What do you get when you take a great chef, add in some delicious desserts and a sprinkling of funny anecdotes?A French evening with renowned pastry chef Roland Mesnier.The Alliance Française des Bermudes is putting on the tantalising event next Saturday in the Gazebo Lounge of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess.Chef Mesnier will be talking about aspects of his fascinating life and career — which saw him rise from a poor upbringing in Bonnay, France to become the longest-tenured chef at the White House. He will also give a dessert demonstration of his chocolate floating island, with praline sauce.Chef Mesnier, who at the start of his career spent ten years working in the Princess Bermuda resort, said he was excited to return to the Island.“I met my wife at Horseshoe Bay and got married in Bermuda and my first son was born in the Bermuda hospital. So Bermuda is a second home for us.”The chef said he vividly remembered the day when he first started cooking. It was his 14th birthday and he was living in his small home in a French village with his parents and eight siblings.“I came to sit at the table for dinner. Instead of a plate and knife and fork I found a suitcase ready and my mom said ‘It’s time to go’. She said ‘They are waiting for you in the village to start your job’.“That was the end of being taken care of by family and from that time on I was on my own. I was very scared, you do not even understand what’s going on. Only that you have to leave and go to work and where at that young age you were put out to take care of yourself.”He said in that situation you have no choice, you either sink or swim. “If you have a little bit of pride you are going to swim and you are going to swim very hard to try and become the best swimmer there is in this huge pool of the world we are in.“It was a very much different time than today.”Chef Mesnier said there were no formal cooking training schools at the time, cooks learned on the job.He went to different cities, and then on to different countries, trying to bulk up his resume so people would “be very proud” to hire him.He eventually found work at the iconic Savoy Hotel in London, England.While there, he got a letter from the Princess Bermuda resort, now the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, asking if he would come and prepare some of his special treats on the Island. He had no idea where the Island even was at that time.“Out of all the English fellows [working at the Savoy] no-one knew where Bermuda was, so for me to embark to Bermuda it took again a lot of courage because I had no idea where I was going.“And of course when I arrived and I remember writing the first few postcards to my friends in Europe and said ‘I believe I discovered paradise’.“It was really a big eye-opener. The Princess was a wonderful property, a wonderful hotel, business was extremely good in Bermuda, it was at peak, the best ever and the Princess hotel had groups of workers, chefs and others all coming from different European countries from around the world.”He wasn’t too sure how long he was going to stay here initially, but ended up spending nearly a decade.Chef Mesnier went on to become the first ever non-American to serve in the White House. He retired from that post in 2006 after 26 years, and having served five US Presidents and First Ladies.These days he is enjoying his retirement in Virginia; and spends his time writing books, speaking at events around the world and fundraising for charities.He explained he was looking forward to taking part in the Alliance Française des Bermudes event and said he takes advantage of every opportunity to travel to the Island.“I love to come back, I still have a lot of friends, although a lot of them have retired or left or passed away, but I still love to come back to the Island.“I am so impressed by how well the Island is being kept how beautiful and clean ... Bermuda has tremendous potential.”At the event Chef Mesnier will be speaking to the group about his years at the White House.“It’s a lot of very funny anecdotes and I have a lot of stories about the White House and Bermuda also.“Usually my speeches are of good humour. I do not want to bore people, I want people to have a good time. There will also be a time for questions and answers, a book signing and a demonstration,” he said.All in all the pastry master said he is proud of his many successes.“I never imagined I would accomplish what I have. Back [when I was a boy] I could see me staying in that small town of France and just working in a bakery or something, but again it shows you very well never know where life will take you.“I love what I do, as a matter of fact for me it’s a therapy.”All profits for the event will be donated to the Nephcure Foundation, an organisation looking to find a cure for nephrotic syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure.The event starts at 7pm . Attendees can win a two-person stay at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess.Tickets, $110 for members and $125 for non members, are on sale at Pulp and Circumstance.Useful website: www.alliancefrancaise.bm.