Faculty - EPGB - Escola de Pastisseria del Gremi de Barcelona

Faculty

High-level teaching staff committed to training

The EPGB teaching team is made up of renowned pastry professionals as well as experts from complementary fields such as nutrition, savory cuisine, and art. At the same time, external pastry chefs with extensive professional experience give masterclasses to complement students’ knowledge.

A large part of the faculty trained at the Escola de Pastisseria del Gremi de Barcelona or has established a strong collaborative link with it. The combination of young and experienced talent guarantees a very complete view of today’s pastry world.

The team of teachers at the Escola de Pastisseria

Since September 2024, pastry chef Saray Ruiz has held the position of director of EPGB, and the core teaching staff is completed by Adrián Ruiz, Lluïsa Estrada and Laia Almirall. All four are alumni of the school, where they stood out among the best of their classes.

Saray Ruiz

Director

She has led EPGB since 2024 — she is the first woman to do so in the school’s 50 years of existence — and previously was a teacher at the center for more than a decade. She currently continues to combine her teaching role with directing the center, following an approach based on critical thinking and high professional standards in daily work. Recognized for her great creativity and versatility, especially in working with chocolate and ice cream, she was named Best Master Artisan Chocolatier of Spain in 2019 and won the International Chocolate Figures Competition in 2017 and 2021.

Adrián Ruiz

Third-year teacher

Winner of the Spanish Pastry Championship in 2018, he has built his professional career in some of the best restaurants and pastry establishments in Barcelona, holding positions of responsibility at Albert Adrià’s restaurant Tickets, the Marriott hotel chain, La Pastisseria, and Badia Roca. He combines a strong technical foundation with great creativity across all areas of pastry, with a particular focus on viennoiserie, laminated doughs, and restaurant pastry.

Lluïsa Estrada

Second-year teacher

She has worked in high-demand environments such as the Le Méridien hotels in Dubai and Four Seasons in Madrid, as well as prestigious pastry shops like Panod (Madrid) and Natcha (Barcelona). She has also completed internships at the Culinary Institute of America in New York with professionals such as Stéphane Weber, Noa Carrol, and Hans J. Walker, and at Dobla B.V. in Alkmaar (Netherlands) with Michelle Willaume and Bart de Gans. Her experience and commitment bring rigor and creativity to her teaching practice. She stands out in caramel and puff pastry.

Laia Almirall

First-year teacher

After six years working in the workshop of the historic Núria pastry shop in Terrassa and completing internships with Melissa Coppel in Las Vegas and Antonio Bachour in Miami, she joined EPGB as a teacher in 2024. With a career that combines vocation, dynamism, and commitment to training, she supports students in the early stages of their learning. She specializes in brioche doughs and inclusive pastry.

On the other hand, two external teachers with long-standing experience at the school are responsible for teaching complementary subjects in the annual courses: Lucía Bultó, nutritionist (Dietetics and Nutrition), and Montserrat Saperas (Plastic Tools, Costing, and Management and Optimization of workshop resources).

Reference speakers for transversal subjects

As for pastry masters who carry out regular collaborations, the following stand out: Olivier Fernández (bean to bar), César Romero (chocolate bonbon and ice cream formulation), Maties Miralles (bonbons and ensaïmades), Miquel Guarro (individual pastries), Raúl Bernal (bonbons and individual pieces), Lluís Costa (croissants and fried doughs), Ken Ochiai (Asian pastry), Tugues (salads), Jesús Roldán (bread), Mario Romani (airbrushing), Lucila Canero (adapted pastry), Marc Suárez (fondant), Tejasvi Chandela (Indian pastry) and Evaristo Triano (rice dishes), among others.

To them are added other major names in international pastry who collaborate occasionally with EPGB, both from Catalonia (Albert Adrià, Christian Escribà, Oriol Balaguer and Lluc Crusellas) and from the rest of the world: Kirsten Tibballs, Amaury Guichon, Frank Haasnoot, Cédric Grolet, Yun Eunyoung and Antonio Bachour, among others.

An efficient academic and administrative management team

To ensure the proper functioning of EPGB, the work of support staff is essential, providing direct and close assistance to students. They are an indispensable help in facilitating enrolments, speeding up procedures and resolving doubts. The academic management staff are Gemma Ramírez and Judit Pujal.