Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center
Amidst 10,000 gallons of milk, 22,000 pounds of sugar, 25,000 pounds of strawberries and 30,000 pounds of dark chocolate, one might expect to find Oompa Loompas from Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. But at Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center, it is exactly where Executive Pastry Chef David Schwab and his team of 40 pastry professionals spend their days.
Schwab, a tall man with an easy smile, buzzes through a winding path of hallways leading to a series of rooms with gigantic shiny kettles full of pastry creams, ganaches and bubbling pie fillings. His responsibility is not only in creating tasty and beautiful pastries for Gaylord Opryland Hotel, Gaylord Springs Golf Links and the General Jackson Showboat but also in the day-to-day operations of running a kitchen. Since joining the world-renowned, Nashville-based property in 2003, Schwab has moved up in the ranks, recently being promoted from Sous Pastry Chef to his current role.
Schwab is the first to credit his department's success to members of his team. They arrive at 5 a.m. to begin baking all the bread, rolls and desserts used for the thousands of breakfasts, breaks, lunches and banquets held at the hotel's approximately 1,500 conferences each year, as well as the hotel's 15 restaurants and eateries and the huge in-room dining operation. "I am very proud of the people who work with me in the pastry shop. We have accomplished many great things together," he said. "Gaylord Opryland's pastry chefs are the best I have worked with. I'm excited to be part of a team committed to learning and to excellence."
Schwab knows first hand the importance of learning from mistakes. As a young chef still in training, he was in charge of making a special spun sugar concoction for a dinner party of 50. He thought he knew the process like the back of his hand, but after sugar strings covered a 10-foot section of the floor, causing shoes to stick to it, he was convinced he needed to study a little more. But, "some of the biggest mistakes provide the best opportunities to learn," he said.
Growing up in an area of Northeast Philadelphia replete with many bakeshops, Schwab started his first job at the age of 13, where he learned how to fry doughnuts and put icing on cakes after school and on the weekends. It was there that Schwab fell in love with creating "edible artwork." "There is no better feeling than making memories with the people who eat your creations," Schwab said. "Eating can be emotional. It is fun to create desserts that have the ability to take someone to a different place or bring back memories of childhood."
Leaving home at 16 to attend Johnson and Wales University in Providence, R.I., Schwab graduated early—and with honors—all while working in a local restaurant, where he gained experience preparing fresh breads and decorating cakes and special orders.
After college, Schwab left the Northeast for the Sunshine State, where he worked for the Checca Lodge in Islamorada, Fla. Since then, he has also worked for the Hyatt Regency in Denver, LaBonboniere Bake Shoppes in Edison, N.J. and the Woodlands Resort and Conference Center in Houston. In 2002, Schwab returned to the classroom for continuing education and studied under Ewald Notter, whom Schwab admires for his attention to detail and expertise in sugar and chocolate. At the World Pastry Forum in 2002, he also studied under some of the world's most decorated pastry chefs, including Sebastian Canonne, Jacque Pfeiffer, Albert Adria and Franz Ziegler. And Schwab himself is no stranger to recognition; in 2003, he placed fourth in the National Pastry Competition in Las Vegas.
Outside the world of breads, pastries and confections, Schwab enjoys spending time in the great outdoors. He likes playing sports, camping, hiking, hunting and gardening.
While no waterfall mixes chocolate and sugar together like in Wonka's world, Schwab's world is still a delicious and beautiful fantasy factory. He and his team have one goal in mind: to make dessert the most lasting impression on a guest. And with Schwab's leadership, coupled with the team's creativity and passion, this "Pastryland" operation is nothing shy of memorable.
