Colleen Grapes With a career spanning three decades, pastry chef Colleen Grapes has worked at such highly regarded New York City eateries as Butter, The Red Cat, The Harrison, and Oceana. Her desserts have been featured on Food Network's Sweet Genius, Chefography, and Alex's Day Off, as well as Cooking Channel's Unique Sweets. Experience Colleen Grapes began her culinary career working at the James Beard Award-winning restaurant Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island while attending Johnson & Wales. She made a name for herself over the next three decades crafting decadent desserts at some of New York City's most respected establishments. After a successful run in Manhattan, Colleen crossed over to Brooklyn to helm the pastry programs at Dressler, DuMont, and DuMont Burger. Known for her chocolate expertise, she was a showcase demonstrator at the International Chocolate Show for six years. Colleen literally wears her passion for cacao on her sleeves with tattoos representing the ancient Mayan God of Chocolate and the symbol for theobromine, the feel-good chemical in chocolate.She took a break from restaurant work to teach in Vietnam for six months and has since accepted an adjunct professor position at NYU Steinhardt School where she teaches baking and pastry. Education Colleen earned a Bachelor of Science in Food Service Management and an Associate degree in Baking and Pastry Arts at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. She furthered her training at the Valrhona School of Chocolate in France. About Food & Wine Food & Wine, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, is an award-winning online resource for anyone passionate about the culinary world. With rigorously tested recipes and the most trusted restaurant, drinks, culinary travel and home coverage, we inspire and empower people everywhere to discover, create, and devour the best in food and wine. Learn more about us and our editorial process.