I know that I mentioned last week that Brooklyn Uncorked is one of my favorite food events of the year. Well, another annual gathering about which I get equally excited is the Dessert Professional Magazine Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America ceremony and dessert tasting, which was held this past Monday night. I have a massive sweet tooth, and, as I generally work on the savory side of the kitchen, getting to eat and see incredible confections from some of the country’s (and the world’s) most talented pastry chefs is a real treat. For one evening, I get to hang out in Willie Wonka’s workshop!
Richard Grausman – Founder & Chairman of C-CAP
Before the dessert tasting starts, however, there is the awards ceremony which recognizes the hard work and dedication of all of the chefs who were selected. In the audience, I spotted some past winners, maybe a few potential future nominees, as well as other well-known pastry chefs. Each year, too, one person is recognized for his or her significant contribution to the industry. This year, Richard Grausman, the Founder and Chairman of C-CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program), was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He also announced that, starting in 2015, his organization would be awarding an annual scholarship to be applied to any pastry and baking program at The Institute of Culinary Education (the event host).
Mixing bowls from KitchenAid engraved with each chef’s name
After the formal part of the program, we get to visit each of the kitchens where the chefs have set up their tables laden with desserts for us to taste. Do I really eat all of this dessert? Well, honestly, I try to sample most of them. It does get to be a bit overwhelming sometimes. Fortunately, I found a few friends who were willing to share plates with me, so none of us was completely overloaded with sugar. I also captured some pictures of the prep and plating of the desserts, which are visible on my slideshow below. As this was also the 21st anniversary of the event, cocktails as well as sweets were served at many of the stations.
Georges Berger, MOF, Owner of Chocolate Fashion (FL)
Ebow Dadzie, Pastry Chef at NY Marriott Marquis and Pastry Instructor at Monroe College (NY)
Della Gossett, Executive Pastry Chef at Spago (CA)
Katzie Guy-Hamilton, F&B Director and Corporate Pastry Chef at Max Brenner Worldwide (NY)
Cher Harris, Executive Pastry Chef at The Hotel Hershey (PA)
Joshua Johnson, Executive Pastry Chef at Vanilla Patisserie (IL)
Ghaya Oliveira, Executive Pastry Chef at Restaurant Daniel (NY)
Derek Poirier, École du Grand Chocolate Pastry Chef Western USA – Valrhona USA (AZ)
Rudi Weider, Master Pastry Chef at Hilton San Diego Bayfront (CA)
Jennifer Yee, Executive Pastry Chef at Lafayette (NY)
2014 Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America
For my re-caps of the event the previous for the previous two years, please visit these links on this website:
Buon appetito!
Thank you to Ruskin International for inviting me to participate in this event.
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