8
Oct, 2010

Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer Receives the Golden Pretzel

The Institute of Arts and Popular Traditions of Alsace honored Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer of The French Pastry School at City Colleges of Chicago in Strasbourg on October 2, 2010 with the Bretzel d’Or, or “Golden Pretzel” award. Each year, the institute recognizes talented Alsatians who preserve the arts and traditions of Alsace, the culturally rich, eastern region of France, bordering Lorraine and Franche-Comté, with Germany to the east and Switzerland to the south. Chef Pfeiffer and other Golden Pretzel recipients not only safeguard Alsatian heritage, but promote it within the region, around France, and throughout the world. Students of The French Pastry School benefit from their Dean’s heritage, and his dedication to passing it on.

Immediately following the Chicago premiere of the documentary in which Pfeiffer plays a key role, Kings of Pastry on October 1st at the Gene Siskel Theater, he left for the airport to travel back to the “promised land” as he likes to call it, to receive the award. Originally from a small town near Strasbourg in Alsace, Pfeiffer began his pastry training there, going on to work as Executive Pastry Chef for renowned establishments and international dignitaries. Chef Pfeiffer, along with Chef Sébastien Canonne, M.O.F., later founded The French Pastry School in Chicago.

Read the rest of this announcement on the French Pastry School’s web site.

1
Oct, 2010

Kings of Pastry Premiers in Chicago

Tickets are now on sale for the Chicago premiere of Kings of Pastry, the documentary film created by Chris Hegedus and DA Pennebaker, directors of The War Room and Don’t Look Back. After meeting with great success in screenings all over the world, Kings of Pastry will be shown in the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, Illinois, the city where the story of Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer’s pursuit of the prestigious title, Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman in France), begins.

The film follows ACF member Jacquy Pfeiffer, co-founder of The French Pastry School at City Colleges of Chicago and two other distinguished pastry chefs in their quest to do more than the best they can do in pastry, “but the best that can be done.” This is the essence of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France, a competition held in France every four years for artisans in the effort to achieve perfection in their craft, and be named one of the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France.

Kings of Pastry will be showing at the Gene Siskel Film Center from October 1st through October 7th, 2010. Follow this link to purchase tickets.

Additional premieres in cities across the United States will take place at the following locations:

OPENS October 8th – Los Angeles, CA – Laemmle Music Hall
OPENS October 8th – Denver, CO – Starz Film Center
COMING in October – San Francisco & Marin City, CA – Balboa & Lark Theaters
OPENS October 8th – Kansas City, MO – Screenland Crown Center
OPENS October 22nd – Santa Fe, NM – The Screen
OPENS November 26th – Seattle, – WA Northwest Film Forum

For more screenings and information, visit www.kingsofpastry.com.