KOHLER, Wis.—Kohler Co. has announced the appointment of pastry chef Josh Johnson as head pastry chef at Destination Kohler. Johnson, who started on July 6, comes to Kohler with years of culinary experience and accolades, including winning the National Pastry Championship in 2011 and the Best Dégustation and silver medal overall award at the World Pastry Championship awards in 2012. He and his team brought home the bronze medal at the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie in Lyon, France in January 2015 and most recently, served as a presenter at the 2015 Kohler Festival of Chocolate in February.
“We are thrilled to have one of the top pastry and dessert chefs in the world join our team,” said Christine Loose, general manager-The American Club and Inn on Woodlake.
Prior to joining Kohler, Johnson recently served as the executive pastry chef at Vanille Patisserie. Johnson served as a pastry cook from 1995- 1997 at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago. Johnson relocated to New York City in 1998 where he worked at Payard’s Pâtisserie & Bistro as a pastry cook from 1998-2000. He returned to his Midwest roots and worked as head pastry chef at the Chicago restaurant, Everest. His next venture lead him to become co-owner of Cocoa Bean Fine Desserts in Geneva, Ill., in addition to serving as an instructor at the French Pastry School of Chicago.
As head pastry chef at Destination Kohler, Johnson will lead the professional teams in both the pastry and bread production kitchen. He will work closely with the head chefs at all of the Destination Kohler restaurants and banquet outlets to drive new dessert development and bread offerings. Johnson will collaborate with Anette Righi DeFendi, head chocolatier for Kohler Original Recipe Chocolates in an effort to continue elevating the growing business.
