Personnel

Van E. French, Jr. is the Corporate Executive Pastry Chef of Genesis Hospitality. He brings over thirty years of professional experience in the culinary and pastry arts to this new role. His wide-ranging experience includes award-winning pastry creations, chef management, and restaurant & bakery management.

Van E. French, Jr. founded Van Earl's Cakes in Bucks County, PA from 2009 to 2019. Specializing in high-end wedding cakes and gourmet desserts, Chef Van provided service to five-star venues in Philadelphia including The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Four Seasons Hotel, and STARR Catering Group (now Constellation Culinary). Prior to joining Genesis Hospitality, Chef Van served as Executive Pastry Chef at the esteemed Hotel Hershey 2019 to 2022 and directed pastry and dessert operations for the hotel's three restaurants and banquet facilities.

Chef Van has been featured in Philadelphia Wedding Magazine, The Philadelphia Modern Luxury Magazine and Philadelphia Style Magazine for his artistic and creative cake designs. He is a three-time Food Network competitor; Food Network's Season 2 "Cake Wars" in 2016, Food Network's 2018 "Wedding Cake Championship" and Food Network's 2018 "Holiday Gingerbread Showdown".

A former monk with a music and Spanish Literature degree from college, Kir decided to change gears and jump into the world of food. Raised on a farm in the countryside of Puerto Rico and with a genuine love and commitment to wholesome ingredients, this was a no-brainer.

Now with twenty years of experience in the culinary arts, with specialties in pastry, chocolate and sugar sculpting, a degree from the Court of Master Sommeliers, and certificates of proficiency in coffee and olive oil, Chef Kir loves the world of food in all its manifestations: planting, growing, harvesting, cooking and, most of all, enjoying it with family and friends.

His love for food has taken him to compete in multiple pastry competitions and appearances on the Food Network. He is a 1998 graduate of the French Culinary Institute under the mentorship of Jacques Torres, Alain Sailhac, Jacques Pepin and Andre Soltner, and has taken additional classes across the United States and in Italy. Chef Kir has worked in renowned Manhattan institutions such as Daniel, Union Square Cafe, Le Cirque and Orso. He later taught at the International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute) for 16 years.

In 2021 he started working as Head Pastry Chef at the Ryland Inn. He loves to explore food during his travels, which have taken him to Canada, Mexico and Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy, Spain, and China. When at home with his spouse, Chef Kir relaxes by working in his garden, or singing in vocal ensembles at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

Eben Copple loves food, drawing culinary inspiration from the local Kansas farmer's markets he visited with his parents in his youth. The Kansas native honed his chef credentials at local restaurants like Lidia's Kansas City, owned by celebrity chef, television host, author, and restauranteur Lidia Bastianich, and Eleven, an innovative eatery in Pittsburgh, PA's Strip District.

Chef Eben continued his career at several of New York City's top restaurants, including WD-50, a Lower East Side mecca of modernist cooking; Barbuto, a beloved West Village Italian spot; and Jovia, a New American restaurant tucked in an Upper East Side townhouse. In 2007, Eben brought his passion for fresh, local flavor to the Yardley Inn in Yardley, PA, as Executive Chef. There, he started the organic riverside kitchen garden that provided a variety of vegetables and herbs for his seasonal menus.

As Culinary Director of Genesis Hospitality, Eben works closely with the Executive Chefs in the group - at properties such as The Peacock Inn, Chez Alice Patisserie in Princeton and Lambertville, NJ; Proof Pizza in Princeton, NJ; Nassau Diner in Princeton, NJ; Lambertville Station Restaurant and Inn in Lambertville, NJ; Washington Crossing Inn in Washington Crossing, PA; and Yardley Inn in Yardley, PA - to build upon their unique restaurant concepts and develop new, exciting ones.