DessertBuzz is very excited about Top Chef: Just Desserts which premieres September 15 at 11:00 p.m. EST.  on Bravo.  Not only will dessert finally get the credit it deserves, but this show will have a decidedly New York feel to it.

New York City is well represented with 27 year old Zac Young from Flex Mussels, 34 year-old Seth Caro, who according to Bravo’s website is not currently affiliated with any restaurant, 38 year old Eric Wolitzky (pictured below) from Baked, which is known to be one of the best bakeries (especially for cookies) in New York.  Honorable mention goes to Heather Chittum who is from Brooklyn but is currently working in D.C. at  the Hook and Tackle Box.  As for the judges, three of the four are NYC-based!

The judges:

Bravo covered all their bases with a very likable group of judges  who seem to touch on major viewer demographics:

Johnny Iuzzini and Hubert Keller bring massive credibility to the judges table with their respective pastry backgrounds.  Gail Simmons provides even-handed and straight shooting feedback that always seems to help the viewer understand what was good and bad about the contestants’s dish.  Fellow Greek, and editor of Daily Candy, Danielle Kyrillos should be able to tell us how the desserts stack up in terms of “what’s hot right now” in world of sweets.

Official Bravo Bios for the judges:

Johnny Iuzzuni – Executive Pastry Chef Jean Georges

Hubert Keller – Owner/Chef Fleur De Lys

Gail Collins – Food and Wine Magazine

Dannielle Kyrillos – Daily Candy

Here’s a link to all 12 contestants of Top Chef: Just Desserts

Street Sweet Truck Cupcake NYC

Street Sweets in conjunction with Gilt Groupe and American Express Zync will be giving away hundreds and hundreds of cupcakes during the Fashion’s Night Out extravaganza! To get your treat and get into the Gilt Groupe American Express Zync Lounge register atwww.gilt.com/streetsweets.

Then pick up your free “Gilty Cupcake” at the Street Sweets truck on lower 9th Ave in the Meatpacking District from 7:30 – 10:30PM on Friday, September 10th.

September 15th is Free Dessert Day!  Diners who make  online reservations using  OpenTable.com/freedesserts for dinner on September  15th  will  get a free dessert courtesy of Top Chef Just  Desserts (you must order at least 2 entrees).  In addition, Bravo will donate $1 to City Harvest  for each reservation made in NYC through OpenTable.com.  More info on the Bravo website.

Of the participating restaurants in New York, DessertBuzz recommends Le Cirque and David Burke Townhouse.

David Burke Townhouse Bench

Don’t forget that DessertBuzz will feature a Live Chat during the premiere of Top Chef: Just Desserts.  Stay tuned for more info.

By guest DessertBuzz columnist Dr. Josh

“I do not think there are laws about nougatine.”

“The Kings of Pastry“, a documentary by D.A. Penebaker and Chris Hedgedus focuses on 4 pastry chefs’ voyage to attempt to earn the title ‘MOF’ (Meilleur Ouvrier de France).  MOF is a French National award given to the best craftsman in their respective field, and the highest award for a pastry chef in France (it should be noted that the title MOF is given to masters in crafts as diverse as window making and chocolate making; Pastry is just one such competition albeit perhaps the most prestigious).

One of the creations from "kings of Pastry"

The standards for the award are stringent, exacting and daunting.  For the pastry category a field of approximately 90 pastry chefs who have distinguished themselves for consideration is narrowed down to 16 candidates by a panel consisting of other chefs who have achieved MOF.  Once the 16 are chosen, the contest begins.  Well, truth be told, the contestants can spend years preparing, and once they know they are in the competition they devote months to practice and often take as many as 6 weeks to do nothing but rehearse their contest plan.

The contest, unlike what we are used to seeing in the US where candidates compete against each other, compete against only one thing: standards. Unassailable, unwavering, standards judged by MOF awardees who all want the candidates to achieve MOF but will, under NO circumstances, allow any standard to not be properly enforced.  The candidates, all 16, could achieve MOF.  Likewise, none could achieve MOF – it all rests on if the standards are met.

The candidates have 3 long days (which start ever earlier as the contest progresses) to complete somewhere in the neighborhood of  40 different pastry and sugar related items related to a theme.  All the time, the judges are present watching their every move and judging everything from cleanliness to (seemingly) choreography in their movements.  Beauty is essential in each step, literally in their movements as well as their choices as to how to prepare the dishes.  The judges look at not only taste which, while judged is almost assumed somehow,  but visual beauty, textural beauty, the beauty of process and respect for materials.

It is hard to imagine making 40 different desserts in these conditions but add to this the showpiece: a large sugar ’sculpture’ which each candidate must create and are typically 3 feet high or more, unbelievably delicate and intricate, and, in a final challenge, must be carried by the chef to the presentation tables through what is functionally an obstacle course.  Did I mention that is the last thing they must do after 3 days of work and little sleep? It is so daunting that one chef even makes a custom hydraulic base for his so that as he sets it down it will slowly lower itself to the table to avoid potentially breaking.  Those that meet the standards are awarded MOF and are given the ultimate in status for their craft the right to wear a collar on their chefs jacket the highest honor that they can achieve and is essentially the crown making them a ‘king of pastry’ (it is pointed out early in the film that to wear this striped collar and not have achieved MOF is, in France, punishable by imprisonment).

I did the math – the contest is held every 4 years.  At most 16 chefs can achieve MOF each contest.  An average career for a pastry chef (at this level, after distinguishing themselves to the level where they can compete!) is perhaps 40 years.  So – the maximin number of MOF’s at any time is 160.  Now – 16 winning in a given year (let alone every year) is not likely, probably unheard of, so my guess is that there are probably 40 – 80 at any one time.

Exiting the film, I was exhausted from the competition.   In an early scene we see Jacquy Pfeiffer through a practice session for a single cake in the competition – one that involved extensive sketches, 13 layers, discussions of how the taste will be affected by the placement of the layers, 4 textures, flash-freezing, baking, mousse, sponge, forms, and multiple temperatures at once only to see the fruits of this labor (about 3 hours!?!) to be tasted, with one bite, declared ‘a bit too sweet’, and summarily, dispassionately, discarded.  I was crushed.

Little did I know that the film was allowing me  to callous early or I would not have been able to make it through.  This cake alone would be, for me, a somewhat accomplished amateur baker – my masterpiece.  To him, it was one day’s experiment that did not work; simply butter, sugar, flour, eggs and fruit which were not right in the end.  This effort and response to the work is typical throughout the film.

We see all 4 candidates try many of the different elements which will be created during the competition – on their own each a complex, difficult, and honed achievement. The attitude toward everything they make is similar – take the materials, work them, make their creation beautiful and taste wonderful so that all aspects of the experience will delight, and, if not, try again with changes.   All of the chefs seem to be able to create anything they want; the question is what do they want to create, what is their vision, what taste and experience do they value and not ‘can I make it’.

While some of the contestants try to guess what will please the judges (hence the title of this review) all the judges advise to “Express ourself and your love of pastry”.  The ultimate MOF shows himself through his skill and work, his aesthetic and craft and the craft serves this expression.  A great message to us all.

It is hard to miss the sheer aesthetic of everything that is made in the film.  However, the filmmakers also beautifully and intimately chronicle the lives of 4 contestants focusing on Jacquy Pfeiffer in Chicago.  We see the human rather than the sensational side of their work and struggle.  By the time the awards are announced, there are tears in the eyes of the announcer and many in the audience both within the film and also in the theater during the screening (yes, really).  This happened in the screening because the filmmakers were able to capture who was working, what it means to them and not simply the sensational aspects if the event.

The film making style – digital cameras, personal, immediate – is such a lovely contrast to the glut of poor ‘reality’ TV and film we see now; the difference is clear when a professional, talented film maker takes the camera and the story.  What we get is the human, the humane, the art, the beauty of life and not simply a narrative about which we can create a sound bite.  This film is a film – one that shows us people and beauty.  Kings of Pastry stands out as a heartbreakingly real documentary in a world where there is so much superfical garbage.

KINGS OF PASTRY will have a 2-week engagement, September 15-28, at Film Forum (West Houston Street (West of 6th Avenue), with screenings daily at 1:00, 2:50, 4:40, 6:30, 8:20, 10:10.

The Kings of Pastry Website is here.

Perfect for some caffeinated s'mores

Barbecue in Williamsburg:

Looking for a hipster food gift for your next barbecue? Why not order a batch of Stay Puft Marshmallows. They’re square, they’re caffeinated and apparently they come in a flexible, reusable, rubbery box.  From ThinkGeek via The Daily What.

Barbecue in Chelsea or the Villiage:

That's a lot of marshmallow goodness for $10.00

Three Tarts gourmet marshmallows.  $10 for a whole bag!  Choose from vanilla, raspberry, passionfruit, strawberry-basil and Yuzu.  In the store you can order a smaller portion but that’ just silly.  Bring 2 bags to your event.  Or just rock the whole “Rooftop S’mores” kit.

Rooftop S'mores from Three Tarts

Order Three Tarts marshmallow products here.

Drunk at 11:45 p.m. with friends or by yourself.

Get the universally well-regaraded Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake from The Stand in the East Village.  Seriously, you can’t go wrong with this thing.

Toasted marshmallow milkshake from The Stand

The Stand is located at 24 Eat 12th Street.  Their website is here.

Photo courtesy of Kathy YL Chan at A Passion For Food

A friend who I turned on to Spot told me they put a laminated DessertBuzz review inside the restaurant.  So when I was near there last nigtht I figured it was time to show some love.  When I arrived I was happy to see there was a wait and that the place was bustling.  I ordered the Chocolate Marquise and my companion ordered one scoop each of the chocolate and mango sorbet.

The Chocolate Marquise is a legitimate, three-part, schmancy-pants restaurant dessert.  The Marquise itself is a dark chocolate based mousse-like cake dusted with cocoa-cookie crumbs.  It’s not sweet at all, just very smooth and chocolaty.  Next to that is a bit of  mango tapioca.  This particular tapioca is made from the large format balls like those found in bubble tea (which they also serve at Spot).

Then, there is a scoop of Yakult flavored ice cream.  Yakult, according to Wikipedia is a “Japanese probiotic milk-like product (aka yogurt).  I was told by one of the hosts at Spot that this is a common Japanese flavor.   It wasn’t a common flavor to me but it did go perfectly with the dark chocolate marquise due to it’s tart low-sweetness profile.  There were also some cubes of chocolate cookie thrown in for texture.  All-in-all an excellent dessert and I think well worth the $9 price tag.

For some reason I had never ordered ice cream or sorbet from Spot.  I had sampled it many times since it often comes with their plated desserts.  Let me just say right off that Spot’s sorbet is easily the among the best in the city right now.  The Mango chile is certainly the best I have tasted this summer.  Why?  The flavor.  The mango flavor in this sorbet is incredible.  The texture is almost like  puree of mango frozen to perfection with no ice crystals.  The chilies seem to work with the mango flavor as well.  The heat they bring is mild but after you have a few spoonfuls it builds a bit.

The chocolate mint cookie

The chocolate sorbet could be mistaken for gelato.  It’s very rich and very dark.  The ginger bits are a nice addition and add little “punch” to the dish.  This chocolate sorbet reminds me of Ciao Bella’s excellent, store-bought version but the Spot creation is even better.

Recommended: Chocolate Marquise, mango chili sorbet, dark chocolate sorbet with ginger

Spot’s  website has their full menu.

Spot is located at 13 St Mark’s Place.