The Art of Pastry with Chef Juan Gutierrez
Learn what inspires this rising star and social media trend spotter
You probably already follow Lettuce Entertain You’s Corporate Pastry Chef Juan Gutierrez (@pastrychefjuan, winner of Netflix’s School of Chocolate) and if you’ve eaten at a Lettuce restaurant, you’ve definitely enjoyed one of his desserts! His Crying Tiger Dessert at our new Southeast Asian hotspot Crying Tiger dominated social media feeds in 2025, not to mention the Dubai Chocolate Cookie at Summer House, and the now practically iconic Black Sesame Mochi at Miru.
Chef Juan takes us behind the scenes of Lettuce’s Corporate Kitchen to share what inspires the creative mind behind some of the most popular desserts at Tre Dita, Sushi-san, The Cookie Bar by Summer House, and more.
Nostalgia FTW
Chef Juan spearheads the research and development of dessert menus across Lettuce’s more than 100 restaurants, which he has found both challenging and deeply creative. First and foremost, he says, his ultimate goal is to create desserts that connect with the guest on a personal level. “I always want a dessert to trigger nostalgia—bring memories back to someone that when they taste it they’re like, ‘Oh, this tastes like what my grandma used to make,’ or bring them back to a place they loved when they were a kid or somewhere they traveled that they loved. That is the level we’re aiming for, which goes far beyond simply baking beautiful desserts.”
An example? Chef Juan recently surprised Lettuce Founder Rich Melman for a tasting by making 20 different kinds of chocolate chip cookies. To narrow down which one evoked the most nostalgia and emotional connection, the two brought in tasters to slowly eliminate each cookie until there was a clear winner, now served at The Cookie Bar by Summer House in Streeterville, which Chef Juan oversees along with Chef Ben Goodnick. “There is nothing more nostalgic than a chocolate chip cookie,” he says. “You can tell a lot about a chef by their chocolate chip cookie.”
View the menu and order online from The Cookie Bar by Summer House
Culture is King
In the age of viral food, a corporate pastry chef must be an expert trend-spotter, Chef Juan says, and admits he relies heavily on Instagram and TikTok for research and development. “I’m always scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, but you have to—you have to know what people are excited about, what they think is worth posting a picture of, what other chefs are doing, but also what is going on culturally,” he says. The influence of social media is undeniable; when Dubai chocolate took over social media in early 2025, Chef Juan immediately adapted it for a recipe at Summer House, creating his own in-house Dubai filling of pistachio cream, toasted kataifi, tahini and salt along with European semi-sweet chocolate with 54% cacao. He predicts a continued trend toward Asian and tropical flavors like matcha, black sesame, coconut, and mango sticky rice.
To create this scroll-stopper for Crying Tiger, which has undoubtedly been prowling your social media feed, Chef Juan started with the inspiration of a traditional Thai dessert—chocolate covered bananas. Instead of serving that exact item, he decided to go, well…bananas, and create a 3D printed chocolate mold of a tiger head, which he then fills with a wild Thai banana pie, sprays with edible green paint and glitter and serves with a foster caramel sauce that masterfully complements Chef Dang’s vibrant and flavorful Southeast Asian dishes. It’s now become one of the bestselling items on the menu!
Make a reservation at Crying Tiger
Culinary Collaboration
Something many pastry chefs often struggle with is achieving harmony and balance with the culinary team. “A dessert cannot overshadow the savory food, but it also cannot feel completely disconnected,” says Chef Juan. He’s learned to use the flavors of the culinary side directly as inspiration. For example, he says the Crying Tiger Dessert is his most authentic representation of this ideal he has executed to date. “I feel like on that one I was able to show a different side that we normally don’t do at Lettuce—it was a truly crazy, artistic, out-of-the-box style and it worked. It is the perfect ending to the story that [Chef Thai Dang] is trying to tell.”
Make a reservation at Crying Tiger
One of the secrets to the art of pastry that Chef Juan has learned to master is to be a creative “chameleon,” and fully immerse himself in the vision of his culinary partners, whether the concept is quick-serve counter-style or an upscale fine dining restaurant. In short—he always understands the assignment. Chef Juan’s journey at Lettuce began as the Executive Pastry Chef at Miru at The St. Regis Chicago, which required an extremely elevated, meticulous mindset. His elegant Black Sesame Mochi with charcoal-vanilla ice cream, black sesame praline and mochi sponge remains a defining dessert on the menu at the modern Japanese restaurant, along with the vegan Coconut Mango dessert with coconut cashew mousse, mango compote and coconut sorbet.
With the opening of Chef Evan Funke’s “cucina Toscana” Tre Dita, also at The St. Regis Chicago, Chef Juan took on Italian flavors, creating an indulgent Tiramisu Classico, housemade biscotti, gelati and sorbetti, a light-as-air Torta all’Olio d’Oliva olive oil cake, the Tre Dita Gattò, a rich devil’s food cake with fleur de cao mousse, amaretto and dark cherry, and a not-to-sweet favorite, the Dolce al Pistacchio, sprinkled with pistachio praline and dacquoise, and a dollop of sweet cream (above).
Make a reservation at Tre Dita
Success Redefined
Chef Juan’s ability to quickly learn new ingredients, techniques and workflows, as well as manage teams, earned him his role leading corporate pastry menu development, which requires him to be able to adapt to multiple concepts, from fine dining to quick service. As a young pastry chef, Chef Juan says, “I believed that the path to becoming a successful pastry chef meant you had to open your own three-star Michelin restaurant, but that’s not the only way.” Working at Lettuce, he says he has come to understand that it can be equally—perhaps even more—satisfying to work across a broad range of concepts that force you to step outside your comfort zone every day to match a new vibe or discover flavor profiles you’ve never worked with before. Sometimes, success serving guests from the soft-serve window at Sushi-san – Nashville is just as sweet as toiling in an internationally-recognized dining room!
Looking for more dessert inspiration? Check out delicious options across Lettuce.
