We're here with another chapter in the 2025 edition of our annual
CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, celebrating the people and places that make Dallas such an exciting dining destination.
In this special
editorial series, we're highlighting restaurants, bars, and chefs who've been nominated in eight categories by our esteemed judging panel of last year's winners and local dining experts. We’ll celebrate the nominees and reveal the winners at an awards ceremony and signature tasting event on Thursday, May 1 at the new Astoria Event Venue. (Early Bird tickets are on sale now at discounted rates of $60 for general admission and $99 for VIP.)
We've already covered
Best Neighborhood Restaurants, Rising Star Chef, and Best Coffee Shops, and Best Eatertainment Restaurant. Now it's time to look at Best Pastry Chef: the ones who promise a sweet ending for every meal.
Here are our 10 nominees for in Dallas for Best Pastry Chef in 2025:
Meriel Bautista,
Cafe Momentum
Previously, Meriel was a Pastry Chef at Cowboys Club and also held positions at Devious Desserts & Creamery, Celebrity Cafe & Bakery, JOY Macarons, Nobu Restaurants, Jeng Chi, JCPenney, Naaap-dfw, Spherion, Blockbuster. Café Momentum is a nonprofit restaurant that provides a transformative paid internship program for justice-involved youth aged 15-19.
Matt Bresnan,
Bresnan Bread and Pastry
After being a chef his whole life, Matt started baking in 2016. By the end of 2018, he and his wife Jenna were selling baked goods at St. Michael’s Farmers Market. In 2020 they quit their jobs to do the bakery full-time and opened their bakery in 2023. They make sourdough bread and traditional croissants, and do a Friday-night special of pizza.
Chelsea Gannon,
Ruby Baking Co.
Gannon is a vegan and gluten-free mom who started baking after she and her daughter changed their diet. In 2024, she
opened a storefront in Rockwall where her menu includes cupcakes, cookies, cinnamon rolls in both traditional and strawberry flavors (topped with strawberry-flavored icing and strawberry preserves), brownies, and cakes — both custom-order and smaller to-go cakes.
Macarena Gomez,
LA 57
Gomez knew Mexican pastry, which she learned from here grandmother, then went to Paris to study the art of croissants. She opened LA 57 in Ennis as a coffee shop selling coffee drinks plus croissants, Danish, and breakfast sandwiches, then followed that up in 2023 with a
location at the Dallas Farmers Market, where customers line up for her "supremes," the trendy croissant creation shaped like a circular "slice."
Bryan Motta,
Breadhaus
BreadHaus, a family-owned European-style artisan bakery in Grapevine that has been
open for 25-plus years, got new owners last year. In June 2024, husband-and-wife duo Bryan and Fara Motta took ownership of the bakery with a plan to continue the legacy of providing high-quality, organic and preservative-free baked goods to the community.
Dyan Ng,
Le Passage
Born in the Philippines of Chinese and Filipino descent, Ng has worked for more than 20 years in prestigious restaurants such as Francois Payard’s Payard Patisserie & Bistro, Restaurant Guy Savoy, and Alain Ducasse’s Mix in Las Vegas, where she met chef Bruno Davaillon. She oversees pastry programs at Le PasSage and sister restaurant Rose Café.
Leen Kim Nunn,
Omni Frisco
Leen joined Omni Hotels & Resorts in 2016, as assistant pastry chef at The Omni Homestead Resort and was promoted to executive pastry chef in 2017. She was honored in 2018 by Hotel F&B magazine as one of 25 Women to Watch. In 2020, Leen showcased her talents on Food Network’s, Chopped Sweets, where she was the 2020 season winner. Nunn is currently the executive pastry chef overseeing the pastry program development for banquet events and new signature restaurant concepts at Omni PGA Frisco Resort.
Sara Saginaw,
Swirled Peace
Saginaw left a career in the medical field to open this one-of-a-kind dessert shop in Bishop Arts, doing all-vegan/plant-based soft serve ice cream. It's similar to a self-serve frozen-yogurt shop, but instead of frozen yogurt, the selection is non-dairy, made with oat milk using recipes developed in-house. The soft-serve comes in six options: intriguing flavors such as chocolate with sea salt, Mexican vanilla, peanut-butter cup, white chocolate, strawberry balsamic, and Oreo "Borealis."
Ryan Stipp,
PGA Frisco
Stipp attended culinary school then worked his way up through a series of appointments at restaurants across the southeast from Tennessee to Virginia to North Carolina. He joined the brilliant team at the Omni PGA Frisco Resort in 2023. He's a big enthusiast for competing on TV, with appearances on shows such as Holiday Wars, King Of Cones, and Haunted Gingerbread Showdown.
Golda Sumpon,
Ollio Patisserie
Sumpon walked away from a 20-year career in corporate IT to fulfill her passion for baking. She attended culinary school then founded Ollio in 2019 — first selling her creations at the Frisco Fresh Market before opening a brick-and-mortar artisan French bakery in The Colony in 2021. She does macarons, croissants, Danishes, cookies, and desserts.
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The Tastemaker Awards program is brought to you by The Yuengling Company, Brioche Gourmet, Still Austin Whiskey, Hornitos, Whataburger, PicMe Events, and more to be announced soon. A portion of the proceeds will benefit our nonprofit partner, Harvest Project Food Rescue.
