The French Pastry School names three new chef-instructors

The French Pastry School recently added three chef-instructors to its faculty: master baker Jonathan Dendauw, former World Pastry Cup champion En-Ming Hsu and 2008 World Pastry Cup champion Dimitri Fayard.

Dendauw’s devotion to Artisan bread-making has taken him all across France and the United States. Originally from a small town in Belgium, Dendauw began his baking apprenticeship in Nimes, France through a centuries-old organization called Les Compagnons du Devoir. Most recently, the Compagnons took Dendauw to La Farm Bakery in Cary, N.C., where he worked under master baker Lionel Vatinet.

Hsu’s accomplishments over the past 15 years include numerous awards and accolades. In 2001, as team captain of the U.S. World Pastry Cup team, she lead the United States to victory in Lyon, France. That year, her team won by the largest margin ever achieved. An apprentice of The French Pastry School’s co-founder Sébastien Canonne, MOF, Hsu will begin teaching at the school in January 2009, focusing on plated desserts instruction.

Originally from Auch, France, Fayard first came to the United States at age 19 to work for François Payard's Payard Pâtisserie and Bistro in New York City. In 2000, he became the assistant pastry chef at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. In 2003, he and his wife Keli Fayard opened Vanille Pâtisserie in Chicago. Chef Fayard specializes in flavor profiles and will teach the French cakes and tarts portion of the school's 24-week "L'Art de la Pâtisserie" program beginning in January 2009.