Zurich and completed a five-year apprenticeship (four years in pastry and one in chocolate) at Konditorei Rhor, an elite bakery.  Diploma in hand, he moved to Montreal for a position with the Beaver Club Restaurant in the Queen Elizabeth Hotel.  After winning several prestigious pastry honors in Canada, he was asked to teach at the Culinary Institute of Quebec.  In 1988 he was hired and traveled around the world three times as the youngest executive pastry chef for the Royal Viking cruise line. Passengers awarded Amsler’s desserts and pastry displays the highest marks the pastry department had ever scored prior to Jörg’s tenure.  After leaving Royal Viking, he interned with Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France.

In 1990 he moved to California to work at Patina and Brentwood Bar and Grill.  He then spent two years as actor James Garner’s private chef serving stars such as Madonna, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Jackson and Jack Nicholson. When the Santa Monica Freeway fell next to his house during the 1994 earthquake, he moved to the East Coast.  Stints in Boston and Kennebunkport, Maine introduced his desserts to George and Barbara Bush. The couple hired him as their pastry chef for functions at their summer residence.   At the end of the ‘94 season, he returned to Boston. Instead of heading back to the kitchen, he decided to take a break from the world of food. He hung up his apron for two years while he built houses for a construction company.

Eventually, Amsler accepted a position with De Pasquale Ventures in Boston, where his desserts won accolades for the company’s restaurants. In 2000 Amsler was ready to strike out on his own.  With big ideas and a shortage of cash, he drew on his construction skills to build Truly Jörg’s Pâtisserie in Chelsea, Massachusetts. It was an instant success.  News of the sweet treats traveled quickly, and within a year the bakery outgrew its original space. Chelsea closed when the larger Saugus bakery opened in 2001.

Amsler has been an inspiration for aspiring pastry chefs, sharing his knowledge with any who ask. He regularly works with students from Johnson & Wales and other culinary schools.