“Striking a balance between looks and taste is paramount. It must be both. What has helped me the most in my career is tasting the work of other chefs.”
Russ specializes in modern confections based on traditional techniques while also having a robust knowledge of pastry as a whole. Before joining the Barry-Callebaut group, he was the Pastry Chef at PreGel America. Before this, he worked as a Pastry Chef for the Ritz-Carlton hotel group and held Pastry Chef positions in several prestigious private clubs. Russ is a graduate of both the Pastry Arts and the Culinary Arts programs at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has won numerous gold medals in ACF-sponsored pastry competitions and was a finalist in Cacao Barry’s L’Art du Chocolatier Challenge 2012. Chef Russ joined the Chocolate Academy™ Chicago team in 2014 to further his dedication to research and innovation. In 2018, Chef Russ relocated to Montreal to become the Lead Digital Chef for Chocolate Academy™.
