Plainfield Chef Finishes in Top 5 at International Pastry Competition

A Joliet Junior College culinary arts instructor helped lead his team to victory at an international pastry competition in Lyon, France, earlier this year.

Andy Chlebana lead Team USA to a fourth-place finish at the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie.

Facing off against 21 other teams, Team USA went into the competition with a goal of finishing in the top five, said Chlebana, who served as the team's captain.

“This was the highest Team USA has finished in The Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie in 8 years,” said Chlebana, of Plainfield. “We were pleased with our performance and happy to be in fourth. The goal was to be in the top five. This year was a tough year, the competition level was very high, but we did a great job representing the USA.”

According to a press release on the Joliet Junior College website, Team USA was chosen in April 2012 at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan.

Along with Chlebana, who served as captain, team members included Stephen Durfee, an instructor at the Culinary Institute of America; Christophe Feyt, pastry chef at Paris Casino in Las Vegas; and alternate Roy Pell of The Phoenician.

The team met once per month in Grand Rapids to develop recipes and showpiece designs for the pastry competition.

Team USA competed Jan. 27 and 28 in Lyon, France, facing off against competitors from countries including France, Japan, Belgium, Australia and the UK.

Winners were announced on day two, with France placing first, followed by Japan, Italy and Team USA. Team USA’s score was only .3 percent of a point behind third-place winner Italy.

The international competition isn’t Chlebana’s first time in the limelight. The JJC bakery and pastry instructor appeared on an episode of “Food Network Challenge” in 2011, taking home a $10,000 prize for his “sugar dress.”

The competition pitted sugar artists against each other in a bid to design a dress that would wow the judges. Chlebana’s offering, made entirely of sugar built on a corset of chicken wire and tulle, was named the top design among four entries.

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Months later, the JJC instructor earned two first-place wins at the National Showpiece Championship in Atlanta.

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