2009-2010 5-Star Pastry Chef
Norman Love Confections' founder and president, Norman Love, spent two years in Southern France, learning the craft of pastry making from the artisans of a small pastry shop. This experience became the foundation for a career with The Ritz-Carlton, where he served as executive pastry chef for two luxury resorts - The Ritz-Carlton, Naples in Florida, and The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis in Missouri. International acclaim followed. Chocolatier and Pastry Art and Design magazines named him one of the country's Top 10 Pastry Chefs in 1996 and 1997. In 1999, he led the U.S. Team to a bronze medal in the biennial Coup du Monde de la Patisserie (World Cup of Pastry).
He was among a few top chefs chosen to make a birthday cake for the 150th Smithsonian Anniversary Celebration in Washington, D.C. He appeared on the 39-part series "Baking with Julia" on public television. Norman Love has made numerous appearances on the Discovery Channel's "Great Chefs" series, and his desserts have graced the covers of Art Culinaire, Bakery magazine and other prominent culinary publications. He is also co-founder of the National Pastry Team Championship.
In 2001, the culinary virtuoso entered into private enterprise, founding Norman Love Confections (formerly Ganache Chocolates). In February 2002 and May 2005, USA Today named Norman Love Confections one of the top 10 artisan chocolate companies in the country. In 2004, "CNN/Money" named the chocolatier amongst the top three in the world.
The chocolatier was recognized as "Reader's Choice" in The Robb Report magazine's February 2009 issue, and Consumer Reports has listed Norman Love Confections in its top 10 best gift ideas for the fifth year in a row. The Fine Chocolate Industry Association recognized the artisan with the Innovation in Fine Chocolate Product Presentation Award. Locally, the company was honored with the 2008 Small Business of the Year Award from the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce, and Norman Love was named in the "Hot 100" prime movers and shakers by Gulfshore Life magazine.