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Let me preface this entry by saying that I am particularly surly these days due to the heat and lack of air conditioning in my office. Only 2 more days left of this job, so I can sweat it out. That said, I went to the 2006 “10 Best Pastry Chefs in America” at the Institute for Culinary Education last night. I typically like going to these events to see who is in the audience and snack on some tasty bites. I arrived late (I work late-ish) and made my way to the room they were doing the award presentation. It was a standing room, everyone had a glass of wine and no one was paying any attention to the ceremony. The audience was constantly being shushed by the presenter, which worked for all of 3 seconds then the party would begin again. It was a pathetic forum for such an event and I felt bad for those people getting and giving the awards.

Now onto my favorite part: the food and booze. They had free Mumm, which is meh, but I’ll happily drink it. There were piles of Godiva chocolates around the venue, which I didn’t indulge in because I think Godiva is crap. Each of the 10 best chefs had a dessert or two out for us freeloaders to try. I have to say, I was disappointed for the most part. Jean Francois Bonnet was a standout as was whoever had mini sliders (yes mini sliders… even smaller than a slider & served open faced). I can’t remember who made the sliders… Nicole Kaplan? Sherry Yard? I guess they actually weren’t a standout since I can’t recall who was responsible for the yum-gasm. The dish by Room 4 Dessert was inedible… I barely got through one bite and the rest got tossed… yes, tossed I would insult a hobo if I gave it to him. (I warned you that I was surly)

At least I got to catch up with the lovely PastryScoop ladies, Judiaann & Raina… always good to see them. Also in attendance were Rose Levy Beranbaum, Martin Howard, Richard Bies, and the folks from Pastry Art & Design.