The Bread Bakers Guild of America, Pittsburgh, Pa. announced the nine finalists in the competition for Bread Bakers Guild Team USA 2008. The winners were announced following the last regional competition held recently at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I.

The nine winners will travel to the national competition to be held May 20-22 at the San Francisco Baking Institute. At that time, the three members of Bread Bakers Guild Team USA 2008 will be chosen to compete in one of three categories: baguette and specialty breads, artistic design and viennoiserie.

The highly competitive three-stage selection process is conducted by the guild every three years to choose a team to represent the United States at the prestigious Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (World Cup of Baking) in Paris, France.

Candidates for Team USA 2008 and the categories they are competing in are:

Baguette and Specialty Breads – Roger Gural, Bouchon Bakery, Yountville, Calif.; Solveig Tofte, The Turtle Bread Company, Minneapolis; and Mike Zakowski, Artisan Bakers, Sonoma, Calif.
Artistic Design – Lee Ann Adams, Penn State University, University Park, Pa.; David DeCesare, Taste Budd’s, Inc., Red Hook, N.Y.; and Dara Reimers, Auburn, Maine.

Viennoiserie – Jeremey Gadouas, Snohomish Bakery and Café, Snohomish, Wash.; Christopher Herrin, Bouchon Las Vegas, Las Vegas; and Peter Yuen, La Patisserie P, Chicago.