Valrhona Usa Names Sarah Kosikowski
new Corporate Pastry Chef, East Region

From 10 Years In Leading Kitchens To The Leading Fine Chocolate

What's sweet, popular, amazing, and has been in lots of top restaurant kitchens? Well, yes, that could describe Valrhona, but we are talking about Valrhona's newly appointed Corporate Pastry Chef, Sarah Kosikowski!

Great chefs, like great chocolate or desserts, arise when an almost magical combination of ingredients, natural qualities, passion, commitment, hard work and generous amounts of talent come together in a perfectly choreographed recipe. Pastry Chef Sarah Kosikowski is such a chef. Her winning smile seems to announce the treat anyone who tastes her confections and desserts is in for: bliss.

Valrhona USA, the North American division of the French global fine chocolate leader, has appointed acclaimed pastry chef, Sarah Kosikowski as the company's new Executive Corporate Pastry Chef. Chef Alex Espiritu, who held the post, will take on the highly anticipated role of managing sales of the entire Pacific Northwest and Rocky mountains.

"We are thrilled to have Sarah Kosikowski joining the Valrhona family. Her remarkable skills, enthusiasm, and ability to connect with consumers and chefs are a perfect fit for the brand,"
-- CFO Anthony Valla

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking and Pastry Arts program, Chef Kosikowski brings with her a remarkable pastry pedigree nurtured at some of the country's best restaurants. In California, Sarah honed her skills at the likes of: The French Laundry, Citizen Cake, and the Ritz-Carlton Dining Room. In Las Vegas she worked at Michael Mina's restaurant at the Bellagio, as executive pastry chef for the four-star Fleur de Lys under the direction of Chefs Laurent Pillard and Hubert Keller, and the Award-winning Wynn Hotel. Much in demand, she was recruited to run the dessert program at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.

Chef Kosikowski's talent won her the silver medal honor on the Food Network's "Extreme Challenge, Candy Carnival." In 2009 Sarah was nominated by the James Beard Foundation for the "Rising Star Chef" award. She has been invited to participate in some of the most prestigious culinary events and festivals worldwide, including the North American semi-finals of the Valrhona C3 Culinary Competition in Versailles, France in April 2011.

Sarah Kosikowski is one of those rare chefs who are able to seamlessly blend classic sensibility with forward thinking modern techniques. With a winning demeanor and a commanding presence, Chef Kosikowski's commitment to excellence makes her ideally suited to her new role as Corporate Pastry Chef for Valrhona USA.

"I am delighted to represent such a prestigious company as Valrhona, and am looking forward to many new endeavors with an outstanding team,"
-- Chef Sarah Kosikowski

She will use the people-skills that have won her professional praise to conduct professional classes, one-on-one culinary consulting as well as media outreach communicating tastes and tales of Valrhona chocolate. On October 29 and 30th, the new chef will conduct a class of L'Ecole en Route in NYC, a program that takes Valrhona's famous chocolate school in Tain l'Hermitage on the road to chefs in the US.

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About Valrhona
Since it was created by a pastry chef for pastry chefs in 1922, Valrhona has remained a chef driven company that values working in partnership with chefs. Employing 20 corporate chefs and operating three premier baking schools ("Ecoles du Grand Chocolat") is evidence that this core philosophy is as true as ever.

Beyond the Rhone Valley chocolate production operations in France, Valrhona also brings chefs "Aux sources du Gra