Discover the Pastry Chefs and Chefs in the Americas Selections of Pastry World Cup and the Bocuse d’Or
On June 11th, 12th and 13th, New Orleans will be hosting, for the first time in the USA, the American continent’s selections for the Pastry World Cup and the Bocuse d’Or. Veritable international showcases and springboards, these two great competitions in the gastronomic sphere reveal the most technically accomplished and committed pastry chefs and cooks of their generation. These Americas selections determine the three teams of pastry chefs and the five chefs that will represent their country at these competitions’ forthcoming Grand Final that will be held in January 2025 at the time of Sirha Lyon event, in France.
Among the teams present on June 11th at the time of the Americas selection of the Pastry World Cup, a new country will be making its first appearance in the competition: Paraguay. This selection’s only 100% female team consists of Chiara Pederzani, production director in a group specialized in bakery, pastry and deli products, and Johanna Borgognon, co-owner of the Twins Bakery pastry shop with her twin sister.
After having hosted and won the 2022 Americas selection, Chile will once again be taking part. The title holder will be represented by Rodrigo Rojas, owner of the Atelier Guró and former Pastry World Cup candidate in 2019, along with Nadia Castillo, owner of her pastry business Dulcívoro and teacher in a catering school.
After an absence of fifteen years, Canada, which made its great return to the competition at the 2022 Americas selection, will be back in the running for a place in this year’s Grand Finale. Particularity, the country is being represented by two French expatriates who have lived in Quebec for many years: Olivier Potier, owner of his own pastry and gourmet grocery shop Chez Potier, in the Old Montreal district, and Christophe Sportellini, at the head of his confectionery shop Nani Nono in Val-David.
Echoing the “United States” destination, Ewald Notter – winner of the Pastry World Cup in 2001 with Team USA as the sugar candidate in the only US team to have won the competition to date – takes on the role of Honorary President. During the competition’s five and a half hours, the candidates will be assessed by a jury of renowned chefs. After having taken part in the European selection of the Bocuse d’Or, in Trondheim in March as a member of the Cuisine Jury, the American chef Mathew Peters, grand winner of the 2017 Bocuse d’Or, is joining the restaurant dessert jury. Among others, he will be accompanied by Gustavo Sáez, founder of La Roja Dulce – Chile’s national pastry team – and elected the best pastry chef by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants for the Latin American continent in 2016, along with Eunji Lee and Patrice Demers.
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On June 12th and 13th, nine candidates from all over the American continent will be confronting each other in their attempt to win a place in the Grand Final of the Bocuse d’Or, in Lyon in January 2025. The United States, this selection’s host, will be represented by Stefani De Palma, who will have the great responsibility of achieving the hat-trick for her country after its victories in 2020 and 2022. The American chef worked, in particular, for more than ten years at the Addison*** restaurant, years during which the restaurant gradually earned its three stars.
In parallel with its pastry team, Canada will also be represented at the Bocuse d’Or Americas by chef Keith Pears. After having quickly risen up through the ranks and gained a great deal of experience in many renowned establishments, he is today corporate executive chef at Accencis, a Canadian group that owns more than thirty restaurants all across the country.
A promising country after having come fourth during the last Bocuse d’Or Americas in 2022, Colombia will be able to count on Diego Felipe Torres Giraldo to fly the flag for his country. Currently deputy executive chef at the Hilton hotel in Bogota, he likes to work high-quality fresh produce to offer a memorable culinary experience.
Emblematic figure of Louisiana, the choice of Emeril Lagasse as Honorary President of this edition of the Bocuse d’Or Americas goes without saying. This keen cook – trained in France and the United States – has been at the head of his own restaurants in Florida, Louisiana and Las Vegas since 1990, and has a strong influence on the gastronomy scene throughout the US. As is the custom, the role of the President of the Jury will be taken on by the previous winner of the continental selection. It is therefore Jeffery Hayashi, winner of the last Bocuse d’Or Americas and ninth at the Grand Final 2023, who will be in charge of coordinating the jury consisting of nine international chefs.