U.S. Pastry Team Practices at The Art Institute of California - Los Angeles for Upcoming World Pastry Cup

U.S. Pastry Team Practices at The Art Institute of California - Los Angeles for Upcoming World Pastry Cup SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Tucked away in a second floor pastry kitchen in Santa Monica, CA for the past six months, you would find some of the worlds most talented pastry chefs -- if you knew where to look. The United States Pastry Team has been hiding away, practicing in secrecy at The Art Institute of California - Los Angeles to master their creations for the upcoming competition in Lyons, France on January 23-24, 2005. Team U.S.A. will be competing against 20 other countries at Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie, better known in the United States as the World Pastry Cup 2005. Unique in concept, the World Pastry Cup is the profession's most important event. It is held every two years in association with SIRHA, the International Hotel, Catering and Food Trade Exhibition, drawing in 163,000 visitors from over 124 countries. Hand-picked by former White House Pastry Chef, Roland Mesnier, this year's team consists of Donald Wressell, Executive Pastry Chef at Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, Derek Poirier, Pastry Chef for Albert Uster Imports, Andrew Shotts, Owner of Garrison Confections in Rhode Island and President of the team, En-Ming Hsu, Pastry Chef Consultant. While En-Ming will serve with the other team presidents as a judge for the competition, the other three team members will have exactly 10 hours at the competition to create an ice sculpture, a sculpture consisting only of sugar and a sculpture made exclusively of chocolate. All of the sculptures must follow the team-chosen Tropical theme. The competition also requires that the competitors create a chocolate cake, restaurant-style, plated dessert and a frozen dessert. They will make several of each dessert to serve to the judges. When asked what the champions of the competition win, En-Ming replied, "For some, the competition is a door opener, although I think most chefs compete for the experience and the opportunity. It is also a nice addition to a resume." En-Ming, along with current team captain, Donald Wressell, competed in 2001 on Team U.S.A. and took top honors. "This is something you do in addition to your job," says En-Ming. "You work because it's your job, but you do this competition because you love what you do." The practices were organized with the team by Assistant Culinary Director Daniel Drumlake and have been happening a few weekends each month, for the past six months. "We set the clocks to 10 hours and treat each practice as if it were the real contest," said En-Ming. "The faculty and students here at The Art Institute of California - Los Angeles have been great too. The culinary students have helped us get organized and have followed our progress over the months. It has been a good learning experience for them early in their careers to see the possibilities ahead ... and I don't think the taste- tests hurt them either." When asked about a sneak peak at the teams' creations, Culinary Director of The Art Institute of California - Los Angeles Chef Christophe Bernard reported, "While the details of their masterpieces remain a secret until the competition, I can tell you that their work is highly crafted and elaborate, and will make the United States proud. It has been wonderful having them here at our school, both for the faculty and the students. They are a talented group and we support them all the way." About the Art Institute of California - Los Angeles The Art Institute of California - Los Angeles is one of The Art Institutes ( http://www.artinstitutes.edu/ ), with 31 education institutions located throughout North America, providing an important source of design, media arts, fashion and culinary professionals. The parent company of The Art Institutes, Education Management Corporation ( http://www.edmc.com/ ) is among the largest providers of private post-secondary education in North America, based on student enrollment and revenue. Student enrollment exceeded 66,000 as of fall 2004. EDMC has 70 primary campus locations in 24 states and two Canadian provinces. EDMC's education institutions offer a broad range of academic programs concentrated in the media arts, design, fashion, culinary arts, behavioral sciences, health sciences, education, information technology and business fields, culminating in the award of associate's through doctoral degrees. EDMC has provided career-oriented education for over 40 years. Source: Art Institute of California - Los Angeles CONTACT: Nicki Dixon of The Art Institutes, +1-310-314-6037, or ndixon@aii.edu Web site: http://www.artinstitutes.edu/ http://www.edmc.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment