Friday night's A Taste of Fiction, A Must-Read, Must-Eat Event, to benefit culinary programming and the culinary collection of the St. Louis Public Library featured pastries from 16 local pastry chefs and their assistants, shown above. A Taste of Fiction took place at Central Library, downtown.
425 guests attended the second annual fundraiser featuring confections inspired by literary works chosen by A Taste of Fiction's committee. Following is a sampling of some of the show-stopping creations that were on display.
Lia Weber and Martin Lopez of Made. by Lia, located in Florissant, created a spectacular interpretation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Lia, who earned an associate's degree in baking and pastry arts from Forest Park Community College was the winner of TLC's Cake Boss "Next Great Baker," Season 4.
Julie Weldele, Executive Pastry Chef of the CWE's Crepes, etc. and Scape American Bistro was assigned Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Bite-size samples of the cake, labeled "Eat Me," were striped like the Cheshire Cat. Julie said the cake would be on display at Crepes, etc. following the event, should you wish to see it up close – it's really special.
As Executive Pastry Chef for both Lumiere Place Casino & Hotels and River City Casino, Stephen Schubert, above, oversees more than 30 bakers and pastry chefs. He took time out of his busy schedule to create an interpretation of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, above.
Simone Faure, right, Pastry Chef of the fabulous La Patisserie Chouquette, had just returned from a trip to France the day of the party. She said it took just four hours to create her interpretation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, shown above. Jet lagged? Mais oui.
The Kakao Production Team, led by Kakao Chocolate founder Brian Pelletier, includes Jenny Bazzetta, Tracy Kodner, Emily Czarnecki, Sarah McConkey, Monica Tirre, and Natalie Zivnuska. They created an interpretation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, above.
The fur on George (Skip) Gunthier's Winnie the Pooh had party goers asking if it was really icing, it was so "plush-like." Gunthier, a long-time pastry chef, is currently Baking and Pastry Instructor at L'Ecole Culinaire.
Annie Gunn's Pastry Chef Danielle Luisi attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. She interpreted Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, another fantastic creation.
Laura Barton and Melissa Cusumano, pastry chefs at Jilly's Cupcake Bar and Cafe, were having as much fun at the party as they did creating an interpretation of Judi Barrett's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, above.
Other pastry chefs who participated in A Taste of Fiction were Tim Brennan of Cravings, Anne Croy of Pastaria, Darlene Fahrig-Markovich of Schnucks Des Peres, Brielle Fratellone of The Ritz Carlton, Sandia Hoormann of Piccione Pastry, Saul Juarez of The Four Seasons Hotel, Amanda Pinkstaff of Le Cordon Bleu, and Casey Shiller of St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. Chef Shiller has trained many of the pastry chefs in St. Louis and beyond. Current students were at A Taste of Fiction handing out their delicious chocolate chip cookies.
A Taste of Fiction is an event everyone seems to love, so let's hope it continues for years to come.