Duff Goldman | |
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| Born | Jeffrey Adam Goldman (1974-12-17)December 17, 1974 (age 51) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Education | University of Maryland, Baltimore County (B.A.) The Culinary Institute of America |
| Spouse | Johnna Colbry |
| Children | 1 |
| Culinary career | |
Current restaurant
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Television shows
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Jeffrey Adam "Duff"Goldman[1] (born December 17, 1974) is an American businessman, pastry chef, television personality, and writer. He is the executive chef ofBaltimore’s Charm City Cakes shop, which was featured in theFood Network reality television showAce of Cakes, andLos Angeles’s Charm City Cakes West, which was featured in Food Network'sDuff Till Dawn and "Cake Masters" series.[2] His work has also been featured on theFood Network Challenge,Iron Chef America,Oprah,The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,Man v. Food,Buddy vs. Duff,Duff Takes the Cake, andDuff's Happy Fun Bake Time.
Goldman was born inDetroit, Michigan, to aJewish family. Goldman's nickname Duff came about when he was a baby.[3] His toddler brother, Willie Goldman, was unable to pronounce Jeffrey and kept saying Duffy.[1] When he was four years old, his mother caught him in her kitchen wielding ameat cleaver and watching food personalityChef Tell.[4]
After his parents divorced when he was ten, Goldman lived inNorthern Virginia and inSandwich, Massachusetts, onCape Cod.[5] In 1992, Goldman attendedMcLean High School inMcLean, Virginia where he played on the Highlanders ice hockey team. In 1993, he graduated fromSandwich High School.[1][6][7]
At theUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), he earned a bachelor's degree in East Asian History with a minor in Ethics. Thereafter, he attendedCorcoran College of Art and theCulinary Institute of America at Greystone inNapa Valley, California.[1]
From age fourteen, he began to work in kitchens; his first job was at a bagel store at a mall.[8] Goldman also worked as a fry cook at McDonald's. Goldman has said that when he was a sophomore in college, he went to the Baltimore restaurant Charleston, which he considered the finest restaurant in Baltimore. Aspiring to be a cook there, he applied. The headchef, Cindy Wolf, looked at his résumé and noted that it consisted of irrelevant experience. However, Cindy did offer him a job to makecornbread andbiscuits only, and this is what Goldman cites as the turning point in his career.[9] He worked under acclaimed chefs in California, including astagiaire position at theFrench Laundry[10] and as executive pastry chef of the Vail Cascade Hotel inColorado,[11] he returned toWashington, D.C., to work at Todd English's restaurant, Olives,[12] baking bread.[13]
In 2002, Goldman made forays into the food industry when he started his own business by opening his own bakery called Charm City Cakes. Initially, his cake sales began as he worked out of his house inCharles Village inBaltimore, Maryland, with the help of two assistants he employed.[2] As demand grew, he hired more employees, hiring painters, architects, and sculptors to work on the development and expansion of his bakery.[14] Charm City Cakes frequently usesblow torches, as well as power tools such as grinders and drills to help create the underlying supports of cakes.[15]
Goldman has made cakes for former PresidentBarack Obama during hissecond inaugural ball in 2013,[16] novelistTom Clancy, the cast ofLost, the30 Rock cast (along with a cake prop), actorSir Roger Moore,[17] and for pop singerKaty Perry's "Birthday" video.[18]
Goldman has written three cookbooks:Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes,Duff Bakes: Think and Bake Like a Pro at Home,[19] andSuper Good Baking for Kids.[20][21]
In 2022, Goldman competed inseason seven ofThe Masked Singer as "McTerrier" of Team Good. After the performance ofLoverboy's "Working for the Weekend", McTerrier's mask accidentally came off and he had to shield his head while the panelists shielded their eyes until a crew member had to run out and put the mask back on. He was the first to be eliminated.[22]
Goldman is a judge on severalFood Network cooking competitions, such asHoliday Baking Championship,Spring Baking Championship andKids Baking Championship. He co-hosted the last show withValerie Bertinelli from seasons 1-12, and withKardea Brown in season 13.[23]
Duff has appeared inGuy's Grocery Games - most notably the episode titledDelivery: All-StarHanukkah, in which he competed againstAaron May andEric Greenspan, and the judges wereAntonia Lofaso,Catherine McCord, andJonathan Waxman, all of whom are of Jewish descent, except for Ms. McCord, whose husband is Jewish.
As of 2021, Goldman lives in Los Angeles, California. He played bass guitar in an indie-rock band called "...soihadto...".[1] He later became the bass player in the band Foigrock (a play onfoie gras and rock and roll). He states his alternate dream job would be to perform as a bass player with the bandClutch. Goldman has made a wedding cake for Clutch's lead singer,Neil Fallon.[24][25] In addition, Fallon's younger sister and Goldman's friend from college, Mary Alice Fallon-Yeskey, works at Charm City Cakes as the office manager.[26]
Goldman is Jewish and enjoys giving back to the community.[27] In an interview withHillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, Goldman said "Tzedakah is very important to me. I’ve been so fortunate with everything that has happened to me, it would be a crime not to give back."[28]
In 2012, Goldman lost toes in a motorcycle accident.[29]
On April 2, 2018, Goldman proposed to Johnna Colbry,[30] whom he later married.[31] On September 25, 2019, Goldman spoke atCornell University, discussing the importance ofJewish identity andtzedakah in his life.[32] On August 8, 2020, the couple announced they were expecting their first child, expected in January 2021.[31] In January 2021, their daughter was born.[33]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Refs |
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| 2023 | Children's and Family Emmy Awards | Outstanding Host | Kids Baking Championship | {Lost}[36] | [37] |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| International | |
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