Clarice Lam
Contributor
Pastry chef Clarice Lam was born in Toronto, Canada and raised in Los Angeles, California by her parents, who immigrated from Hong Kong. After graduating high school, Clarice moved to San Francisco to pursue a career in modeling which gave her the opportunity to travel internationally for over a decade while living in the UK, France, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Mexico, Spain, South Africa and Italy.
Lam's time in Paris ignited a deep appreciation for the world of French pastry. While living in Italy, she attended Le Cordon Bleu where she took courses in Italian cuisine. After retiring from modeling, she returned to the U.S. where she studied at The French Culinary Institute and graduated with a Grand Diplôme in Classic Pastry Arts. Lam built her foundation in critically acclaimed establishments including Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market, and The Chocolate Room in Brooklyn, where she was executive chef.
Since 2012, Lam has owned and operated The Baking Bean, a direct-to-consumer bakery specializing in all-natural, seasonal desserts and confections thatThe New York Timesdeemed “high quality and handsome”. In 2020, when the global pandemic hit, Clarice put The Baking Bean on hold and joined Rivers and Hills Hospitality Group as the opening pastry chef forKimika, an Italian-Japanese restaurant in Nolita thatCondé Nast Travelernamed one of 2021’s best new restaurants in the world.
Lam's work has been featured inThe New York Times,People, Good Morning America,NY Daily News, Food & Wine, Forbes, Condé Nast Traveler,Eater,South China Morning Post, and many more. She has appeared on multiple TV shows including Sweet Genius (2012), Food.Curated. (2017), Beat Bobby Flay (2018), Beat Bobby Flay: Revenge (2019), and most recently Best Baker in America (2021) where she finished as a semifinalist.
Lam is on the Pro Advisory Committee at ICE (Institute of Culinary Education), a freelance contributor at The Spruce Eats, and a chef ambassador for Mondelez International after winning the 2021 nationwide OreoTM recipe contest, Hope
and Sesame, and Yakult.
