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Philip Khoury (chef)

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This article is about the chef. For the historian, see Philip S. Khoury.
Philip Khoury
BornJuly 1990[1]
Westmead, New South Wales, Australia
Education
Known forPastry, Dessert, Plant-based baking, Beirut Chocolate
Culinary career
Cooking stylePlant-based desserts
Award(s) won
  • Honorary Fellowship, Western Sydney University, 2024
Websitewww.philipkhoury.com

Philip Khoury (born 1990) is an Australian pastry chef who specialises in plant-based desserts. From 2018 to 2025, he was Head Pastry Chef at Harrods in London. His debut book A New Way to Bake (2023) won a Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Award, among other accolades.

Early life

[edit]

Khoury is one of four children of Lebanese Catholic parents, his mother from Tannourine and his father from Dinniyeh, who had fled in light of the Lebanese Civil War.[2] Khoury was born in Westmead and grew up in Oatlands, a Parramatta suburb of Sydney. He attended Parramatta Marist High School.[3]

Khoury graduated with a Bachelor of Design from the Western Sydney University.[4] He began his career as a communications designer and became interested in baking after visiting Paris.[5] At age 21, at the encouragement of his boss who loved his homemade bakes,[6] Khoury signed up for a retail baking apprenticeship at TAFE NSW in Ryde.[7]

Career

[edit]

Khoury began his career working at Peter Gilmore's restaurant Quay and with Anna Polyviou at the Shangri-La Sydney. He was then an assistant to pâtissier Adriano Zumbo.[8]

At age 29 while visiting London, Khoury was offered a position as Head of Pastry at Harrods. Whilst at Harrods, he oversaw a team of over 50 chefs who produce pastry items for the department store's various restaurants, food halls, and culinary lines.[9][10] He stepped down from the position at the start of 2025, stating it was "time to take the next step" after a "fulfilling" six years.[11]

In 2023 via Quadrille Publishing, Khoury published his debut cookbook A New Way to Bake, which contains plant-based baking recipes and reimaginings of classic and international desserts. Khoury promotes sustainable practices, challenging the industry's reliance on eggs and dairy.[12][13] While his work is high end, Khoury believes in making food and baking accessible to ordinary people. He has also called for increased support for culinary programmes.[7] A New Way to Bake was awarded Best Debut Cookery Book at the 2024 Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Awards,[14] Best Vegan Cookbook by PETA UK,[15] and featured on 2023 and 2024 cookbook lists by Harper's Bazaar,[16] British GQ,[17] and Delicious magazine.[18] Khoury also won the Innovation Award at the inaugural La Liste Pastry Special Awards for his advancements to the plant-based pastry.[19]

Khoury has made recurring appearances on the BBC One programme Saturday Kitchen and contributed articles and recipes to The Guardian and BBC Food.[20][21] He was also a guest judge in episodes of Bake Off: The Professionals on Channel 4[22] and appeared on This Morning and Good Morning America to talk about A New Way to Bake.[23][24]

Khoury created Beirut Chocolate, a product that garnered notable attention in the Middle Eastern market in 2025. Initially introduced as a limited edition offering during the London Douk Fundraising for Lebanon Market in February 2025, the chocolate quickly gained popularity. The bar combines orange blossom caramel, twice-baked baklava, cashew crème, and almond milk chocolate, and features a vintage Lebanese postage stamp and a London postmark.[25][26]

Awards

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Bibliography

[edit]
  • A New Way to Bake: Re-imagined Recipes for Plant-Based Cakes, Bakes and Desserts (2023)

References

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  1. ^ Harris, Rob (10 October 2023). "Why the UK can't get enough of a boy from Sydney's suburbs and his pioneering desserts". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  2. ^ Talass, Rawaa (28 January 2024). "Recipes for success: Lebanese-Australian head pastry chef of Harrods offers advice, a cookies recipe". Arab News. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  3. ^ Harris, Rob (16 April 2022). "Meet the Aussie conquering the world's 'last frontier' of food: vegan desserts". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  4. ^ Braidy, Nour (2 January 2024). "Philip Khoury, Harrods' visionary Lebanese pastry chef". L'Orient. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Exclusive Interview with Philip Khoury: The Chef Who Shows How Good Vegan Bakery Can Be". Gastro Masa. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  6. ^ Prendergast, Lara (12 September 2023). "With Philip Khoury". The Spectator. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b Vella, Joanne (17 February 2024). "Harrods chef, former Ryde TAFE student Philip Khoury calls for more funding". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Career Spotlight: Phil Khoury, Pay and Progression". CounterTalk. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  9. ^ Almond, Imogen (30 August 2023). "5 minutes with… Philip Khoury". Brummell Magazine. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Aussie making desserts in famous department store". Baking Business. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  11. ^ Jungmin Seo (20 January 2025). "Chef Phil Khoury leaves Harrods after six years". The Caterer. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
  12. ^ Seo, Jungmin (11 September 2023). "Book review: A New Way to Bake by Philip Khoury". The Caterer. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Philip Khoury: A Visionary Pastry Chef Crafting a New Way to Bake". Pastry Arts Magazine. 8 November 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  14. ^ "#FAndMAwards". Fortnum & Mason. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Divine Desserts From Harrods' Head Pastry Chef". PETA. 17 April 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  16. ^ Strunck, Clara; Chappet, Marie-Claire (21 March 2024). "Up your kitchen etiquette with the best cookbooks to buy now". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  17. ^ Bugler, Daphne; Dedezade, Esat (1 December 2023). "The 32 best cookbooks to buy in 2024". GQ. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  18. ^ Diacono, Mark (2023). "Our favourite cookbooks of 2023 so far". Delicious. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  19. ^ "LA LISTE Celebrates First Anniversary of World's Best Pastry Shop Selection, Launches Inaugural Global LA LISTE Pastry Special Awards". Perishable. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  20. ^ "Philip Khoury recipes". BBC Food. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  21. ^ "Philip Khoury". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  22. ^ Graham, Charles (30 August 2023). "Wigan patisserie through to the final of Bake Off:The Professionals". Wigan Today. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  23. ^ "Harrods' head pastry chef's perfect chocolate fudge cake". ITV. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  24. ^ "Harrod's pastry chef shares chocolate cake recipe". ABC News. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  25. ^ Kontrafouri, Filio (2025-02-19). "Beirut Chocolate: The New Middle-Eastern Bar Hoping to Sideline the Viral Dubai Chocolate". GreekReporter.com. Retrieved 2025-02-23.
  26. ^ Gharib, Taleen El (2025-02-18). "Step Aside Dubai Chocolate, Beirut Chocolate Is Here!". Beirut.com. Retrieved 2025-02-23.
  27. ^ "La Liste". La Liste (in Chinese). Retrieved 2025-02-23.
  28. ^ "Vegan Food Awards 2023". PETA UK. Retrieved 2025-02-23.
  29. ^ "Fortnum & Mason Awards 2024: Henry Jeffreys wins Drink Book of the Year - Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News". harpers.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-02-23.
  30. ^ University, Western Sydney. "Graduation honours for leading Australians". www.westernsydney.edu.au. Retrieved 2025-02-23.
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