Sugar Rush is the new dessert-driven reality cooking show that premieres on Netflix next week — and it features at least three contenders with a Tampa connection.
One pastry wizard set to duke it out on the series is former Datz general manager Tina Contes, a Long Island, New York, transplant who spearheaded the sweets side of the South Tampa restaurant and helped launch Dough next door. No stranger to the industry (she started her career in restaurant kitchens at age 13), Contes now pushes the boundaries of all things pastry alongside The Refinery’s chef and co-owner, Greg Baker, in Seminole Heights.
Contes told CL in an email that she isn’t in Episode 1 of Sugar Rush — she believes it’s Episode 7 — but thankfully, since this is Netflix and all, the show appears in its entirety for our viewing pleasure on July 13. Locals must tune in to see how far the Donut Showdown alum advances, but something tells us Contes will fare pretty well.
After all, she did bestow the Tampa Bay food scene with nifty creations like key lime pie doughnuts, five-spice marshmallow ice cream and birthday cake cinnamon rolls.
“Dessert is the grand finale. It’s a love language and an art form,” Contes said. “Sugar Rush is all of this, with a timer!”
Contes is in good company, too. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Datz executive pastry chef Alicia Wolding is also competing on the show, as is her fiancé and bakery manager for South Tampa’s 18 Bagels Co., David McCall.
Outlined in the trailer above, four teams of bakers and pastry chefs go head-to-head during Sugar Rush for the chance to win a $10,000 prize. The show, like many of the food competitions in its genre, is broken down into a trio of battles, testing the contenders' skills with cupcakes (round one), confections (round two) and cakes (round three).
This is how Netflix describes the series, which is apparently the brainchild of Sprinkles founder Candace Nelson: “Time’s the most important ingredient as teams race against the clock — and each other — to bake up the best-tasting sweets.”
In addition to Nelson, the Sugar Rush panel of judges includes pastry chef Mindy Segal, chocolate connoisseur Jonathan Graham, perennial cooking show critic Richard Blais and fashion icon Betsey Johnson.
Let’s see who rises to the occasion.
This article appears in Jul 5-12, 2018.