Chicago Restaurant Pastry Competition Crowns Dual Winners
By Melissa Wiley in Food on Apr 22, 2014 7:00PM
Meg Galus, Jimmy MacMillan, and Jim Hutchison- photo credit Anthony Tahlier Photography
Even the best pastry chefs face some sweet competition. Emmy-winning Chicago Restaurant Pastry Competition has turned this fact into fascinating footage. Season three’s final episode aired last night at midnight, crowning both Meg Galus of NoMI Restaurant at Park Hyatt Chicago and Jim Hutchison of Winvian Relais & Chateaux in Morris, Conn. as winners.
This season’s competition posed three pastry challenges to four contestants at the Chicago School of Mold Making’s creative center in Oak Park. The final decision, however, pivoted on each chef's ability to break the mold with their own signature dessert. “As a pastry chef, you do competitions because it's uncomfortable. You don’t do it for the recognition or accolades, but to get out of your comfort zone and push yourself,” effused Galus.
Curtis Duffy of Chicago’s Grace, Executive Pastry Chef Antonio Bachour of St. Regis Bal Harbour in Miami and avant-garde globe-trotter Will Goldfarb of Ku De Ta in Bali served as this year’s judges. This year was the first to welcome chefs from around the world into the confectionery fray.
“This was our closest finale ever, as all four contestants have a very high level of skill and there was not a clear winner,” said event organizer and Dessert Professional Top Ten Pastry Chef Jimmy MacMillan of JMPurePastry. “There was a lot of emotion and the judges had differing opinions on who had the best dish in each category. It really came down to the signature dessert being the deciding factor. Meg and Jim really stood out for the overall design, look and taste of their signature desserts. Less than one point separated their final scores, which led us to call our first-ever tie.”
“The purpose of this competition is to spread the word about high-quality pastry, and Meg and Jim truly embodied that spirit in how they dealt with the challenges and effectively used the ingredients,” MacMillan added. “They put their heart on a plate.”