James Farnum
Le Petite Grocery | New Orleans
SEPTEMBER 2022
With a father in the air force, James Farnum spent his childhood traveling around the world. As a teenager, he and his family settled in Hagerstown, Maryland, where he picked up a job as a dishwasher. By the time he turned 19, Farnum had become garde manger at The Corner Bistro and Wine Bar in Baltimore, preparing all the desserts for the Belgian-inspired menu. He enrolled in the pastry program at the New England Culinary Institute in 2014, where he took two formative internships: the first at Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City and the second at The Little Nell in Aspen, Colorado, where Farnum was given a chance to create complex, plated desserts.
In 2016, Farnum became a pastry cook at Blackberry Farm, the world-renowned culinary destination in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains. One year later, he moved to New Orleans on a whim, exploring the restaurant scene through various stages. He joined the pastry team at Willa Jean before moving on to Restaurant August, where he worked his way up from pastry assistant to executive pastry chef. Now as pastry chef at La Petite Grocery, Farnum designs his dessert menu around seasonal produce and whimsical, surprising flavors, like buttermilk panna cotta with sorrel granita or chocolate chess pie with tamari ganache.
