At head of the L’Espalier pastry team, Chef Jiho Kim guarantees that every meal ends on a high note with one of his stunningly arranged desserts. A Seoul, Korea native, Jiho has been fascinated with the culinary arts since a young age. He pursued his passion at the Kyung Ju Hotel School in his home city, completing two intense years of training to receive the Korean National Culinary Certification. Jiho has also studied with some of the master artisans in his field known as MOF Chefs or Meilleur Ouvrier de France over the course of his 15 years in the business. Jiho began his professional career at the five-star Renaissance Hotel in Seoul, where he spent more than 10 years as pastry chef. During this time there, Jiho sharpened his skills while leading a team of more than 20 chefs to produce large scale banquet and fine dining pastry cuisine. It was Jiho’s refined talent in pastry arts that earned him a spot to compete on individual and team levels for the hotel creating grand chocolate and sugar showpieces.

Relocation to the US propelled Jiho’s career and brought him to L’Espalier in less than two years. Jiho’s US pastry career launched at Sandrine Bistro in Boston, followed by a year at Viridian Restaurant in Washington, DC. At Washington’s newest French American fine dining restaurant, Jiho was able to take his creativity to the next level through personally designing and producing a spectacular dessert menu. Jiho returned to Boston in 2006 and now adds a harmonious layer to the existing group at L’Espalier. Jiho has been able to create many small masterpieces in the L’Espalier kitchen, and is always evolving his brilliant techniques and menus.  Jiho currently lives in Quincy, MA with his lovely wife Yoon.