CITYFOOD'S ONE MINUTE INTERVIEW
In the Photo:
“Robot Dancer�, a 6 ft tall artwork sculpted in chocolate for the 2nd annual Salon du Chocolat competition which took place on October 21, at the Art Institute of Vancouver-Dubrulle Culinary Arts on behalf of the BC Chefs Assocation:
We talked to: Greg Descantes of the Pan Pacific Vancouver Hotel
CF: This is fantastic, who designed it?
Greg: Hans Pirhofer, a pastry cook at the Pan Pacific Vancouver Hotel.
CF: How many cooks did it take to put it together and how long did it take them?
Greg: It took a team of four people a total of 3 weeks (or 300+ man hours) for the whole project, but that included research, design, trial and error and then final cooking and assembly.
CF: Is that thing solid chocolate or something chocolate coated?
Greg: It’s all solid chocolate.
CF: Did anyone count how many individual pieces made up the entire structure?
Greg: More than 150.
CF: We heard that the PPV team actually had to walk up the street from the hotel to the Art Institute showroom carrying the sculpture already assembled. That must have been scary.
Greg: Yup, very scary! Two guys carrying with one guy walking alongside with a cart that they could rest it on for breaks. They also had a vehicle following along behind, in case they had to sweep up the pieces.
CF: What prize did it win?
Greg: It actually only won a silver in the Chocolate Show Piece category.
Arthur Chen, another PPV pastry cook, took one of the gold medals for his Showpiece, which was a salute to the history of the RCMP. (
See photos on eGullet.com). In a month, Arthur is off to Luxembourg to compete with team Canada.
CF: Is Robot Dancer still on display and if not what happened to it?
Greg: It was left behind as part of an auction to raise funds for the B.C. Chefs Association's scholarships.
The Pan Pacific Vancouver’s award winning pastry team led by pastry chef Ted Hara took home two golds, a silver and a bronze medal. The competition, sponsored by and held at The Art Institute of Vancouver-Dubrulle Culinary Arts, featured 53 competitors, including Thomas Hass, Lumiere Restaurant, Metropolitan Hotel and Sutton Place Hotel. Competitors vied for honours in three categories: Chocolate Show Piece, Chocolate Bonbon and Chocolate Plated Dessert. Entries were judged on presentation, technique, artistry, colour, design and tasting.
