Cheryl Wakerhauser

Pastry chef, gallivanter and bon vivant, Cheryl Wakerhauser, sees every day as a chance to learn something new and contribute something else. After a short-lived career studying to be an astronaut, Cheryl headed to southern France and trained at the prestigious pâtisserie of MOF Philippe URRACA. Now, she shares her passion for French pastry at Pix Pâtisserie, her eccentric dessert restaurant in Portland, Oregon where adventurous guests enjoy sweet treats with bold flavors and textures that are (almost) too pretty to eat. Her restaurant has been featured in many national publications such as NYT Magazine, Food Network Magazine, Oprah Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Bon Appétit. Her techniques, flavor combinations and whimsical design (along with a few parlor tricks!) can be discovered in her first acutely instructional cookbook, Modern French Pastry, which has received accolades from France’s two most prestigious professional cooking trade journals, Thuriès Gastonomie and Le Journal du Pâtissier. She also teaches food and wine master classes, where students can learn how to make a croquembouche, perfect their macarons or explore the different styles of sherry wine. Some women buy shoes, Cheryl buys champagne. Her wine list, with over 700 selections of sparkling wines, has been awarded “Best Champagne and Sparkling Wine List in the World” by London’s World of Fine Wine every year since the inaugural awards in 2014 and two glasses by Wine Spectator since 2013. Cheryl is also a lover of sherry wine. In 2016 she traveled to Jerez to become one of just 7 official Sherry Educators in the United States, an honor awarded by the governing body of the region. Her tapas bar, Bar Vivant, was listed as one of the “Best Sherry Bars in America” by Wine Enthusiast. Cheryl loves an adventure, especially when she can learn life skills from other cultures. She has traveled through 18 countries studying engineering in the Philippines, running a wine marathon in France, making fufu in Benin, stomping grapes in Porto and visiting cacao plantations in Mexico, each a truly unforgettable experience. When she is not concocting desserts or traveling the world, Cheryl enjoys running, party planning, practicing the venencia, cleaning (for real) and sabering the occasional bottle of champagne.