Pastry chef
Roy Pell
- Discipline
- Pastry chef
i. Biography
Roy Pell coached Team USA in 2017, but the work that defines him sits in pastry’s slower grammar: measured folds, steady hands, and sugar used as structure. He works as a pastry chef, and the record of that career runs from formal study into competition kitchens where timing and control are part of the brief.
Coming Up
Technique is the throughline in Roy Pell’s training: Westminster Catering College gave him the base, and the 2004 Pastry Team at Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany (2004) put that base under international pressure. In competition baking, pastry is read as much for discipline as for finish, and Pell’s early path placed him in that environment from the start. Team formats tend to measure more than speed. As a member of Team USA for the coupe du monde at Team USA in Lyon, France (2009), Pell worked in a setting where pastry had to hold together under scrutiny. He later served as alternate for Team USA competition at Team USA (2013), then moved into leadership as coach of Team USA at Team USA (2017). That same year, he was also jury member selecting Team USA 2019 at Team USA 2019 tryout in Grand Rapids, Michigan (2017), a role built on judgment, standards, and a practiced eye for what will stand up in competition. Since 2005, Pell has been Executive Pastry Chef of The Phoenician, where the tempo shifts from medals to service, but the demand for consistency does not. The title signals oversight, yet pastry still asks for the same discipline: clean execution, balanced finish, and restraint where it counts.
Where They Are Now
He works as a pastry chef. In day-to-day kitchen terms, that can mean keeping the work precise, training others in the same habits, and making familiar ingredients behave with control. For Pell, the mix of competition and leadership has clearly shaped a practice built on polish, balance, and form.
Career - Executive Pastry Chef — The Phoenician, Arizona (2005–present) - member, 2004 Pastry Team — Culinary Olympics, Erfurt, Germany (2004) - member of Team USA for the Coupe du Monde — Team USA, Lyon, France (2009) - alternate for Team USA competition — Team USA (2013) - coach of Team USA — Team USA (2017) - jury member selecting Team USA 2019 — Team USA 2019 tryout, Grand Rapids, Michigan (2017) Education: Westminster Catering College
Signature
Roy's signature dishes include traditional holiday gingerbread house and replica of London’s Big Ben Clock Tower. Those two pieces point to pastry as construction as much as sweetness. A traditional holiday gingerbread house depends on fit, support, and patience. The replica of London’s Big Ben Clock Tower pushes that logic further, asking for scale, precision, and an ability to translate a landmark into edible form. In both, the point is not decoration for its own sake, but the control required to make pastry hold shape and read clearly.
Recognition
Roy Pell has received Dessert Professional magazine, Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America (2010).
FAQ What is Roy Pell's current role? As of 2026, Roy Pell is Coach of Team USA 2017. Where did Roy Pell train or study? Roy Pell trained at Westminster Catering College. What recognition has Roy Pell received? Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America (2010).
