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Richard Ruskell, CA

 

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RICHARD RUSKELL IS A ROCK STAR

EXCLUSIVE APPEARANCE

EXECUTIVE PASTRY CHEF – MONTAGE, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA

www.richardruskell.com

KERRY VINCENT says, “RICHARD RUSKELL is one of the most talented artists that I know, he is not only accomplished in the pastry arts but is a skilled sugar artist, a combination that not too many can claim. I have admired his work for more than fifteen years and am very proud to welcome him as a key presenter at the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show. When I invited Richard to be a participant I was struck by the fact that he was awed by the invitation – the feeling goes both ways, I was thrilled that he was able to accept and fit us into his schedule. This is going to be such an amazing experience for his fans and show visitors, with tons of opportunities for autographs and up close and personal interaction.”

CHEF RICHARD RUSKELL has a long-term goal: if he can pull off just one more win, he will have won more competitions on the Food Network Challenge television series than any other designer. 

Ruskell’s artistic and finely executed cakes have won accolades across the country; the rich and famous such as Katie Couric, Bryant Gumbel, Beyonce, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and many others have sought him to out to create their personal special occasion cakes.  Lately Richard has forged a special relationship with The Geffen Playhouse where he makes opening and closing performance cakes and gets to meet his favorite stars. It may interest folks to know that Richard also has a theatrical background and is a self admitted aficionado of ‘all things theater.’

Named “One of the Ten Best Pastry Chef’s in America” Richard oversees all operations on the sweet side of life at Montage Beverly Hills, what a sweet side it is!

Kerry adds: “From personal experience I can vouch for the fabulous plated desserts at Montage.” So delicious, everyone should go there and give them a try.

Previously a baking instructor and chef at the New England Culinary Institute, Richard was also the owner/operator of Pastry Maxine, a pastry shop in Scottsdale, AZ. During his tenure in Arizona, he spent 8 years at The Phoenician as its Chef Pâtissièr, accruing numerous awards and accolades.

His career as a Pâtissièr officially began at the Hotel Gray d'Albion in Cannes, France where he worked in the pastry kitchen of Le Royal Gray Restaurant. Other pastry positions have taken him to New York City, Maine and Vermont.

Richard has been featured on Food Network Challenge many times, including most recently for “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”, “Disney Celebration”, “Disney Classic Movies” and “Cirque du Soleil” all of which he won.  In print we find him in Pastry Art & Design, Chocolatier, Bon Appétit, Food Arts, Gourmet, Travel & Leisure, Orange Coast, Phoenix and Phoenix Home & Garden magazines. His recipes have been included in The Orange County Register (2007), on baking: a textbook of baking and pastry fundamentals (2005) and The Good Cookie (2003).

Richard’s team won first prize for his colorful “beehive” sugar showpiece at the 2005 National Pastry Competition. His award-winning line-up also includes: a crunch cake featured in Grand Finales: The Art of The Plated Dessert and two other creations in Grand Finales: A Modernist View. In addition, he has earned silver and gold medals in the Patisfrance U.S. Pastry Competition. He has been a guest artist chef at Manele Bay Hotel in Lana’i and at The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, as well as a guest instructor at The Stratford Chefs School in Ontario. Richard was also the first guest pastry chef to be a guest artist aboard the Silverseas Cruise line in the fall of 2006. 

 

Donald Wressell, CA

 

DONALD WRESSELL

Donald Wressell has joined the San Francisco based Guittard Chocolate Company as their Pastry Chef. 

Chef Wressell was named “Pastry Chef of the Year” by the Organizing Committee of the 2005 National Pastry Team Championships, as well as receiving honors at the White House for his work with the US Pastry Team. 

Born in Issaquah, Washington, Wressell is a graduate of the Washington State Chef Association Culinary program. His extensive training includes Pastry Chef at the Westin in Seattle, the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. and the Breakers Hotel in Long Beach, California.

In 1985 Chef Wressell joined Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia as Assistant Pastry Chef before moving to the Los Angeles Four Seasons in 1987, where he was the Executive Pastry Chef until January 2006. 

In 2003 he was named Southern California’s Restaurant Writers Pastry Chef of the Year. Chocolatier-Pastry Art & Design named him one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs in 1998 and 1999. 

The recipient of Silver and Gold medals in the Grand Salon Culinaire and the winner of second place honors in Les Masters du Chocolate competition in 1995, Donald Wressell has represented the USA four times in Le Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie (the World Cup of Pastry). In 2001 as team coach and manager, he helped lead the team to the Gold Medal. The World Cup of Pastry is held every two years in Lyon, France. The Gold Medal win in 2001 marked the first time in the competition’s history that the Gold had been won by the USA team. In January of 2005, Chef Wressell captained the American team to a 2nd Bronze in Lyon, repeating exactly the same feat from 1995, when he also was captain of the team.

His many television appearances over the years include: The Roseanne Show, ET, Access Hollywood, Good Morning America and Chuck Henry’s Travel Café. Look for him on the Food Network in the Challenge series as well as the fascinating documentaries on the Coupe Du Monde and Pastry Team Championships.