Former Mansion on Turtle Creek Pastry Chef David Collier to Spoon with John Tesar

It's official: David Collier, former executive pastry chef at The Mansion on Turtle Creek, is returning to Dallas to head up the sweet side of the kitchen at John Tesar's Spoon.

Collier and Tesar formerly worked together at The Mansion from 2006 to 2009; the two played a large role in the reinvention of the formerly stodgy legendary restaurant by pushing its culinary programs into more modern territory. Collier departed The Mansion in 2011 to take the executive pastry chef position at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City in Arlington, Virginia, where he has worked since. Via a press release, the James Beard-nominated pastry chef says, "John and I share the same culinary viewpoint. I have always respected him as a chef, and I am thrilled to work with him again."

Collier will take over for Joe Baker, the Le Cordon Bleu pastry instructor (and recent Sweet Genius contestant) who has acted as Spoon's pastry consultant since it opened in November. Collier's new menu will debut February 8; his desserts "will be light and focus on different textures and unexpected combinations of ingredients".

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