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DATE: May 24, 2010
Jei Grimes sweeps 3rd Annual Pastry Competition
Competition and Scholarship Honoring
Austin Pastry Chef Philip Speer
(AUSTIN, TX) Tired but smiling, Jason (Jei Grimes) stepped up to receive a $5,000.00 scholarship after nabbing first place at The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas’ Third Annual Pastry Scholarship and Cook-off yesterday. In addition to carrying the winning title and top scholarship, Grimes will have his recipes featured in the Foundation’s celebrity chef online cookbook, Plate & Vine® (www.winefoodcooking.com).
The competition was hosted at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin (formerly Texas Culinary Academy). The two runners-up, Samantha Wiff, and Susan Gofreed, also from Le Cordon Bleu in Austin each went home with $1,000 scholarships. A public announcement of the winner was held at the school immediately following the competition.
The Pastry Competition is named each year for a Texas Pastry Chef who has made a significant contribution to Texas’ culinary legacy. This year’s honoree is Pastry Chef Philip Speer at Uchi Austin, following last year’s honoree Naomi Gallego formerly of TRIO at the Four Seasons, and the inaugural year’s honoree, Pastry Chef Mark Chapman of Austin.
Speer has been showered with awards and praise locally as well as nationally in Bon Appétit, Cooks Illustrated, and USA Today. He appeared as a judge on the Food Network's "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" as well as part of Chef Tyson Cole's team that competed on the Food Network's "Iron Chef America." Most recently, Speer was named a James Beard Award semi-finalist in the overall pastry chef category.
Jason (Jei) Grimes is a North Carolina native with 16 years of industry experience prior to any formal training. His love for food and cooking was sparked by his grandmother, who introduced him to the basics of cooking and fine dining at a young age.
“Coming from the mountains of North Carolina I was not exposed to much,” he said, “…my dream now is to open a confectioner’s shop.” On the cusp of graduation, Grimes feels that he has a firm grasp on both the business side and now the formal pastry training to go alongside it.
Preparing to go to work that evening, Grimes cleans up his kitchen space after the award presentation. “I still can’t believe it.” But there won’t be much time for celebrating, “Tomorrow I’ll be right back here. That’s what this is about.”
The Foundation’s Pastry Competition and Scholarship is preceded by the Stephan Pyles Culinary Annual Scholarship and Cook-off, one of the nation’s largest culinary competitions, held in a different Texas city for the past decade. Three years ago, the Foundation added the new scholarship program to recognize pastry specifically.
Quincy Adams Erickson, a Paris Le Cordon Bleu trained chef/owner of the popular Fête Accompli in Austin envisioned the competition years ago and now serves as its Chair. “For years pastry has taken a backseat to culinary. People often underestimate how much skill and precision is involved. It is gratifying to see now that pastry is finally becoming popular in its own right. We wanted the Foundation to be proactive in fostering Texas pastry talent. The application process itself is an opportunity to learn.”
This year, students are challenged with five distinct challenges; a composed dessert fashioned after a high-end restaurant dessert, a traditional Texas dessert (this year, peach cobbler), a standard technique dessert (this year, fruit tart), a Mignardise plate and a yeast bread. Recipes are submitted with applications, and then reviewed by a panel of culinary professionals who select the three finalists.
At the competition, finalists prepare and present their desserts over the course of two-days. Dishes are rated blindly by culinary experts, led by Executive Editor and Food Editor, Pat Sharpe of Texas Monthly, special honoree, Philip Speer of Uchi and Quincy Adams Erickson.
Judges and students’ identities are hidden from each other until the winner is announced. Desserts are scored on taste, texture, originality, plating and kitchen composure. For more information, or to donate to next year’s scholarship, please contact Rebecca Robinson at
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HOSTED BY:
Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts
Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin is set in a 52,000-square-foot facility designed to inspire and support the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Program. Few institutions possess the prestige of Le Cordon Bleu and its programs. The school takes pride in exceeding expectations with a curriculum that helps prepare graduates with the skills they need in today’s competitive workplace.
SPONSORED BY:
Plate & Vine – Online, Interactive Cookbook
In an effort to remain on the cutting edge of the Texas culinary industry, the Foundation partnered with Keeper ® Collection, LLC (www.keepercollection.com). This joint innovative project is an online, interactive cookbook featuring Texas celebrity chefs that sheds a new light on modern cooking.
The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas
The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas is a statewide public charity founded in 1997 dedicated to recognizing and developing creativity, professionalism and state of the science research in all areas of the culinary and viticulture arts. The Foundation accomplishes this mission through competitive grants, scholarships and fellowships. For more information visit www.winefoodfoundation.org.
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