Laurent Branlard is executive pastry chef for the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel. A native of France, Branlard is a highly accomplished pastry chef who holds the distinction as a member of the 2002 Team USA World Pastry Championship Team, where they won the title in an intense competition against 11 nations, and a member of a team of three chefs who took the gold medal in the 2001 National Pastry Championship, comprised of 36 of the best pastry chefs in America. He was named one of the 10 best Pastry Chefs in America in 2003 and 2004.

Laurent began studying pastry arts at the age of 16. Before joining the hotel, Laurent was executive pastry chef for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Buckhead in Atlanta. He was also executive pastry chef for the Ritz-Carlton in St. Thomas, USVI. He worked throughout France as a pastry chef and caterer. While working as a pastry chef for Bontemps Catering in France, Laurent participated in the country’s most prestigious pastry contest, the “Meilleur Ouvrier de France” (M.O.F. – master of the craft designation in France), an elite honor bestowed upon only few chefs. He was recruited by the noted Philippe Urraca, M.O.F. to be his pastry chef. He also worked for Layrac Catering company and held numerous other pastry chef positions in France. Laurent trained in chocolate making under Chef Francis Boucher, former president of the Chocolatiers M.O.F association, one of the most noted chocolate-makers in France.

Most recently, as captain of his team he won the 2007 National Pastry Championship and won the 2008 World Pastry Championship representing USA, making him the only Pastry Chef in the world with the double title.