education & training
Education & Training
Felchlin Chocolate, Switzerland
(Swiss Chalet Fine Foods)
Apprenticeship with André Daguin (2 Michelin Star Chef)
Hotel France, Auch, France
Bachelor’s, Hospitality Mgmt, Pastry Arts
Associate’s, Culinary Arts
NYC College of Technology, City University of NY
Certificate Cake Decoration,
University of the West Indies, St Augustine
Ask Anthony Smith about his education and training, and he’ll say, most of his education was from his training, whether in his family home, a classroom lab, or Michelin-star French hotel kitchen, it was all part of his education.
From a very young age, Anthony wanted to bake. Living steps from the local bakery, he would sneak in and swipe pieces of dough to play with. Then he came to watch the bakers work. When he kept coming back, they decided to teach him enough to assist them, and Anthony figured out the rest, memorizing the ingredients and proportions they used.
With that, his love for baking began.
In secondary school, Anthony was distracted by the usual teenage interests, but he took a course in cake decoration at UWI St. Augustine and earned a certificate, which ignited his passion for pastry arts.
After he graduated, he moved to New York with family and his mother read an ad for a cooking & baking school at a college in Brooklyn. It was New York City College of Technology, aka City Tech.
For four years, Anthony learned to work in a classical brigade during culinary kitchen labs, while studying business management courses. Through the Confectionery Arts and Cake Decoration courses he took, his French pastry instructors introduced him to the world of pastry arts competitions.
At Paris Gourmet’s
U.S Pastry competitions, Anthony and other students would assist the judges by cutting and serving cakes for the tasting portion of the competition.
At the Annual Salon of Culinary Arts, held by the Société Culinaire Philanthropique,
Anthony was able to participate in the competitions, on his school’s table. Each year, his skills improved with each entry, and he earned awards and accolades.
See Anthony’s first pieces and early works
Through City Tech’s International Student Work-Study Program, Anthony traveled to France to apprentice for three months at the Hotel de France in the Gascogne region, in Auch.
There, he worked as a kitchen apprentice to the world-renowned double-Michelin star chef-hotelier André Daguin, famous for his Gascon specialties.
It was an amazing opportunity, and as Smith states, “the key that opened the door to my future”.
Anthony Smith graduated from City Tech with an Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts and a Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management, with a major in Pastry Arts.
After graduating, he was immediately hired as a pastry chef.
Chef Smith continued to compete in Pastry Arts competitions, continuously improving his skills and challenging himself with higher levels of difficulty.
This went on for several years, until things got serious.
Chef Smith won a series of important awards in a four year span – a silver medal in the U.S. Pastry Competition, the bronze medal in the Amoretti National Pastry Team Championship, and the gold medal in the U.S Pastry Competition, earning the title of Pastry Chef of the Year.
After catching his breath, Chef Smith decided to fine-tune his techniques and learn some new things.
Through Swiss Chalet fine foods, he traveled to Switzerland and trained at Felchlin Chocolate’s Master Chocolatier Program – an intensive two-week class.
This list is sure to continue, because Chef Smith is always hungry for knowledge!