Kings of Pastry

DVD Review

Kings of Pastry, Directed by Chris Hegedus. Starring Jacquy Pfeiffer and Phillipe Rogolot. From the makers of the documentary classics Dont Look Back and The War Room. D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus are simply the best - so when they turn their sights on the competition for the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (MOF), France's Nobel Prize for pastry, you're in for a treat. Sixteen chefs whip up the most gorgeous, delectable, gravity-defying concoctions, and there is edge-of the seat drama as they deliver their fantastical, spun-sugar desserts to the display table. The inevitable disasters prove both poignant and hilarious. (Courtesy of Film Forum)

Pennebaker and Hegedus secured exclusive access to shoot this epic, never-before-filmed test of France's finest artisans. The film follows chef Jacquy Pfeiffer, co-founder of Chicago's French Pastry School, as he journeys back to his childhood home of Alsace to practice for the contest. Also profiled is chef Regis Lazard, who is competing for the second time (he dropped his sugar sculpture the first time), and chef Philippe Rigollot, from Maison Pic, France's only three-star restaurant owned by a woman.

During the grueling final competition, chefs work under constant scrutiny by master judges, whose critical palates evaluate their elaborate pastries. Finally, these pastry marathoners racing the clock must hand carry all their creations including their fragile sugar sculptures through a series of rooms to a final buffet area without shattering them. The film captures the high-stakes drama of the competition - passion, sacrifice, disappointment, and joy - in the quest to become one of the Kings of Pastry.

Bonus Features Include: Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer Demonstrates How to Make Sugar Sculptures; Outtakes; Filmmaker Biographies. Click here for more information or to order.