Stephen Durfee, USA

Classes Taught
2009 - Plated Desserts

Stephen Durfee is a Pastry Chef Instructor at the Culinary Institute of America, Greystone, in Napa Valley, CA., where he has been on the staff since November, 2000. Formerly the Executive Pastry Chef of The French Laundry in Yountville, CA, he was part of the restaurant’s opening team in 1994, rotating through various kitchen stations until he took charge of the pastry department. While at the French Laundry, he won the 1998 James Beard Award for “Outstanding Pastry Chef” and was named one of the “10 Best Pastry Chefs in America” in 1999 by Pastry Art & Design and Chocolatier magazines.

Other professional experience includes working as pastry chef at Charles Nob Hill in San Francisco, CA, the Wheatleigh Hotel in Lenox, MS, and as a pastry instructor at Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School, where he earned his certificate in pastry/baking in 1991. Chef Durfee has also traveled and worked in France, during which time he apprenticed at restaurants in Paris and Chambery.

Chef Durfee has twice represented the CIA at the National Pastry Team Championships, where his 2007 team took a third place bronze medal.