Joseph Schmidt
Joseph Schmidt was born in 1939 to Viennese parents in Jerusalem. His early life in the food business led to an apprenticeship with the Zimline passenger ship line. There he trained with European chefs and developed his taste for the confectionary side of culinary adventures.
Yearning for travel and discovery, Joseph immigrated to the United States in his early 20's. After a 6-year stint in a Manhattan pastry shop, wanderlust struck again. Joseph visited San Francisco and decided to stay, joining Fantasia Confections.
In 1983 Joseph opened a small shop in an offbeat San Francisco neighborhood, and quickly became known for his exquisite creations. Then the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog mentioned his confections as a special holiday treat. Chocolate soon took over at the shop, and baked goods were dropped from production.
Joseph quickly developed his special talent for sculpting and creating new techniques in chocolate. A new crisp and clean look was born to the traditional field of chocolate confections. His first innovation, the distinctive egg-shaped truffle, which has become the company's trademark and is known throughout the industry as the "American" truffle. Delicate and interesting chocolate vessels and carved bowls soon followed to carry the truffles and pralines he created.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
Along with earning the reputation as the "Rodin of Chocolate" and achieving local celebrity status, Joseph has received many awards and numerous acknowledgements within the industry.
1992: Awarded the Antonin Careme Medal from the Western Chefs Association
1993: Distinguished Visiting Chef at Johnson & Wales University
1993: Honored with membership in the Honorable Order of the Golden Toque
1993: Honored with membership in the Chaine Des Rotisseurs
1994: Honored by the California State Senate with a Certificate of Recognition June 5, 1994 designated as Joseph Schmidt Day in California
1996: Received a prestigious Honorary Degree from Johnson & Wales University on May 25, 1996 - Doctor of Culinary Arts, Honoris Causa
NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Joseph's work is highly regarded and has been displayed by such institutions as the American Crafts Museum in New York.
Special commissions have included the Eiffel Tower for the French Ambassador; a 25 pound cable car for the Queen of England; a white dove for Nelson Mandela; a giant panda for Prince Philip and the World Wildlife Organization; a chocolate California state bear for a banquet hosted by then-Governor Pete Wilson; an anniversary present for then-President Reagan commissioned by Nancy Reagan; and a gift for Mikhail Gorbachev.
When then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein of San Francisco went to China some years ago, she took a few hundred tiny white and dark chocolate pandas that Joseph made especially for the occasion.
His largest creation to date was in 1992 when he designed a Christmas exhibit entitled the "Chocolate Celebration," filling 14,000 feet in the lobby of One Market Plaza, San Francisco. The project consisted of 14 different themes using 10,000 lbs. of chocolate. Included in the exhibit was a full-sized chocolate table with a Christmas feast, a skillfully decorated 3-1/2 foot chocolate tree, a Victorian side table complete with top hat, gloves, and cane (all in chocolate), a Dresden toy chest overflowing with toy sculptures, an alpine village and a 12 foot high pear tree. Joseph completed the massive display in less than three months.
His costliest work was a $12,000 Easter extravaganza of 2,000 eggs, dozens of tulips and crocuses all sculpted for a San Francisco landscape garden show.
As contributor and supporter of the fine arts in San Francisco, Joseph created an exhibition for "The Joys of Chocolate" presented in the lobby of the Transamerica Pyramid.
Photographs of Joseph's work have adorned the cover of Manufacturing Confectioner eight times. His work has also been covered in numerous newspapers and magazines including the Denver Post, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, San Diego Sun Times, San Francisco Examiner, Toronto Star, Japanese magazines Pronto and Axis, German travel magazines, and the Italian Confectioner to name but a few. Joseph has been a constant source of human-interest stories for the television media. CNN has covered him five times internationally and at least once a month there is a local comment or profile on network programming that reaches large audiences.
Perhaps that is why Joseph still enjoys creating and "playing" for hours in chocolate. A 16-hour day is nothing when inspiration begs for his development into new horizons of the chocolate world.