Schokinag Chocolate Salutes The Real World Pastry Chefs

Schokinag Chocolate North America is excited to announce a new recognition event that will highlight incredibly talented, hard working pastry chefs and allow them to be showcased, awarded cash prizes, and given a chance to win a GRAND PRIZE of $1000!

• Overview
• Prizes
• Criteria and Rules for Entry
• Judges
• Winners

For over 80 years, Schokinag Chocolate has been manufacturing some of the world's best chocolate in its state of the art manufacturing facility in Mannheim Germany. As a fourth generation family owned company, Schokinag has quietly gone about the business of making the highest quality chocolate at an affordable price. Strictly through word of mouth, Schokinag has grown to become the second largest imported chocolate in the U.S. and Canada after entering the North American market over 13 years ago.

Schokinag wants to recognize the pastry chefs that have helped them build this business. These talented pastry chefs put in long hours every day to create fabulous desserts on tight budgets and schedules.

Schokinag highlighted these hard working pastry chefs that met certain criteria. Schokinag then featured this chef on its website with one of their recipes using Schokinag chocolate, a tip they can offer about working with Schokinag chocolate, and a biography and details about their work.

Schokinag Schokoladen Industrie in Mannheim has started its 81st year in business and Schokinag Chocolate North America for more than 13 years. It has been a very interesting journey and Schokinag Chocolate is now the second largest imported chocolate in both the U.S. and Canada. We have worked very hard to make a top quality product that meets the needs of pastry chefs, day in and day out. We have steadily invested tremendous sums of money, not in promotion and advertising, but in state of the art processing equipment. We have quietly gone about the business of making the highest quality chocolate at a price that people can afford. The comments that we hear over and over from chefs all across the U.S. and Canada: Schokinag is the most forgiving chocolate that they have ever used and they never have trouble with it; Schokinag is the chocolate that works, day in and day out; Schokinag has consistent high quality, at an affordable price. No puffery, no bells and whistles, just great chocolate that a chef can depend on.

So we want to celebrate the customer that we have worked so hard to please - the hard working pastry chef. We aren't looking for the celebrity chefs - while we admire the talents of the pastry chefs on television and in competitions, they are a small percentage of chefs and they are being well celebrated already.

Schokinag wants to recognize the vast majority of pastry chefs that go to work every day and put in 10 to 12 hour days, often working six days a week. The pastry chefs that have to meet tight deadlines, tight budgets and yet still turn out quality desserts that look great and taste great. They have production to turn out and are mostly making tortes, mousses, and other products for their menus, not showpieces. That is the real world and that is where Schokinag Chocolate shines above all others. We feel what these chefs really value is getting a chocolate that works properly and is not temperamental. A chocolate that does not vary from week to week.

To highlight these hardworking pastry chefs, we are choosing three each quarter who meet certain criteria. The top three chefs each quarter will be featured here on our website with one of their recipes using Schokinag chocolate, a tip they can offer about working with Schokinag chocolate, and a biography and details about their work. These quarterly winners will also receive cash awards. The GRAND PRIZE winner at the end of the year will receive an additional cash award of $1000!

If you or someone you know is a great candidate for this award, click here to find out more about entering.

Good luck!!

We will highlight hard working pastry chefs by choosing three each quarter that meets certain criteria. We will then feature this chef on our website with one of their recipes using Schokinag chocolate, a tip they can offer about working with Schokinag chocolate, and a biography and details about their work. At the end of the year, we will choose the best of the best who will be awarded the grand prize.

Grand Prize (Awarded at the end of the year):

• $1,000

Quarterly Prize (Awarded at the end of each quarter):

• 1st Place: $500
• 2nd Place: $300
• 3rd Place: $150

• Must be a Schokinag Chocolate user
• Must be nominated by their Schokinag distributor

All entrants must submit the following by the last day of each quarter:

• Recipe and picture of a dessert using Schokinag chocolate
• Tip or trick about working with Schokinag chocolate
• Statement of why you like working with Schokinag chocolate
• Current employment history
• Biography

Send all nominees to Cindy Jones:

• By e-mail to: contest@schokinagna.com
• By Fax: 630-852-0734
• By Mail: 123 West Chicago Avenue, Westmont, IL 60559

NOTE: Winners will be announced by the fourth week of the following quarter:

• Elizabeth Smith, Provvista Specialty Foods, Inc.
• Jean-Yves Charon, Founder & Pastry Chef of Galaxy Desserts
• Randy Foster, Executive Pastry Chef for Praml International, Ltd.
• Steven D'Onofrio, Pastry Brand Manager/Product Specialist for Harry Wils & Co.

Elizabeth Smith, Provvista Specialty Foods, Inc.

Elizabeth Smith graduated from the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon with high honors. After graduation in 1995, she worked as a pastry chef in hotels and restaurants including the Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa and Southpark Seafood Grill & Wine Bar. Smith is passionate about pastries and enjoys sharing her talents through various community-minded organizations where she can educate and bring awareness to the culinary industry. She has performed demonstrations for the Portland Farmer's Market, taught pastry classes at Portland Community College and regularly donates cooking classes to Share Our Strength.

In 2002, Smith and her husband, also a chef, were guest chefs at the James Beard House in Manhattan. She has collaborated with many Oregon wineries creating desserts for the International Pinot Noir Celebration and the Steamboat Lodge's "Wine Maker's Dinner Series". Smith is an active member of the Western Culinary Institute Baking and Pastry Advisory Board. She has had recipes published in Chocolatier, Bon Appetit and Northwest Palate.

Smith is currently with Provvista Specialty Foods, Inc. in Portland, Oregon, where she is the resident pastry expert. Her responsibilities include purchasing and sales, as well as product testing and pastry technical support for both customers and for the continuing education of the Provvista staff.

Jean-Yves Charon, Founder & Pastry Chef of Galaxy Desserts

Jean-Yves is the creative talent behind Galaxy Desserts. Having baked desserts for more than 25 years, he has developed expertise in design, innovation and production management. Jean-Yves began his career in 1976 at age 14 as an apprentice at Geraults Bakery in Rennes, France. In 1980, he joined Brioche Doree/Paris Croissant, an international bakery with more than 500 retail outlets worldwide where he was responsible for production, quality control, purchasing, vendor relations and training for company facilities in Paris, London, New York and Canada.

In 1984 he served as production manager for Saralan, a cookie manufacturer. In 1986, he became the Executive Pastry Chef for Harris' Restaurant. Jean-Yves founded Paris Delights in 1988, a baking company which created premium mousse cakes and tarts for premier restaurants and hotels in the Bay Area. In 1998, Paris Delights merged with The Cheesecake Lady to form Galaxy Desserts, Inc.

Randy Foster, Executive Pastry Chef for Praml International, Ltd.

Randy is currently the Executive Pastry Chef for Praml International, Ltd., located in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is responsible for the developement and introduction of new items for the Las Vegas Market.

Previously, Randy opened the 3700 room resort known an Mandalay Bay, located in Las Vegas as the Executive Pastry Chef, where he provided baking and pastry supervision, training and direction, to fourteen (14) food service outlets overseeing a staff of forty (40) bakers and cooks. Prior to his employment with Mandalay Bay Group, Randy was part of the opening Culinary Team for The Mirage and held the Assistant Executive Pastry Chef position for nine years.

Prior employment of Randy's career include positions held in Atlantic City at Trumps Castle, to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Lake Huron, Michigan. Randy's career began at the prestigious Ryland Inn, outside Manhattan.

Randy has competed in numerous ACF Culinary Salons locally and has also competed with the Northern California Culinary Team in Enlon Germany, 2000, taking Silver Medal.

Randy competed two years in the National Beaver Creek Pastry Team Championship, 2000, 2001. He also has been a Culinary Instructor at the Southern Nevada Community College. He has participated as Chair Person for the VICA Commercial Baking Program, sponsered by the State of Nevada Board of Education for the past two years. Randy continues to assist in the development and continuation of Culinary Growth throughout the community.

Steven D'Onofrio, Pastry Brand Manager/Product Specialist for Harry Wils & Co.

Steven D'Onofrio is currently the Pastry Brand Manager/Product Specialist at Harry Wils & Co., a specialty food distributor, based out of Secaucus, NJ, which has a customer base of the finest hotels, restaurants, culinary institutions, and corporate dining in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut market. Prior to this position, he was the Executive Director of The United States Pastry Alliance and Senior Pastry chef instructor at the French Culinary Institute in New York for the last 5 and a half years where he taught classic pastry arts and specialized in all phases of chocolate work, plated desserts and sugar creations. He has consulted for chocolate manufactures and flavor companies on product development and market share acquisition. Steven has written articles for Food Arts magazine and Pastry Art and Design. An active demonstration chef, Steven has been featured at the Salon du Chocolat in New York and was an invited Demonstration Chef at the Beaver Creek Pastry Competition in June of 2000. Steven recently appeared on the Today Show on NBC.

His background includes over eleven years experience at prestigious employers such as Le Cirque, The Essex House Hotel, The Ritz Carlton Hotel San Francisco, and The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone.

As Steven says "I am enthusiastic about the continued sophistication of the American palate, especially as it relates to the appreciation of quality couverture chocolate. Today, people have better access to gourmet chocolates and are demanding more choice as well as more information about what is available. As a culinary professional and educator I have an obligation to learn as much as possible about my field and my specialty in order to be an integral part of the growth of the food culture in this country."

Steven was educated at Pace University in New York where he received a Bachelor's in Business Administration in Public Accounting. He has completed sugar and chocolate classes at Ewald Notter's International School of Confectionary Arts. Steven is a blue ribbon graduate of the professional pastry and baking arts program at The Institute of Culinary Education. Steven also completed the Bread program at the French Culinary Institute in New York. Steven is currently an active member of the Research Chefs Association and has been a member of American Culinary Federation and The United States Pastry Alliance.