Hyde Park, NY, June 11, 2008 – Pastry Art & Design inducted pastry chef Dieter Schorner into its Hall of Fame in a June 9 ceremony in New York City. Schorner, a professor at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, NY, was honored by the magazine “for his outstanding contributions to the field of pastry.”

Schorner was owner and pastry chef of Patisserie-Café Didier in the Georgetown section of Washington, DC before joining the CIA faculty in 1999. Condé Nast Traveler in 1994 named Café Didier the third best restaurant in America, and Money magazine cited it as having the best breakfast in Washington. Before opening his own restaurant, he was executive pastry chef for Warner LeRoy at Potomac Restaurant in Washington and Tavern on the Green in New York. He was also pastry chef at such distinguished locations as Le Cirque, Le Chantilly, La Côte Basque and L’Etoile in New York; the Savoy Hotel in London; and Cafehaus Konig in Baden-Baden, Germany.

Le Cirque owner Sirio Maccione has referred to Chef Schorner as “the best in the world.” In 1988, Time magazine called Dieter Schorner the best pastry chef in the United States. Food & Wine lists him among “America’s Best Chefs” and Gourmet says Schorner “is one of the indisputable grand masters of his métier.” He prepared desserts for Presidents Nixon, Carter, and Reagan.

A native of Bavaria, Chef Schorner was educated at the Coba Institute in Basel, Switzerland and the Pastry & Bakery School of Sulzbach-Rosenberg in Bavaria. He served an apprenticeship at Café Winkler in Bavaria.

“Dieter Shorner’s contributions to the advancement of baking and pastry are unmatched in the industry,” said Thomas Vaccaro, CIA associate dean for baking and pastry arts. “He is a great technician, gifted with a sensibility to hold onto tradition. Dieter’s desserts are masterpieces, combining solid methods and precise detail to every flavor. He also must be recognized as a teacher. He has been both an instructor and mentor to many of today’s leaders in the world of pastry.”

Before joining the CIA faculty, Chef Schorner was chairman of pastry arts at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. He was also an adjunct professor at New York City Technical College and at L’Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, MD.

Chef Schorner says about his teaching philosophy, “If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. But if you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people. I teach as if I am the farmer who is planting the seed of prosperity and I am praying it will grow successful people.”