so good.. magazine – The magazine of the haute pâtisserie

The Chocolate Academy of Chicago and Cacao Barry® are searching for the Chocolatier of the Year in 2012 in its annual L’Art du Chocolatier Challenge, a competition that encourages creativity and expertise in designing and executing original creations.More info

From the outside, nothing looked unusual about this quaint two-story building on a quiet street in Oak Park, Illinois. But on the inside, it was a different story.More info

Celebrated chefs Oriol Balaguer, Jordi Butrón, Jordi Roca, Paco Torreblanca, Ramon Morató and Dani García, as well as some Spanish food journalists were those responsible for naming the desserts of Victor Trochi (from Argentina and based in Spain), chef from Les Magnolies restaurant (Arbucies-Girona), as the winning of “The Best Restaurant Dessert 2011” awardMore info

The school EspaiSucre (Barcelona, Spain) continues to work hard with the aim of giving restaurant desserts a prestigious role. For that reason, they did not hesitate to announce the third edition of the more and more consolidated international contest ‘The Best Dessert of Restaurant’, which will be held next October 17th and will bring eight professionals from five different countries face to face.More info

Paco Torreblanca’s pastry, thanks to this great master’s unmistakable style, has become an international, timeless reference. His masterpiece book is proof of that, originally published in 2003, and whose third edition we now present. Its international success and a constant request for it from different countries has led us to republish it once again.More info

The macaroon fever does not seem to stop growing in France, to such an extent that there is no patisserie worth its salt without a selected collection of this sweet displayed in its showcase. One the best ambassadors of macaroon in Lyon is Sébastien Bouillet, with whom we spoke in the second edition of So Good..More info

A new edition of the World Chocolate Masters, one of the most prestigious and spectacular competitions, will be held during the Professional Salon du Chocolate in Paris, from 19th to 21st October this year. On this occasion, a total number of 19 professionals will show their best by making an artistic piece, a cake, a dessert and assorted bonbons based on the theme ‘Cacao, a gift from Quetzalcoatl’.More info

The history of patisserie has run parallel to that of art. Popular poetry during the Middle Ages, La Salle’s, Jean de Meun’s, Chaucer’s and the Archpriest of Hita’s clearly referred to the art of pastry making. Many famous pastry chefs were frustrated artists. Gelée Le Lorrain Claude himself, who is credited with the invention of the puff pastry back in 1635, had wanted to be a painter, but his financial needs forced him to start as an apprentice in a workshop, luckily for the craft itself and humanity in general.More info

The Sigep expo, held every year in Rimini (Italy), has proved to be a great showcase for pastry chefs for long years, although it was a traditional meeting point for the gelato industry. This is finally changing, and a major commitment to pâtisserie, as never seen before, is expected for the 2012 edition, counting on the attendance of first-class professionals and varied activities which we will closely follow.More info

The third edition of the international contest ‘The Best Dessert of Restaurant’ is underway. Its organizers, EspaiSucre school and Nespresso, have made the rules public and are now in the midst of the process of candidates’ registration, which will be extended until next July 31st.More info