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They’re being called “exhibit pieces,” but not in the traditional sense of museum-caliber sculpture, paintings, or other objets d’art.
On Friday March 7, a baker’s dozen of the city’s finest pastry chefs will be showcasing edible works of art at A Taste of Fiction, an event to benefit the St. Louis Public Library Foundation.
The approach is novel and unique: each participating chef was asked to interpret works of fiction--book titles, specifically--in pastry form.
The event is sold-out but the the culinary masterpieces will remain on display Saturday, March 8th in the Great Hall at Central Library, 1301 Olive Street.
(A taste of the Taste: below left, Nathaniel Reid's mini-verson of his interpretation of The Jungle Book--a salted caramel cake containing caramel mousse; tropical cremieux, with mango, banana, passionfruit and lime; hazelnut croustillant; and a tropical glaze. Below right is Martin Lopez' scaled-down version of his take on Faust--a devil's food cake infused with cayenne pepper, with layers of spiced mascarpone and "flames" of sugar.)
The list of participating chefs and the corresponding book titles is below:
- A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: Chris Desens, the Culinary Institute of Hickey College
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare: Stephan Schubert, River City Casino
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: Christy Augustin, Pint Size Bakery & Coffee
- Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger: Bob Zugmaier, Sidney Street Cafe
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl: Casey Shiller, Jilly’s Cupcake Bar & Cafe
- Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Martin Lopez and Sandia Hoorman, Piccione Pastry
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel: Julie Weldele, Scape
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: George “Skip” Guthier
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Simone Faure, La Pâtisserie Chouquette
- The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: Nathaniel Reid, The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodges Burnett: Tim Brennan, Cravings
- To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Danielle Bush, Annie Gunn’s
- The Twenty-Seventh City by Jonathan Franzen: Anne Croy, Pastaria
The Taste is the official kick-off for Food for Thought, St. Louis Public Library's month-long series of exhibits and culinary programs that includes displays, films, vintage menus from St. Louis’ classic restaurants, and historic local cookbooks. All 17 branches of the SLPL are participating. The list of system-wide exhibitions is here.
Robbie Montgomery, owner of three Sweetie Pie’s restaurants and star of OWN network’s most popular TV series, Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s, will appear at Central Library on Saturday, March 8 from 2-4:30 p.m. Miss Robbie will discuss life as a successful restaurateur, then take questions from the audience. There’s even a meet-and-greet afterwards.
In addition, Casey Shiller of Jilly's Cupcake Bar & Cafe designed four cupcakes for the event, each one based on characters from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: the Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Charlie's Golden Ticket, and the Willy Wonka will be available for purchase both at Jilly's and at Straub's Fine Grocers during the month of March. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Library.
