Francois Payard is a third-generation French pastry chef with bakeries around the world. He’s known for his fanciful, full-fat confections: creamy mousses, buttery tarts, macarons made light as air with egg whites. But you wouldn’t know it from poking around the kitchen of his Midtown apartment. Instead of eggs or cream, the pantry is stocked with coconut butter and miso.
“When I go home, I always cook vegan,” he says.
The impetus behind his dietary choices is his wife of three years, Fernanda Capobianco, a longtime vegan and the owner of the Vegan Divas bakery on the Upper East Side. “There are no animal products in this house,” she happily declares.
But come Thanksgiving, the couple usually heads to a friends’ house on Long Island, and Payard is typically charged with cooking the bird, and bringing some of the buttery, non-vegan pastries he’s famous for. After 25 years in the US, he’s something of an expert on the feast.
“There’s no secret to it — you have to baste the turkey every 30 minutes to make sure it’s nice and juicy,” says the 48-year-old chef.
Capobianco, 32, focuses on cooking healthy side dishes. “It’s all about the seasonal vegetables,” she says, gracefully gliding around the couple’s modern digs in a slim white pencil skirt.
But day-to-day, Payard prefers to do the vegan home-cooking himself. “I don’t really like when she cooks, because she uses too many pans and makes a mess,” he says.
And, despite their dietary differences, it was actually food that brought them together.
When the Brazil-born Capobianco was working in p.r. and journalism in Rio de Janeiro in her 20s, a friend would bring her chocolates — they weren’t quite vegan, but she makes a rare allowance for dark chocolates — from Payard’s shop in Sao Paulo. She loved the sweets so much, she reached out to the chef about opening a Payard cafe in Rio.
Payard came to Rio to talk business in 2006, and, according to Capobianco, it was love at first sight — for Payard, anyway.
“He came one day to Rio, he left the next day and he was already calling me,” she recalls. Capobianco had a boyfriend and thought Payard seemed “very arrogant.”
She went on to open and run two Payard cafes in Rio until 2009, when she sold them to Starbucks to move to New York and open a vegan business.
Around that time, they started dating. Payard says he knew nothing about veganism before her.
“She tells me everything [about it],” he says. “She tells me everyday about how bad I eat, how bad I drink… how good she looks, how good her skin is.”
But he appreciates how she’s helped him to be healthier.
“She’s very nagging in a good way,” he says lovingly. “Sometimes I get lazy, I have a stressful job.”
The two married in 2010 at a Long Island winery. And yes, meat was served at the reception.
“[Our relationship] looks odd, but [my husband] is very strict in his way, and I’m very strict in my way, too,” says Capobianco, who recently released her own cookbook, “The Vegan Divas.” “The same discipline that he has in his kitchen or with his work in general is the same discipline that I have with my health and with my body.”
And, she explains, her dietary decisions don’t mean she’s looking to convert the world.
“I never liked meat,” she says. “I think it’s a big mistake when people try to impose. Each person has their own journey.”
For Payard, who has a new cookbook of his own, “Payard Desserts,” the part-time vegan journey hasn’t been too challenging.
The couple is out at least half of the week, so there’s ample opportunity for him to eat cheese or grab a steak with friends like fellow chef Laurent Tourondel.
“I always find a way to eat meat,” he says. “Once a week is good.”
While Capobianco occasionally strays from her strict veganism —“if I got to France, I will eat cheese,” she says — she avoids her husbands beautiful desserts altogether.
“When I look at them, I feel tempted because they are art and look gorgeous, but I just keep looking ,” she says. “White sugar really bothers me.”
Instead, she opts for healthier sweet treats like the vegan pumpkin cheesecake sweetened with maple syrup that she’ll be making for Thanksgiving.
They’re spending it with an international mix of 15 friends — some Spanish, some French, some South American, some American — on the North Fork. The menu is still up in the air, but one thing that definitely won’t be on it is tofurkey.
“I tried the fake turkey,” Payard says. “It was terrible.”
But, Capobianco says he’ll enjoy the veggies and other vegan fare she’s cooking up this Thanksgiving.
“He eats everything,” she says.
Want to whip up some of these dishes for yourself? Try Francois and Fernanda’s own recipes!
Fernanda Capobianco’s Brussels Slaw
Take 2 pounds of organic Brussels sprouts. Cut each sprout in half and remove bottom part. Put sprouts in the food processor for half a minute or until finely chopped. Set aside.
Prepare the dressing: In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons of tahini, 1 tablespoon miso and the juice of 1 lemon. Mix well, until smooth. It may take several minutes to get out the lumps.
Add ¹/₄ pound of dried cranberries and ¹/₄ pound of walnuts to the Brussels sprouts. Pour the dressing mixture over the salad and mix thoroughly with your hands. Add sea salt to taste. Makes 6 servings.
Fernanda Capobianco’s Delicious Cornbread with Jalapeño (recipe from “The Vegan Divas Cookbook”)
I love this cornbread because it’s delicious, satisfying and very low in calories and fiber- and protein-rich.
Pre-heat the oven to 400° F.
Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1 cup white whole wheat flour, 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon kosher salt until combined.
In another bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeño peppers, 1 cup soy milk, ¼ cup canned pumpkin puree, ¼ maple syrup and 1 tablespoon raw sugar.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the pumpkin mixture into the well; gradually stir it into the dry ingredients just until combined.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
François Payard’s Pumpkin Macarons
Make the macarons: Place a rack each in the upper and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 400° F. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats. If you have enough baking sheets, double them up (this will prevent the macarons from baking too fast).
Sift together 3 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar , 4 cups almond flour or finely ground blanched almonds and 1 teaspoon allspice in a large bowl. Stir in 4 egg whites, until the mixture is smooth and lump-free.
With a candy thermometer handy, combine 2 cups sugar and ½ cup water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. If sugar sticks to the sides of the pot, dip a pastry brush in water and brush the sides.
While the sugar is cooking, put the remaining 5 egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Once the sugar reaches 221° F on the candy thermometer, start beating the eggs on high speed. When the sugar reaches 250° F, pour it into the eggs in a slow stream, with the mixer running, down the inside of the bowl. Continue beating until the meringue is thick and the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch.
With a silicone spatula, gently fold the meringue into the dry ingredients and 5 drops orange food coloring, in 4 increments. Fold until everything is well combined.
Spoon the batter into a pastry bag, or into a resealable plastic bag and cut a ½-inch opening in the tip or corner of the bag. Pipe the batter into quarter-size circles onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between each macaron. The macarons should have a uniform size. Let them sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes, until a skin forms. This will transform into a beautiful crust on the finished macarons.
Put the macarons in the oven and turn the oven off for 5 minutes. After that time, turn it back on to 400° F, and continue baking for 8 minutes, until a crust forms and they are soft inside. Remove from the oven and let the macarons cool on the pans.
Make the ganache: Start by bringing 12 teaspoon cream to a boil. Mix 4 teaspoon cornstarch and 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar together in a separate bowl. Temper the cream into the sugar and cornstarch mixture, then pour back into the pan. Let the mixture cook and when it comes to a boil, add 6 tablespoons pumpkin puree, 2 teaspoons allspice, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and a pinch of ginger. Mix well. Pour the mixture over 3.2 ounces white chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Let the ganache cool, stirring occasionally with a silicone spatula until it reaches about 104° F and then add 7 tablespoon butter.
Pour the ganache onto a sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap and let the ganache cool at room temperature for at least 3 hours or overnight. (Note: It is best to prepare the ganache the day before to get the smoothest consistency.)
Assemble the macarons: Turn the silicone baking mat over and carefully pull it away from the macarons to free them up. Turn half of the macarons over so that their flat side is facing up.
Spoon the ganache into a pastry bag, or into a resealable plastic bag and cut a ½-inch opening in the tip or corner of the bag. Pipe a nickel-size amount of ganache in the center of the macarons that are facing up. Gently press the remaining macarons over the ganache, to make small sandwiches. Try to match the size of the two halves as much as possible.
Store the macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Makes about 50 macarons.