On January 25th & 26th, 2015, the UK Team will compete for the title of best pastry Chefs in the world against 21 other competitors from : Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Tunisia, and USA.
Here is the official team which will fight for the first place on the podium in Lyon, at the Sirha exhibition.
Martin CHIFFERS
President / Team Coach
International Consultant Patissier – Chocolatier, “CHIFFERS” Mitsukoshi Ginza Tokyo.
Martin is a world renowned and very experienced Executive Pastry Chef and International Pastry Consultant who has been working in the hospitality industry for over 30 years at some of the world’s most famous hotels & largest F&B operations in London, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia and Dubai. Working in Asia and the Middle East for over 12 years, Martin gained a wealth of experience of foreign cuisines, regional patisserie & trends from the different countries.
Organising very large Pastry kitchens & looking after the various in-house & offsite bakeries & deli shops, producing all products in house, including vast amounts of Asian & Artisan Breads, has given him a great knowledge and strong business sense to increase revenues.
Martin Chiffers is the Only Pastry Chef in the World to Win the European Pastry Cup Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie twice in 2012 & 2014 – held in Paris & Geneva, with best sugar & chocolate pieces & highest points in all categories consecutively.
Ranked 9th in the World 2013 Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie Final, Martin has also gained a reputation for leading his teams to achieve the most victorious results & numerous accolades in the pastry culinary field.
Martin was also the coach for Ruth Hinks, UK World Chocolate Master 2013, & was able to coach Ruth to a top 5 position at The World Chocolate Masters held in Paris October 2013 – the highest ever position for the UK.
Martin has also earned numerous gold medals at many other prestigious international culinary competitions in the UK, France, the United States, Singapore and the Culinary Olympics Luxembourg.
Martin was awarded Caterer Pastry Chef of the year for the Middle East 2010 and is an active International judge in Asia and Europe, a regular demonstrator, and pastry consultant for many local & international firms.
Martin often teaches for various Academies and Culinary Schools, various classes creating chocolate sculptors and plated dessert in the UK, a regular at Cocoa Black School in Peebles, Scotland, as well as CHOKLADFABRIKEN in Sweden.
“CHIFFERS” Brand cake and scone shop opened in November 2012 at Mitsukoshi Ginza-Tokyo, the most famous up market area and Department store in Japan, with various pop up CHIFFERS scone shops all over Japan.
Martin’s own Chocolate brand “Martin J Chiffers” has also sold over 150,000 Valentines Chocolates to the Japanese market, in 5 major cities in Japan at various stores – Nagoya Takashimaya / Ginza Mitsukoshi / Osaka Hankyu Umeda / Yokohama Takashimaya / Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi over the past two years in 2013/2014.
“It is my goal to continue to raise the standards of excellence promoting the public awareness of the pastry profession. Injecting & sharing new passionate innovations and ideas using the finest quality local & international ingredients & fresh produce available, creating a new benchmark in the culinary arena”.
Barry JOHNSON
Team Captain / Candidate Chocolate
Principal Chocolatier, Rococo Chocolates-
Barry Johnson is a meticulous and passionate chocolatier and pastry chef, whose attention to detail and innovative flavours have won him honours including gold and silver medals at the 2013 Academy of Chocolate Awards and the 2013 International Chocolate Awards. He was also awarded the title of UK Pastry Open taste and overall winner in 2013 and captained the UK team to First place in the European Pastry cup in Geneva in 2014.
Barry trained as a pastry chef at The Connaught Hotel under Michel Boudin and at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir au Quat Saisons. During that time he won the Academy of Culinary Arts Annual Award of Excellence in pastry and a scholarship trip to America. Working at The Wolseley, Harrods, and as Head Pastry Chef at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel, he became increasingly interested in chocolate and decided to specialise.
Constantly learning and looking for new inspiration and challenges, Barry travelled around the world including South-East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and America for 2 ½ years. This journey introduced him to new ways of life, experiences and flavours that influence his chocolate-making today. This included visiting chocolate shops and cocoa plantations, working for a few chocolate companies, and winning the innovative chocolate category at the Australian Chocolate Championships along the way.
Upon returning to England, Barry worked for the Dorchester Collection at Coworth Park Hotel, established its chocolate room and helped to win a Michelin star during his tenure. He joined Rococo Chocolates in early 2012 and has enjoyed the challenges of increasing couture chocolate production, developing his own flavours, helping to write Rococo – Mastering the art of chocolate, training his young team, giving demonstrations, and teaching master classes at the Rococo Chocolate School.
Javier MERCADO
Candidate Sugar
Patisserie Teaching Chef , Le Cordon Bleu London
Javier has joined forces with Le Cordon Bleu since 2012, and was a senior Lecturer at Westminster Kingsway College, London since 2004. Previously, he has worked in America as the Head Pastry Chef at the Washington Inn, Cape May New Jersey. Here, his meticulous talent in creating beautiful desserts as well as display work became pronounced. Two and a half years later, he decided to move and help lead a brigade of 12 at the Prestigious Ritz Carlton, Tysons Corner Virginia, where Banquets and production were priority.
Javier became acquainted with wedding cakes as part of the leading role and created over 192 wedding cakes (throughout an entire calendar year)! In 2001 Javier joined forces at Albert Uster Imports, Gaithersburg Maryland. As one of the Leading Corporate Chefs, his responsibilities included quality control of all pastry Items within the company.
Corporate demos, recipe development and seminars on sugar and chocolate work were also part of his profile. Commitment to quality is his base for fundamentals.
Javier is a graduate from Johnson & Wales University in 1997 with an Honours degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. He has competed both in America and in Europe in various competitions. He is passionate about teaching and helping students to become successes.
Andrew BLAS
Candidate Ice
Executive Pastry Chef, Café Royal Hotel
Andrew Blas is Executive Pastry Chef at the Café Royal Hotel, responsible for heading up the pastry kitchens across all of the hotel’s culinary offerings, which include The Café, offering house-made artisan cakes, pastries and chocolates, the Ten Room restaurant, the iconic Oscar Wilde Bar, where Afternoon Tea is served daily, and The Domino new fine-dining restaurant in the private member’s club.
Andrew first discovered his enthusiasm for baking and pastry as a young child while spending summers in Dinard, northern France. Turning this passion into a career, Andrew has trained at some of the finest kitchens alongside Michelin stared chefs such as Chris Meredith and Raymond Blanc. Achieving the Awards of Excellence was a big step in his carrier along with completing courses in bellouit counsel.
Andrew moved his focus to a cookery school in order to gain the important skills needed to teach such a vast array of people, before moving his attention to the bakery industry. Working alongside German master bakers to hone a skill set lost in the pastry kitchen.
Being picked to be part of the UK pastry world cup team has been something Andrew has strived to achieve since first becoming a pastry chef.
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