SPRING 2007 CONFERENCE
CHEF BIOS

• Ron Ben-Israel
• Eric Estrella
• Will Goldfarb
• Martin Howard
• Nicole Kaplan
• Victoria Love
• Joe Murphy
• Pichet Ong
• Deborah Racicot
• Kir Rodriguez
• Dianne Rossomando
• Alex Stupak

Ron Ben-Israel
Pastry Chef & Owner, Ron Ben-Israel Cakes
 

Ron Ben-Israel started his confectionery adventure towards the end of a successful fifteen year career as a professional ballet and modern dancer, during which he performed with dance companies on three continents. Studies and work in Canada and France led him to establish his specialty cake business in New York City. Ben-Israel has been featured in many publications, including The New York Times, In Style, Town and Country, and countless bridal magazines. His television credits include "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Good Morning America," and "Martha Stewart Living." He is also a visiting master pastry chef-instructor at The French Culinary Institute specializing in wedding cake decorating and sugar flowers.

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Raised in Seattle by parents who settled in the area after emigrating from the Philippines, Eric Estrella spent the first part of his culinary career in the Pacific Northwest. He has held various positions as pastry chef from Hawaii to Southern California, including executive pastry chef of the Four Seasons Resort Aviara. Seeking to further hone his skills, he came to New York City, where François Payard appointed him pastry chef at Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro. He is currently the executive pastry chef of InTent, a Mediterranean-influenced restaurant owned by Payard in Manhattan’s NoLIta district. Desserts showcased are inspired utilizing unique ingredients from the differing parts of the Mediterranean region.

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Will Goldfarb
Pastry Chef, Room 4 Dessert
 

Hailing from Port Washington, New York, Will Goldfarb's first brush with the kitchen came when he worked as a server during college at Duke University. To avoid law school, he moved into the pastry kitchen, escaping to Paris to train with Gerard Mulot and other top pâtissiers before moving on to Italy, Spain, and Australia to work with culinary legends Ferran and Albert Adrià and Tetsuya Wakuda, among others. He was the pastry chef of the Ryland Inn in New Jersey and Morimoto in Philadelphia. In New York City, he worked with Paul Liebrandt at Atlas and Papillon and Shea Gallante at Cru. In January of 2006, Goldfarb opened the dessert bar Room 4 Dessert, showcasing technical, thought-provoking, and delicious desserts made using cutting-edge technology and ingredients. Goldfarb is one of the founders of AKWA, a global movement that seeks to shape the future of cuisine. Through willpowder.net he also distributes a line of hard-to-find specialty ingredients. In 2006, Goldfarb was named one of New York City's Rising Stars by StarChefs.com. He is currently a 2007 James Beard Foundation nominee for Outstanding Pastry Chef.

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Martin Howard
Pastry Chef, Brasserie 8½
 

Having grown up in Columbia, Maryland with a mother who baked her own homemade cookies and cakes, pastry has been a life-long passion for Martin Howard. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, he worked with Waldy Malouf at La Cremaillere in Banksville, New York before becoming the pastry chef at Pier House Inn and Beach Club in Key West. He rejoined Malouf one year later to open Hudson River Club in downtown Manhattan, worked as the executive pastry chef at the Rainbow Room, and helped to open Beacon in Midtown and Purdys Homestead in Westchester County. In 2001 Howard joined Restaurant Associates as pastry chef of Brasserie then assumed his current position at Brasserie 8½. In addition to being named one of Pastry Art & Design's Top Ten Pastry Chefs in 1997 and 1998, Howard has been featured on numerous TV shows, including "FoodNation with Bobby Flay," "Food Network Challenge: Extreme Pastry," "Today Show," and "Good Morning America." He also sits on the advisory board for the annual Chocolate Show in New York City.

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Nicole Kaplan
Executive Pastry Chef, Del Posto
 

As a child in Spring Valley, New York, Nicole Kaplan dreamed of a career as a flutist. She followed her passion to New York City, where she earned degrees in Music Performance from the Mannes College of Music and the Aaron Copland School of Music. Performances took her all over the globe—to Paris, Vienna, and other great historic culinary centers of Europe—before she settled in New York. Between engagements at Carnegie Hall, Kaplan enrolled at the Institute of Culinary Education. The day after her graduation in 1997, she began working at Osteria del Circo and quickly worked her way up from pastry assistant to sous chef. Training continued under pastry legends like Patrice Caillot and Pierre Herme. In 2000 she joined the team at Eleven Madison Park where she developed a unique menu of simple and elegant desserts to complement Chef Daniel Humm's award-winning New American cuisine. In 2007, she became the executive pastry chef of Mario Batali's critically acclaimed Del Posto. Her desserts have received countless accolades in the press, and she was named one of the Top 10 Pastry Chefs by Pastry Art & Design in 2003 and again in 2006.

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Victoria Love
Executive Pastry Chef, The Water Club
 

Victoria Love graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in Theatre Directing and Design then worked for five years as a junior talent agent at the Agency for the Performing Arts in Manhattan. A long-standing passion for cooking led her to enroll at The French Culinary Institute. After graduation she interned at Colette’s Cakes, assisting Colette Peters in designing and decorating special occasion cakes. She went on to work as head decorator at Patisserie Les Friandises where she was later promoted to kitchen manager and assistant general manager. In May 2001, she was asked to be the sous pastry chef at famed restaurateur Michael O'Keeffe's Water Club. Since being promoted to executive pastry chef in 2004, she is responsible for à la carte dining, Sunday brunch, banquets, and all special occasion cakes. She sits on the Pastry Advisory Board for The French Culinary Institute where she is a guest lecturer and was awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award for Excellence in Pastry Arts in 2006. She has twice been named a finalist in the category of Best Confection for PastryScoop.com's Golden Scoop Awards.

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Joe Murphy
Corporate Executive Pastry Chef, Jean-Georges Management
 

Joe Murphy was the pastry chef at Gotham Bar and Grill and the opening pastry chef for Blue Fin before taking on the role of corporate pastry chef for Jean-Georges Management. In addition to supervising pastry kitchens for Jean-Georges Vongerichten's New York restaurants Mercer Kitchen, Vong, and JoJo, Murphy also oversees operations for Prime Steakhouse in Las Vegas, Rama in London, Market in Paris, Café Martinique in the Bahamas, and Jean Georges Shanghai. In 2005, he was named one of the Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America by Pastry Art & Design.

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Pichet Ong
Pastry Chef/Owner, P*ONG
 

Pichet Ong is a New Yorker who grew up in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore. He graduated from Brandeis University and completed the master’s program in architectural design at the University of California at Berkeley. As a self-taught chef, Ong utilizes his childhood and professional culinary experiences, as well as his background in architecture and design, to create delicious, innovative desserts that are visually appealing and whimsical. Eschewing the use of sugar and advocating flavor reductions and savory seasonings, he incorporates unique, yet familiar, ingredients in desserts that appeal to a universal palate. He has worked in the kitchens of Olives in Boston and Jean Georges and Tabla in New York City, was RM's opening pastry chef, as well as the consulting chef for Jean-Georges Vongerichten's 66 and Spice Market. In 2005 he was named a Rising Star by StarChefs.com and one of Pastry Art & Design's Top Ten Pastry Chefs. In addition to numerous TV appearances, including "Iron Chef America," Ong has been featured in Bon Appetit, Gourmet, and Chocolatier. His cookbook The Sweet Spot, which adapts the technique and exotic flavors of Southeast Asia for the Western kitchen, is due for release this May, and he will soon open the dessert shop and bar P*ONG in Manhattan.

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Deborah Racicot
Pastry Chef, Gotham Bar and Grill
 

Deborah Racicot's fascination with food began during her childhood in Vermont, spent surrounded by homegrown produce and a family that loved to cook, and developed into a passion that would lead her to some of the country's finest restaurants. After working in the front of the house during college and for a year as pastry chef of Italia in Seattle, she moved to New York to continue her culinary education under Claudia Fleming at Gramercy Tavern and Richard Leach at La Côte Basque. Racicot was soon hired by Marcus Samuelsson to be pastry chef of Aquavit and then joined Picholine at the invitation of Terrence Brennan, where she worked for four years. As pastry chef of Gotham Bar and Grill, she constantly creates new additions to keep her menu fresh. "Desserts go in and out of style, kind of like fashion. I watch for these changes. I want my pastries to be the flawless ending to an impeccable meal."

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Kir Rodriguez
Pastry Chef-Instructor, The French Culinary Institute
 

A graduate of The French Culinary Institute, Kir Rodriguez was awarded the Grande Diplôme of Culinary Arts in 1998. Before attending The FCI, he was a Franciscan monk for twenty years, during which time he taught Spanish literature and music in high school for ten years, as well as planned and prepared the menu for the clergy of a monastery. He holds a B.A. MCL from UPR and a B.Ph. and a B.S.T. from the Schola Philosophiae Sacraeque Thelogiae. His previous work experience includes acclaimed New York City restaurants Café Boulud, Le Cirque, and Union Square Café. Currently he is the executive pastry chef of Orso and a pastry arts instructor at The FCI, where has taught since 2004. He has participated in numerous baking competitions and exhibitions, including the 18th Annual U.S. Pastry Competition held earlier this year. In his spare time, he sings tenor with the New York Choral Society, which performs regularly at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

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Dianne Rossomando
Pastry Chef-Instructor, The French Culinary Institute
 

Prior to a career in pastry, Dianne Rossomando worked as an artist and designer. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, she worked throughout the hospitality industry as a pastry chef at establishments such as Johns Island Country Club in Vero Beach, Florida and The Inn at National Hall in Westport, Connecticut. In 1998 Rossomando joined legendary chef Alain Sailhac as the pastry chef at the Lakeview Inn, owned by The FCI’s founder Dorothy Cann Hamilton, in New Preston, Connecticut, later moving to New York City to become a pastry chef-instructor at The French Culinary Institute. In addition to her teaching duties at The FCI, Rossomando also oversees the healthy cooking program for kids and adults at the Miette School in the West Village.

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Alex Stupak
Pastry Chef, wd~50
 

Alex Stupak's desserts have been recognized as some of the most provocative in the country. He has garnered much praise for his work which displays a bold yet perfectly considered approach to flavor while utilizing some of the most cutting edge techniques in the industry. Most recently, he was the pastry chef at Chicago's famed Alinea working with executive chef Grant Achatz. Stupak is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has worked in Chicago's four-star restaurant Tru and the Federalist and Clio in Boston where he was named Best Pastry Chef by Boston magazine in 2003. In August of 2006, Stupak joined wd~50 in New York City as pastry chef.

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