Zac Young
Born1982 (age 41–42)
Portland, Maine, U.S.
Education
Culinary career
Television show(s)
    • Top Chef: Just Desserts
    • Unique Sweets
    • Bakers v. Fakers
    • Nailed It!
Websitewww.chefzacyoung.com

Zac Young (born 1982) is an American pastry chef and TV personality. He has been featured on various baking shows on Food Network and the Cooking Channel, most notably on Top Chef: Just Desserts and Unique Sweets.[1] He also appeared as a guest judge on baking competition show Nailed It! on Netflix,[2] Food Network's Halloween Baking Championship,[3] and Food Network's Chopped.[4]

Early life

Zac Young was born in Portland, Maine, in 1982[5] in Portland, Maine to Jonathan and Susan Lebel Young. Growing up, he wanted to learn how to bake after his vegan mother never baked cookies for him.[6] After participating in community children's theatre shows from third through eighth grade,[5] Young was admitted to Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, Massachusetts.[7] Young momentarily worked as a costume designer before deciding that baking was his true passion. He then moved to New York City in 2003 to enroll at the Institute of Culinary Education and graduated in 2006.[6][8]

Career

Following graduation from the Institute of Culinary Education, Young first worked under Sebastien Rouxel and Richard Capizzi at Bouchon Bakery, then accepted a pastry chef position at Butter. Young trained in France with Philippe Givre at Valrhona and Philippe Parc at Michel Cluizel.[9] In 2009, Young became executive pastry chef at Flex Mussels on the Upper East Side, where he ran a seasonal pop-up donut shop in Grand Central Station.[10]

Young joined David Burke Group, later renamed Craveable Hospitality Group,[11] in 2012 as an executive pastry chef. In 2015, Young and David Burke Fabrick's pastry chef, Gian Martinez, originated the PieCaken dessert.[12] PieCaken, originally intended to be sold by the slice in restaurants, is a layered dish of pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and spice cake held together with cinnamon buttercream and topped with apple pie filling.[13] (The Wall Street Journal described the piecaken as "a fusion of a pumpkin pie, a pecan pie and an apple upside down cake".[11])

Personal life

Young is openly gay.[14][15]

Filmography

Television performances
Year Title Role Notes
2010 Top Chef: Just Desserts Self Contestant
2011-2017 Unique Sweets Self
2016-2023 Beat Bobby Flay Self
2017-2018 Bakers vs. Fakers Self Judge
2017-2019 Chopped Self Judge
2017-2023 Halloween Baking Championship Self Judge

References

  1. ↑ Varolli, Regina (October 31, 2017). "Zac Young: The Food Network's "King of All Halloween"". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  2. ↑ Bui, Andrew (February 22, 2018). "'Nailed It' Is the Food Competition Show Celebrating Terrible Home Bakers". Tasting Table. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Creepy and Crusty Creations". Food Network. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Zac Young". Food Network. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Alumni Spotlight: An "Outside the Box" Interview with Zac Young". Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine. March 1, 2021.
  6. 1 2 Keyes, Jeffrey James (October 12, 2010). "Out on the Town: Top Chef Zac Young's New York". GayCities. Q.Digital. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  7. ↑ Witko, Nicole (February 25, 2015). "Chef Zac Young on the Theatricality of Cookies". The Chef's Connection. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Zac Young". ICE. 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  9. ↑ Kamila, Avery Yale (August 4, 2010). "Chef from Maine will compete on reality TV show". Portland Press Herald.
  10. ↑ Heyman, Marshall (February 11, 2011). "An Ace in the Hole". Wall Street Journal.
  11. 1 2 Hollander, Sophia (July 12, 2016). "With Fight on Broil, Restaurant Owners Go Own Ways". Wall Street Journal.
  12. ↑ Rogers, Katie (November 25, 2015). "Forget Turducken. It's Piecaken Time". The New York Times.
  13. ↑ Davenport, Emily (November 2, 2000). "Pastry chef Zac Young talks creating the 'PieCaken' in New York City and its surge in popularity since 2015". amNewYork.
  14. ↑ Young, Zac (January 26, 2014). "Zac Young on Twitter: "I was tormented for being fat and gay... now I've made a career out of it. #YNAC @GroovyProjects @broadway_buzz http://t.co/xY0zySiI0x"". Twitter. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Exploring Coming Out with Pro Pastry Chef Zac Young". Gayety. January 1, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
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