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November 12th -
17th 2003
Chocolate Show
Metropolitan Pavillion
125 West 18th Street (between 6th & 7th Avenues)
New York
Again this year, Colleen and Steve are designing a chocolate dress for the Chocolate Fashion Show. This year's dress is named 'Chocolate Chai'. Our design was inspired by two vintage 1949 Christian Dior gowns in the Goddess Show at MOMA this summer.
June 2003
American Museum of Natural History - Chocolate Exhibit
June 14-September 7
Gallery 3, third floor
Central Park West and 79th Street
New York
Steve and Colleen have been invited to take part in the Chocolate
Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History from June 14
to September 7. The Museum commissioned chocolate artworks from
eight pastry chefs and chocolatiers nationwide, who were asked
to draw their inspiration from the various Halls and collections.
Our sculptural works, entitled "Figure and Feathers,"
are currently on display in the Rotunda and was inspired by the
Hall of South American Peoples and the colorful evocative feather
headdresses worn by Amazon Indian tribes.
Later this month, Steve will lead a series of intensive master
classes in fine chocolate appreciation, designed for beginners
as well as those with more experienced palates. The sessions involve
an in-depth tasting and an exploration of the characteristics
of fine chocolate.
For further information on this and on other educational programs
or to
register, check:
http://www.amnh.org/programs/chocolate/?src=p_ex#tastings
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/chocolate/?src=e_h
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shares his passion with the next generation of chocoholics. |
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and techniques of chocolate sculpture |
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November 15th -
17th 2002
Chocolate Show
Metropolitan Pavillion
125 West 18th Street (between 6th & 7th Avenues)
New York
Again this year, Steve and Colleen designed a chocolate dress for the Chocolate Fashion Show. Colleen demonstrated some chocolate techniques used in making the Chocolate Dress assisted by Erin Demuth and young Tim Minor from Williamsburg, VA (who was attending the Chocolate Show as his wish with the Make A Wish Foundation). Steve demonstrated modern dessert techniques with Patrice Demers on Saturday. They both worked with chocolate, caramel and bananas.
Below, are pictured the concept for our dress and the finished product - Bijou Chocolat. We designed and created this dress ourselves since Colleen has harbored dreams of fashion design since she was a child. Except for the unique dress designed and created by Martin Howard, the other dresses in the show were collaborations between fashion designers and pastry chefs/chocolatiers. As you can see below we did make some design changes in realizing the dress.
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Here is Colleen putting some final touches on the hat. Last minute assistance with Steve and a hairdresser securing the hat on China (our model), and finally Colleen and Steve with China before the fashion show.
For more information, see the Chocolate
Show website
Phone: 212.865.6100 (Visitors) / 212.889.5112 (Exhibitors)
Toll Free: 866-CHOCNYC
Email: chocolateshow@aol.com
November 9-12
IHMRS Societe Culinaire Philanthropique
Jacob Javitts Center, New York, NY
Steve coordinated and hosted in the demonstration kitchen
"Master Class in Modern Dessert Techniques and Trends"
November 11
Alongside Patrice Demers, Paul Connors, Michael Laiskonis,
Colleen Apte explored the theme of Fall flavors, use of vegetables
and emerging trends in dessert. Colleen's dessert was called Cornucopia
and featured corn in several ways. From the bottom up: Golden
kernels of corn in a bourbon gelee infused with Ciulantro, a Corn
Custard (using cream style canned corn, Beet Jus with Cranberry
and Pomegranate, Cilantro, a Foam of Corn and a touch of Guinness,
topped off with a caramel corn flake crisp and a sweet crispy
onion ring (for whimsy).
Check the Societe
Culinaire Philanthropic website
For further information, contact the office of the Societe Culinaire
Philanthropique at 212.308.0628, or e-mail: salon@societeculinaire.com.
Epcot International
Food & Wine Festival
Saturday, November 2
Party for the Senses
A new offering at the Annual Epcot Food & Wine Festival to
delight the senses: aste, touch, hearing, sight, smell. Steve
and Colleen prepared a sweet taste sensation from Zaytinya and
served Colleen's Rose Opera cake and assorted chocolates. We also
provided a delight the eyes with a vintage style chocolate cocktail
dress worn by a live
model for the party.
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Sunday, November
3
Signature Dinner at California Grill--”California Cuisine
Showcases the Best of Sonoma”
Steve and Colleen cooked with chef John State's Sous Chef for
this event (since John's baby chose Nov 3 as its day of birth
in spite of guidance from John to wait until the 4th). We served
a Yogurt Panna Cotta and Apricot pre-dessert with a carameized
honey vanilla gelee and apricot foam, the Turkish Coffee dessert
from Zaytinya, and petit fours (a white chocolate caramel ganache
infused with thyme and a caramelized pine nut, the rose opera,
and an earl grey tea ganache chocolate).
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Call 1.800.wdw-dine for details.
Check the Disney
Food & Wine page for information, or go to this unofficial
site
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Fundraiser
for NYC Firemen April 17, 2002 - New York, NY |
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| For this fundraising dinner for the Firemen near Ground Zero, Steve and Colleen created a fun spring dessert called "Lemon Meringue Pie meets Strawberry Shortcake". The back story is that they met, hit it off really well and moved in together. The dessert involved a strawberry salad, lemon curd, chunks of shortbread, a yogurt meringe foam, and several flavoring elements. | |
| At left, Steve adds the yogurt meringe foam to a dessert. | Below, several desserts awaiting foam, and the condiments we sprinkled on as a finishing touch. |
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Crisco
Chefs of the Month
April 2002 - New York, NY
Coincidentally, Steve and Colleen were selected Crisco "National Chefs of the Month" for April and asked to develop three desserts which utilize Crisco products in some way. Visit www.crisco.com to see what we came up with--our recipes for a quick tropical fruit brochette, a re-worked apple pie in a crisp phyllo cone with caramelized apples and cubes of creme brulee, and our interpretation of that American standard, banana cream pie. We'll post our comments soon about what it was like for two butter-loving French-trained pastry chefs to use Crisco!
Windows
of Hope
January 29, 2002 - New York, NY
On January 29, 2002 in New York City, Steve and Colleen joined a host of their distinguished chef friends (among them Rick Tramonto of Tru in Chicago, Jimmy Sneed of Richmond, VA, Bob Waggoner of Charleston, SC, Jimmy Gherardi of J's Fresh Seafood in Cincinnati, OH and Great Neck, NY, Tyler Florence of the Food Network, and pastry chef Lee Napoli of Metro in Boston, MA) who flew in to create an outstanding fundraising dinner for the Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund "Grand Tasting" at the Regent Wall St. Hotel.
Because Crisco sponsored the event, we created a dessert "Cup'a Joe" composed of croquettes filled with chocolate and deep fried in Crisco vegetable oil, which also included a delicate vanilla cream, espresso gelee, foams of caramel and espresso, caramelized hazelnuts, caramel powder and sea salt.
Lee did a wonderful hollowed-out, poached apricot filled with creme brulee: http://www.crisco.com/cgi-bin/display_recipe.cgi?recipe_nbr=39310
All of the recipes from this outstanding dinner are available
at:
http://www.crisco.com/grandtasting.htm
You can also watch a short
video of the weekend at
To contribute to Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund, visit
http://www.windowsofhope.org/
| For the second consecutive year Steve and Colleen were among the 36 pastry chefs featured in this annual event, already the most prestigious pastry event in the country and well on its way to becoming the most significant pastry event in the world. Steve was one of the 12 Team captains selected, and Colleen is one of only three women ever chosen to compete! |
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| For more information check out http://www.pastrychampionship.com/home.html |
DCCK Cake for Clinton's Inauguration
| Steve worked with a team of DC Central Kitchen program participants to create a cake for ex-President Bill Clinton's Inauguration. Here they are putting the finishing touches on this cake. |
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