Los Gatos Pastry Chef Named Best in America

Pastry Chef Stephanie Prida of Los Gatos-based Manresa, 320 Village Lane—one of the world’s most celebrated dining destinations—has been named one of “America’s Best New Pastry Chefs” by Food & Wine magazine.

After traveling to taste hundreds of desserts across the country, magazine editors recognized Prida as one of five exciting up-and-coming talents in America’s restaurant pastry kitchens.

Manresa owned and operated by renowned Chef David Kinch, whose delicious culinary creations are influenced by French and modern Catalan cooking.

Prida works in the kitchen with the same ethic as Kinch, who strives for creativity, good taste and artistry in his dishes, according to the magazine.

Some of her signature dishes include Champagne jelly and granny smith “juniper and gin” and the Chocolate pavé and frozen nougatine, caramel.

Her quintessential dessert is the Gingerbread, pears with hibiscus and smoked pecans dish.

A San Diego native, Prida saw culinary school as an opportunity to combine her interest in cooking with her love of art.

After earning an associate degree from the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, she took an internship as Pastry Cook at The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas.

She further honed her skills as pastry cook at RM Seafood and Tableau, both in Las Vegas, and later at Georges at the Cove Restaurant in La Jolla, California.

Her desire to learn more about food on a global scale led her to Italy for four months, working in the kitchen at Nogarazza in Vicenza, Italy.

She later moved to Chicago, spearheading the pastry program at One Sixty Blue Restaurant before accepting the position of pastry chef at the Elysian Hotel, its two-Michelin star restaurant RIA and Balsan Restaurant.

Prior to joining the Manresa team, Prida was pastry chef for the Michelin-starred L2o Restaurant in Chicago.