Osvaldo Ortega
Tout Chocolat
Osvaldo was born and raised in Mexico City where he began studying Culinary Arts at Centro Culinario Ambrosia in 2006.
After graduating in the summer of 2008, he apprenticed at Paradis catering company in Madrid, Spain, where he learned bread and pastry in large scale production.
Using his experience abroad, Osvaldo returned to México and worked for catering company Ambrosia which included Centro Libanés and Banquetes Ambrosia doing mostly pastries for large functions.
In 2010 Osvaldo was hired as head baker for Dulce Patria restaurant in México City where he quickly learned the discipline and rigor of a fine dining establishment. During that period Osvaldo took professional pastry courses with top pastry chefs such as: Christophe Adam, Christophe Michalak, En-Ming Hsu and Christophe Rhedon (MOF)
In 2011 he joined Tout Chocolat as a chocolate assistant and quickly climbed to become head chocolatier in March 2015.
Minoru Miyazaki
Guckenheimer Enterprises
Pastry Chef Minoru Miyazaki grew up in Hokkaido, Japan. He studied baking and Pastry in Tokyo at Tsuji Culinary School, and fine-tuned his techniques and skills working in several pastry shops in Japan. In 2006 Chef Miyazaki moved to the United States to help open several pastry shops in California and Hawaii. After several years of doing this he continued to gain hospitality and pastry experience by working in different environments, including some of the finest hotels and restaurants in the Bay Area, where he continued to improve and contribute his ability and experience. Chef Miyazaki joined the Guckenheimer team in 2014, where he is now Pastry Chef. When he is not working with his pastry team in kitchen, he loves being in the warm California sun and wood working at home.
Katharina McCawley
Pretty Cake Machine
Born and raised in Germany, Katharina was surrounded by passionate bakers since childhood. In adulthood she decided to pursue her passion, studying pastry at Le Cordon Bleu Atlanta before beginning her career with an internship turned decorator position under Chef Bronwen Weber at Frosted Art Bakery in Dallas, TX.
She has since moved back to the Atlanta and worked at or managed various cake shops, restaurants and bakeries in the area. In early 2014 she focused her attention on Pretty Cake Machine (http://aprettycakemachine.com), a website dedicated to making pastry techniques fun and accessible for home and experienced bakers alike. In its first year, Pretty Cake Machine has received spotlights on websites such as Hello Giggles, PopHangover, Thrillist, The Daily Dot and more. In addition to managing the site, Katharina provides pastries and decorated cakes for Espresso Place in Marietta, GA.
Asha Hertel
Omni Grove Park Inn
After being a part of an inspirational culinary program at her Asheville, NC high school Asha’s culinary flame was sparked. She was chosen as a competitor in the Johnson & Wales National High School Culinary Scholarship Competition; later she went on to earn her Bachelors degree in The Baking and Pastry Arts, as well as her Masters of Arts in Teaching in Food Service Education. She spent time studying abroad and has since been working in the Culinary/Hospitality Industry. She is currently working as the Assistant Pastry Chef at the historic Omni Grove Park Inn where she provides a variety of cakes and pastries for restaurants, weddings, banquets, special occasions and buffets.
Michael Craig
St. Regis Atlanta
With more than 16 years of sweet and savory culinary experience, Chef Michael Craig brings a unique culinary perspective and experience to the role of Pastry Chef at The St. Regis Atlanta. He oversees the hotel’s pastry team and creation of all desserts for Astor Court and the extensive banquet operation.
Prior to joining The St. Regis, Chef Michael held positions at various Omni Hotels, and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Throughout his career he has had a passion for science, flavor, and art. When Chef Michael is not in the kitchen he loves spending time with his wife and son.
Chef Michael hails from Bloomington, Indiana. After starting his career as a line cook, Chef Michael took a position baking baguettes and fell in love with baking and the sweeter side of the kitchen. Shortly after, he attended Florida Culinary Institute in West Palm Beach, FL.
Pete Schmutte
Cerulean
Getting his start filling a bake case in Bloomington, Indiana, Peter Schmutte soon realized that his path lay in the kitchen. After several years cutting his pastry teeth in some well regarded private club bake shops, Schmutte headed to Chicago’s French Pastry School, graduating in 2005. His next steps took him to the height of contemporary cuisine with pastry cook positions at Tru and NoMI. He then undertook a position with The Wolfgang Puck company, executing parties and helping train staff across the Midwest. After getting his fill of life on the road, Schmutte returned to his roots in time to head up the newly opened Cerulean in Indianapolis, where he’s looking to up the Midwest’s pastry game.
Saber Rejbi & Plamen Marinov
Saber Rejbi
Executive Pastry Chef
Advanced Gouremt
Chef Saber Rejbi grew up in the south of France where he fell in love with the world of pastry. Saber has acquired multiple degrees in pastry and baking including: CAP Pastry/Chocolate maker/Ice-Cream maker/Confectioner, Mention Complementaire (specialized in pastry), and an Advance Level of the Brevet Technique des Métiers (specialized in pastry). Saber learned to master the art of fine dining cuisine and pastry as a Demi-Chef de partie at the prestigious 5-Star Hôtel de Crillon under a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF). Today, Chef Saber is the Executive Pastry Chef for Advanced Gourmet where he will continue to expand his already vast knowledge of the pastry and frozen-dessert industry.
Plamen Marinov
Chef
Advanced Gouremt
Chef Plamen Marinov, while continuing his educational journey, has explored many adventurous avenues within the AG culinary offerings. Chef Plamen holds a degree in Culinary Arts and remains a full time student, pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in Food Science. Much of Plamen’s curriculum throughout his education has allowed him to dovetail the educational experience with the exciting modernist tools offered by AG including the Pacojet, the Effe Vertical Batch Freezer, and the all new Hotmix Pro. Plamen has been instrumental in the development of training tools used by the AG staff including frozen dessert balancing calculators and specialty frozen dessert recipes.
Kengo Akabame & Toshinori Akishiro
Kengo Akabame
Pastry Chef
Imperial Hotel Tokyo
Kengo is the pastry chef at Imperial Hotel Tokyo since 2006. In 2009, he got the grand prix at International Junior Concours in Portgees. Also, in 2012, he won the Japan Bellecolade Award. He won many other domestic showpiece competitions in Japan. He is one of the most famous young chocolatier in Japan now.
Toshinori Akishiro
Pastry Chef
Imperial Hotel
Toshinori is the pasty chef at Imperial hotel since 1996. He has been working under the executive pastry chef Kanjiro Mochizuki. He won numerous sugar showpiece championships including “Japan Cake Show Top of Patissier 2006” and “International Patisseire Grand Prix 2009” both held in Tokyo. As for IPGP, he was a captain of Japan team and his sugar showpiece got the best sugar showpiece award and the team got the gold medal. Now, he is more interested in chocolate. He got the gold award at Utsumi Cup Chocolate showpiece category in 2011.
Justin Fry
Norman Love Confections
Justin Fry was born in Wichita, Kansas and moved to his mother’s native country in the Philippines when he was 3 years old while his father served in the military. Ultimately, the family settled in Rio Rancho, New Mexico where he attended high school with studies in music.
Upon graduating from high school, Fry attended New Mexico State University as a music performance major. During his free time, he made cakes for friends and family and when asked to bake a wedding cake for a friend, he discovered a true interest in pastry. Researching videos on techniques, he became fascinated with artistry in chocolate which helped solidify his career path.Continue reading
Gretchen George
Gretchen K. George was born in Korea, and raised in Mechanicsburg, Pa. At an early age, she developed a love for cooking, and began her first professional cooking and cake decorating classes in high school. It was during this time, she realized that cooking was a profitable way to use your creativity and art skills.
In 1993, after graduating from (PICA) Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts, she moved to Atlanta to begin her externship at the Ritz Carlton, Buckhead. Here rotating throughout the Pastry shop and learning how to make products from all shifts created a strong foundation. In 1996, she began work at the Villa Christina and soon met mentor Executive Pastry Chef Paul Bodrogi. Chef Paul was instrumental in fine-tuning her previous training, by putting emphasis on individual flavors, style, and creating unique desserts that had an emphasis on flavor.
Throughout the years, working at various restaurants, hotels and private clubs in the Atlanta area wedding cakes were always where her love was. Taking continuing education classes from Nicholas Lodge since the late 90’s has helped given her the expertise needed to become a true sugar artist specializing in wedding cakes and gum paste flowers.
Today, Chef George continues to do specialty cakes, but her main focus has been teaching. For the past 8 years Chef George has been teaching Baking and Pastry Classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Tucker, Ga. She has made appearances on the Atlanta Morning Show, and been seen in The Atlanta Business Chronicle, and Season’s magazine. In 2013, Chef George also took second place in Pastry Live’s Art of Cake competition.