THE CHEFS

Dominique and Cindy Duby trained under master pastry chefs - such as Lenôtre in Paris and Wittamer in Brussels - and have won many gold and silver medals in international culinary competitions. Dubbed Canada's most notable pastry chefs, they represented and led Pastry Team Canada several times in the world's most prestigious team pastry events: the World Pastry Cup in France and the World Pastry Championship in Las Vegas. Their exploits have been captured in documentaries featured on the Food TV Network. The Duby's artistic flair and creative ideas bring them regular invitations to prestigious international events such as the Masters of Food and Wine in Carmel and the South Beach Wine and Food Festival in Miami.

Dominique and Cindy Duby are the chefs / owners of DC DUBY Wild Sweets®, a critically acclaimed chocolate Atelier and Virtual Boutique, which has emerged as one of North America finest artisan chocolatiers. The Duby's truly novel products and relentless creativity reflect their distinct culinary approach and is based on the following principles:

Inspired by Nature
The Dubys are known for taking calculated well-researched risks, but they never lose sight of their commitment to superlative design and taste experiences. The name, Wild Sweets®, reflects their rational: blending the exotic with the familiar, an element of surprise with a sense of comfort. The Dubys believe that 'everything works until proven it doesn't and they continually reinvent and question themselves on their food and product preparation and presentation. They do not take tradition for granted and devote several months a year experimenting in their design atelier with an intricate and ever-expanding list of both classic and unusual ingredients. They continue to find ways to innovate by using non-traditional exotic and wild ingredients to create unique sweets while taking sweet inspired techniques and ingredients to create their own approach and perspective of savory cuisine.

Guided by Science
Dominique and Cindy have a particular interest in scientific research, with the aim of developing and implementing new techniques to create modern tastes and textures. Their true passion lies in expanding the palette of flavors and ingredients available to chefs. They believe that science and psychology are an integral part of a modern food experience. Their methodology is based on the application of scientific principles and techniques aimed at better understanding and improve small-scale artisan food production. They work on a regular basis with food scientist to research, develop and implement techniques to create new tastes and textures. While there's a strong scientific foundation to their work, the Duby's - who call their science-based approach 'culinary constructivism and don't believe in putting science above art. The Dubys continuously strive to push the envelop of creativity to make one of the world's great chocolate. Ultimately, their keen interest in understanding the art and science of the chocolate making process led them to become one of the few artisan chocolate-makers company in the world. Wild Sweets oRigiNe® chocolate is produced in true small-scale artisan fashion in their very own laboratory on a micro-batch basis using only the world’s very best cocoa beans. Other results of their work also include a line of Culinary Elements for Modern Cuisine concepts. Their unique science based approach is also showcased in their multi-sensory Wild Sweets Tasting Theatre that offers "edutaining" and interactive sweet, savory and pairing sessions.

Crafted by Art
While there's a strong scientific foundation to their work, the Dubys do not put science above art. They view food as an art form and have won many awards at some of the world's most prestigious culinary art competitions. Dominique and Cindy highly value the cognitive or brain-based aspect of eating and perceiving food through multi-sensory stimulation, especially with intense flavors and powerful aromas, but also with contrasting textures and vibrant colors. They take inspiration from various fields, from architecture to painting. They continuously search for, design, and implement various art techniques such as thermoforming, stamping, embossing, design transfer, and airbrushing. They play with colors based on Matching Systems, and apply artist techniques for unique strokes and brushing effects. All this results in an intricate design, colors and textures that turn an otherwise plain chocolate into a truly unique creation that can only be called 'cocoArt'.

Designed by Technology
Although most of DC DUBY Wild Sweets® chocolates are painstakingly handcrafted in true artisan fashion, the results of their research are often implemented in the daily production of chocolates. In the Wild Sweets® kitchen, you can find unique pieces of equipment generally only used in science laboratories. For example, when the Dubys wanted to transform wine from a liquid to a powder form with the least amount of aroma loss for a chocolate bar filling, they acquired a leading Vacuum Drying Microwave system. To extract the most chlorophyll and aromatic compounds from fresh herbs for flavor emulsions and other fillings, they use high-speed centrifuges that yield beautifully clear and incredibly aromatic oils. Other "basic" pieces of equipment such as the pH metre or refractometre are also commonly used in daily production to implement standardization of all recipes and ensure consistency in every single batch. One of the Dubys' mottos sums it up best: "A chef who stops learning is a retired chef." Dominique and Cindy are committed to continually researching art, science, and technology for new ways to provide chocolate lovers with superlative taste experiences and to continue sharing their passion for chocolate.

The couple also owns DC DUBY Hospitality Services Inc, a Vancouver based international firm offering culinary training and consulting services to hotels and catering companies worldwide, as well as creative and marketing services such as product development, food styling and photography. The Duby's are the authors of Wild Sweets Exotic Desserts & Wine Pairings, foreword by Charlie Trotter. The book won the 2003 Best Book in the World for Food & Wine Matching from Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, Spain. Their second book - Wild Sweets Chocolate, foreword by Charlie Trotter, won second Best Chocolate Book in the World from Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, England. In 2008, the Duby's started to write a new series of single topic cookbooks titled - Definitive Kitchen Classics. The first title was Crème Brûlée, which was released in the fall of 2008. The second title - Chocolate - was released in the fall of 2009. The Dubys are working on book # 3 of the Definitive Kitchen Classics series as well as book # 3 of the Wild Sweets series.

For more information, please contact:
Dominique | Cindy Duby
Managing Directors
DC DUBY Wild Sweets®
A Registered Trademark of:
DC DUBY Hospitality Services Inc.
t | 604-277-6102
e | dcduby@dcduby.com
w | www.dcduby.com