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"The qualities of an exceptional cook are akin to those
of a successful tightrope walker: an abiding passion for the task, courage
to go out on
a
limb
and an impeccable sense of balance.”
~ Bryan Miller
Chef Keegan Gerhard
(the official bio)
Keegan Gerhard, named
one of the nation’s top 10 pastry chefs of 2002
and 2004 by both
Chocolatier and
Pastry Art and Design magazines, brings
a wealth of experience and abundant competitive energy to his position as
Executive Pastry Chef.
A one-time cyclist,
Keegan originally pursued a career in culinary arts
simply to have a mobile source of income that would allow him to train
for the Olympics anywhere, any time. But convenience soon gave way
to passion, as Keegan found himself running the kitchen of a French
bistro in San Diego. The day he fired his pastry chef and took over, he
discovered his true passion–and it has been a wild ride ever since.
Keegan set out to
learn from the best, and worked as the assistant to the celebrated Master pastry
chef, Jacquy Pfeiffer, the Alsace-born owner
and founder of
The French
Pastry School in Chicago. Keegan describes
this as more of an apprenticeship and awakening. Subsequent positions as
Pastry Chef with Charlie Trotter's Restaurant, the
Waldorf Astoria and the
Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company ensued, as did a position as Corporate Pastry Chef
for Dean and DeLuca and Executive Pastry Chef of
Four Seasons Chicago. Keegan
was a proud member of the opening team for
Wynn Las Vegas and is now Corporate
Pastry Chef for Las Vegas Gourmet Imports.
Keegan has an
enthusiastic but controlled approach to pastries, "I like to
stay away from things that are too contrived, and prefer to create desserts
that are refined and elegant," he explains. "I sometimes compare pastries
to jazz music: 70 percent is based on enduring principles or the foundation
of the style, and then the great musicians give you the 30 percent which is
a surprise."
When he’s not
preparing seasonal product-driven delicacies in the pastry shop, Keegan spends
time organizing and serving as M.C. for the
National Pastry Team Championships,
The World Pastry Team Championships
and
Food Network’s Challenge series.
He has been featured
numerous times on the Discovery Channel’s Great Chefs of America, as well as the
Travel Channel and CNN. For the 2001
Pastry World Cup, he served as
technical advisor to Team USA, which brought home a gold medal.
Keegan is the
recipient of the 2003 Distinguished Visiting Pastry Chef
award from Johnson & Wales University, and has received the Jean
Banchet Culinary Excellence Award. Keegan has had the honor of participating in
5 different James Beard Dinners. His light, fresh fruit
desserts have also been featured widely in
 
A Neoclassical View of
Plated Desserts: Grand Finales
Chocolatier,
Pastry Art and Design,
FoodArts
and many other publications.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
And now for the fun stuff...
Chef Keegan Gerhard
(Mom's unofficial version of the official bio)
Yes. All of the above is quite true. (Please,
hold the applause...)
But what about all the stuff he left out? For
example, did he mention that
he baked Princess Di's birthday cake (her last birthday cake, as I recall)
when she was a guest at the Waldorf? Of course not! Or that former President Clinton's staff
called the Waldorf kitchen one night with an
urgent request for
cherry cobbler. No! Seems the Pres was craving one
of his favorite desserts...
I could go on and on, but then where would I
stop? Seriously. This guy
leads a life you would not believe. I kid you not. Case in point: He just
happened to mention to me on the phone yesterday something about a honeymoon
cruise... I'm like, cruise? WHAT cruise? When?
"Oh. Didn't I tell you, Mom? Well, you know, the
wedding* cost a bunch,
so I was seriously praying that somehow Lisa and I would be
able to have
an awesome honeymoon. But for free..."
You need to remember that we are dealing with
Chef Keegan here, okay? Nothing is ever impossible for this guy. (Do pardon my
bragging, but I
speak the truth!) Couple of weeks later Holland America Line calls him.
It seems they have been pursuing him for a while to do pastry demos on
one of their cruises. Would he be available in Jan/Feb for the South Seas? And
could he bring an assistant?
Good grief. Is the Pope Catholic? Is Chef
Keegan's new bride, Lisa, a
pastry chef? See what I mean?
People eventually get around to asking me whether
Keegan's culinary expertise is
genetic. As in, did he get it from me? Well, yes and no. But
mostly no...
Ever since I can remember, people have said to
me, "Hey, you really
are
a great cook! Why don't you open your own restaurant?"
Naturally,
I was
quite flattered, but spending 18 hours a day at least 6 days a week
tied
down to a restaurant kitchen was not exactly the sort of life I had envisioned.
And of course,
I didn't really
know how to cook. Strictly
trial and error,
with lots of
frustration, blood, sweat and
tears, and
everything
from
butterflies in
my
stomach to sheer panic.
Of course, as the years went by, my cooking improved.
As I
continued
to read, to experiment, and to change practically every recipe I ran across,
things began to make more sense. In the meantime, Keegan became a very fine
professional chef who wound up specializing in pastry. His former high
school classmates still don't get it. Keegan??? A chef? A pastry
chef???
Yes indeed. Keegan, of all people,
who as a teenager was quite content
to live on Kraft macaroni and cheese, provided someone
else would cook
it for him. But please. None of that made-from-scratch stuff okay? Or
P B & J
sandwiches would do, provided his brother would make them.
How about
this scenario: "Keegan, I'll cook anything you want for your birthday
dinner! What would you like?"
"Great, Mom! How about meat loaf, mashed potatoes and peas?"
Invariably. Year after year. Well, you just never
know, do you? Chef
Keegan had no formal culinary training, but what he has had
is invaluable.
What we used to call OJT. You know. Good ole sink or swim on the job
training. And
even that was an accident.
Keegan did not intend to become a
chef; rather, his professional culinary career just sort of evolved. But what an
evolution! He has cooked with -
and for - some of the finest chefs in the world. With the enthusiastic zeal
so typical of him, his lust for life and insatiable curiosity, he soaked up
everything he saw, heard and read as if by osmosis. Keegan's optimistic boldness
and adventurous spirit continue to serve him well.
Chef Keegan is just as
fearless in the kitchen as he was on the football
field and in the soccer goal. (Need I
say that I much prefer to have him
in the kitchen?) What I have learned just by hanging out with "my son
the Chef" is beyond
description. It is an honor to be able to share a bit
of culinary knowledge with you via this
web site. And now that I think
of it, LBC is also an evolution, and most
of all, a labor of love.
"The only real stumbling block is fear
of failure. In cooking
you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude."
~
 Julia Child
* That would be Keegan and Lisa's fantastic 18
November Texas Hill
Country wedding. Be sure to keep a close eye on the
Food Network
TV schedule for March/April to view the highlights.
Seriously!
It will be billed as "The Ultimate Fantasy Wedding".
Don't take my word for it, though. When you tune in, you'll be seeing
world-class chefs (Ewald Notter,
Jacquy Pfeiffer,
Anil Rohira, Donald
Wressel ) in action and displaying their showpieces!
The indescribably delicious wedding cake was nothing less than a work
of art. Small wonder, as it was the masterpiece and wedding gift of none
other than Marina Sousa (winner of the
Food Network's Ultimate Wedding
Cake Challenge in 2006, as well as their Birthday Cake Challenge in 2005).
Although a schedule conflict prevented
Norman Love's attendance at
the
wedding, he most generously provided festively wrapped mini-boxes of
custom chocolates for the reception guests at
Becker Vineyards near
Fredericksburg TX.
To be continued.....
Featured Archive Recipes by Chef Keegan:
Chocolate Decadence Cake
with Raspberry Coulis
"German Chocolate Cake" Taken
to the Next Level
Jamaican Rum Pineapple
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Pecan Cheesecake
Sugar
Cookies
Crab and Mushroom Bisque
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Notter School of Pastry Arts
World Pastry Team
Championship
The French
Pastry School
Chef Charlie Trotter
Index - Cookbook Features
Recipe Archives Index
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