Acting
Jun 13, 1959
Algiers, France [now Algeria]
Jacques Torres
Acting
Biography
Jacques Torres, also known as "Mr. Chocolate", is a master pastry chef and chocolatier. He is a prominent member of the International Culinary Center community, as Dean of Pastry Arts. He has been featured in various television series, talk show appearances, and award ceremonies. Torres appeared as a judge on Season 4 of Next Great Baker, and is a judge and co-host on the cooking comedy show Nailed It! alongside Nicole Byer. In 1980, he began working with two-star Michelin chef Jacques Maximin at the Hotel Negresco. During that time, Torres also attended culinary school to earn a Master Pastry Chef degree. Next he taught pastry courses at a culinary school in Cannes from 1983 to 1986. In 1986, Torres was the youngest person to ever win the Meilleur Ouvrier Pâtissier de France competition. Torres moved to the United States, and in 1988 he served as the Corporate Pastry Chef for the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company before moving on to Le Cirque, where he worked for 11 years as Executive Pastry Chef. Torres joined the faculty of the International Culinary Center in 1993, and after designing the Classic Pastry Arts Curriculum in 1996, he became the school's Dean of Pastry Arts. In 2000, Torres left Le Cirque to open a chocolate factory and retail shop in Brooklyn, New York. Currently, there are eight Jacques Torres shops, including one chocolate factory in the Brooklyn Army Terminal and an ice cream shop in Grand Central Terminal. In March 2017 Jacques opened New York City's first chocolate museum, named Choco-Story New York. The 5,000-square-foot museum opened at the site of his flagship store in Manhattan.
Television & Series (9)
Former news host and journalist Tamron Hall discusses all things topical and engages those she interviews in thorough meaningful and entertaining conversations.
The Tamron Hall Show
Top Chef: Just Desserts is an American reality competition show, spun off from Top Chef. It premiered on the cable television network Bravo on September 15, 2010. Top Chef: Just Desserts features pastry chefs competing in a series of culinary challenges, focusing on pastries and desserts. The show is produced by Magical Elves Productions, the same company that created Top Chef and Project Runway, and distributed by Bravo and Tiger Aspect USA. It is hosted by Gail Simmons, with head judge Johnny Iuzzini, head pastry chef at Jean-Georges. Other judges include Hubert Keller, owner of restaurant Fleur de Lys and a Top Chef Masters finalist, and Dannielle Kyrillos, "an entertaining expert and Editor-at-Large of DailyCandy".
Top Chef: Just Desserts
In this high-stakes "Nailed It!" spinoff competition, 10 novice bakers pick up tips from professional coaches while vying for a sweet cash prize.
The Big Nailed It Baking Challenge
Home bakers with a terrible track record take a crack at re-creating edible masterpieces for a $10,000 prize. It's part reality contest, part hot mess.
Nailed It!
MasterChef USA, on PBS, is the original US adaptation of the BBC's MasterChef, a cooking competition for amateur cooks. Grab your whisks and hang on to your toques, as the 27 regional MasterChef champs chop, purée, roast, braise, sauté, simmer and grill their way through the Olympics of amateur cooking to the title of MasterChef USA! Host Gary Rhodes, one of Great Britain’s best-loved chefs, guides us through 13 half-hour episodes and an hour long prime time special. A panel of celebrity judges preside as 27 winning amateur chefs, wielding their own mouthwatering menus, battle over Brulée and Beurre Blanc, wrangle over roasted peppers and risotto, and strive to create the most satisfying soup, salad and soufflé.
