Dessert Professional Magazine: Top 10 Chocolatiers
Dessert Professional Magazine: Top 10 Chocolatiers
Dessert Professional Magazine held an event at ICE to honor the ten chocolatiers they recently named as the best in the country. This meant copious amounts of chocolates and along lasting sugar high for those of us that were tasting. A few of the stand out items I tried were the candy bars, roguefort cheese, a squid ink, sesame, Vietnamese iced coffee, ghost pepper and pumpkin chocolates. In…
Monday night the best of the best in pastry and dessert making came out to celebrate the Top Ten Pastry chefs in America as chosen by Dessert Professional Magazine. The desserts the chefs presented on Monday were all jaw-dropping beautiful and perhaps in response to Adam Platt's recent rant on the lack of restaurant pastry chefs. Chef Ghaya Oliveira's "Cherry Tart" (pictured above) with a rosemary sour cherry compote, chocolate financier and Tainori bavaroise was particularly gorgeous. The combination of cherry and chocolate was the perfect way to evoke the feeling and taste of summer in one bite.
Other highlights of the night were Spago pastry chef Della Gossett's white chocolate "Crottin" with goat cheese, cherry preserve and garnished with local micro herbs. The local herbs which chef Gossett had just procured from the greenmarket really added a freshness and a nice California-style touch to the event. I'm sure this would have been Alice Waters' fave if she were there. I also enjoyed (as I always do!) Lafayette pâtissière Jennifer Yee's mastery of éclairs. Other standout desserts were Katzie Guy-Hamilton of Max Brenner's east meets west chocolate torte topped with toasted matcha and pistachio gelatio and Georges Berger of Chocolate Fashion's White Peach Mousse with pistachio brittle.
More photos below:
Della Gossett's White Chocolate “Crottin” with Surinam Cherry Preserve
Jen Yee's Lemon Meringue Éclairs being torched
Katzie Guy-Hamilton's "Suntory" Chocolate Torte with Toasted Matcha, Pistachio Gelato, Coconut and Cherries
Sketch of Georges Berger's Dessert
Georges Berger's Pistachio Brittle & White Peach Mousse with Griotte Mascarpone Sorbet
Chef Ghaya Oliveira prepping her cherry tart
Jennifer Yee, one of the hardest working pastry chefs in America
All of this years' honorees. From L to R 2nd row Georges Berger, Katzie Guy-Hamilton, Della Gossett, Joshua Johnson, Derek Poirer, Rudie Weider, Ghaya Oliveira, 1st row Ebow Dadzie, Cher Harris, Jennifer Yee (Photo courtesy Dessert Professional and The Chef's Connection)
