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Pioneering, award-winning pastry Chef Pichet Ong returns to Hill Center to lead a hands on class that will feature baking four staple recipes that are great for any occasion – a dinner party, a gift, or just a sweet snack.  We start off with cheesecake, then a cold souffle with summer’s best fruits, and a couple of crafted cookies.  All this may sound simple but they all come with a twist, as we introduce new ingredients that will turn them into very flavorful desserts!

Eating and cooking are Pichet Ong’s hobby and heartbeat. As a chef, Pichet combines fond flavors of his childhood and travels with classic techniques to create sweet and savory foods that are pure, whimsical, and experimental, yet nostalgic. His food can be found worldwide, from New York to Sydney, Istanbul to Beijing, Tokyo to Washington, DC. Pichet is a self-taught chef. He is a Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America in Pastry Arts & Design. He’s been named “Rising Star” by Starchefs, a “Pastry Provocateur” by Pete Wells in Food & Wine. He has been featured in Saveur, W, Elle, Vogue, Tatler, and O, the Oprah magazine. He headlined “The Chef” column in The New York Times for 8 weeks. His desserts have received multiple 3-star reviews in the New York Times, a Michelin star, and placement in Pellegrino’s the Worlds 50 Best. He is a 9-time nominee for the James Beard Award in different categories. He is a resident and guest judge on Food Network’s Cake Wars and Sugar Dome, Cake Wars, Halloween Wars, and Bravo’s Top Chef. In 2019, he was a finalist for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef. During that period, he opened Mama Chang with chef Peter Chang in Virginia that was named best new restaurant in Washington, DC, and NiHao in Baltimore, named  #4 best new restaurant in America in Esquire and landed as a James Beard award finalist for best new restaurant in 2022.  Ong joined forces with legendary Chef Peter Chang and his daughter Lydia Chang to open Chang’s first DC restaurant, Chang Chang near Dupont Circle, which Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema declared “a joyous occasion,”  and instantly became one of his “ favorite places to eat.”  Pichet is currently dividing his time between Bangkok, producing farm bean to bar chocolate, Kad KoKoa, and DC, with the newly opened Hiraya, with chef Paolo Dungca.  His new book,  “Hello Coconuts” is scheduled for a 2024 release.

This class will sell out quickly so don’t hesitate to purchase your ticket ASAP.