Four of the world’s best pastry chefs will compete in Season Three of the Emmy award-winning Chicago Restaurant Pastry Competition, “International.” The finalists were selected for their creativity and outstanding plated desserts, and were chosen from dozens of submissions made by elite pastry chefs around the world.
“Every year is different,” says Jimmy MacMillan, event organizer and 2013 Top Ten pastry chef, “but this season the challenges include elite competitors from all over the map, bringing all different food cultures and experiences head to head. The bar has been seriously raised.”
A new challenge has also been added to the menu: Artisan Gelato Milkshake, which MacMillan describes as “a plated dessert, blended and layered in a glass with tricked-out garnishes.” Combined with two existing challenges — Signature Plated Dessert and Mystery Casting, the chefs will have more to manage than ever in the all-in-one-day event, taking place Sunday, September 15. The competition will be captured on film and released in four episodes on JMPurePastry.com starting with a teaser release in December and one episode each month until April 2014.
The Chef Finalists selected to compete in Season Three are:
- Michaela Hapak Splendido Restaurant Toronto, Canada
- Sander Goosens Sander Goosens Patisserie Antwerp, Belgium
- Jim Hutchison Winvian Relais & Chateaux Morris, Connecticut
- Sean Pera The Umstead Hotel & Spa Cary, North Carolina
This year’s celebrity judges will be superlative pastry chef Antoinio Bachour from St. Regis Bal Harbour in Miami, Curtis Duffy from acclaimed new restaurant Grace in Chicago, and avant garde globe-trotter Will Goldfarb representing Ku De Ta in Bali.
