It’s a big week for River City Casino executive pastry chef Stephan Schubert, who was just named the National Winner in the American Culinary Federation‘s 2014 Pastry Chef of the Year Award competition, standing out among over a dozen regional competitors and three other national finalists.
Schubert, who oversees the bread and pastry program at River City, applied to compete last fall. A judging panel reviewed a pool of several dozen applications from the Central region before selecting four finalists, including Schubert. The finalists squared off in the regional competition, held in St. Louis in March. (The Central region includes Missouri and 14 other states in the Midwest and South.)
After winning their respective regional competitions, Schubert and three other chefs from around the U.S. advanced to the ACF National Convention in Kansas City from July 25 to 29.
At the convention, Pastry Chef award finals consisted of a timed exhibition-style competition, in which contestants were given two and a half hours to create a cold-plated dessert that used cherries and pistachios, a showpiece and a signature cookie. The competition’s theme changes annually – this year, it was The Wizard of Oz.
“I wanted to do something that really showed my skills, to represent myself and my style of cooking,” said Schubert. “I wanted to set myself apart.”
He started with a traditional éclair “with a modern twist,” creating his own chocolate from fresh cacao beans and topping the éclair with cherry mousse. A from-scratch pistachio ice cream, colored with Matcha green tea, was served alongside it. A cardamom-flavored meringue rounded out the dish.
Next, Schubert devised an elaborate all-chocolate showpiece in homage to Oz. His was a darker interpretation of the story, complete with a molded chocolate tornado and gnarled yellow brick road.
“I wanted to focus on the bad things: the tornado, the poppy field, the witch,” he said.
For the cookie stage, he sandwiched milk chocolate ganache between two orange cookies and topped them with passion fruit jelly.
“What he was able to produce in that two and a half hours was fantastic,” said Darrin Aoyama, chair of the judging panel for the Pastry Chef category and executive pastry chef at River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas. “(The showpiece) had a high degree of difficulty and high degree of artistry to it.
“We were really impressed with his work,” he added. “He was well organized, managed his apprentices really well and had great focus.”
In addition to the Pastry Chef of the Year title, Schubert was awarded $5,000 for his win.
Since age 16, Schubert has led a distinguished career as a pastry chef, having previously worked in his native Germany, Switzerland, Greece and, for a time, on a Cunard Cruise Line ship. Before moving to St. Louis, he was an assistant pastry chef at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. He then worked as the executive pastry chef at Ameristar Casino in St. Charles for seven years before taking the top job at River City.
He cited the vibrant culinary scene in St. Louis as an under-the-radar nexus of good food. “It’s a big city, but it’s also really small. And underrated.” He added that this keeps him motivated.
“I’m trying to challenge myself to be better,” he said.
-photos courtesy of the American Culinary Federation
This article appears in Readers’ Choice 2014.