April 11, 2012 By Christian Murray
The owner of Mario’s Restaurant, an Italian eatery located at 43-04 47th Ave., will be appearing on Sweet Genius, the dessert-based competition that pits four of America’s leading pastry chefs against one another through three rounds of challenges critiqued and judged by Ron Ben-Israel, executive chef and owner of Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York City.
Lynn Chauca and her daughter Angela Cuervo will take part in the show on May 3rd at 10 p.m. on the Food Network. The mother-daughter duo will compete by using their creativity, ingenuity and imagination to create chocolate, candy or cake desserts employing surprise ingredients and a specific inspiration under timed conditions in the hopes of advancing to the final round for chance at a $10,000 cash prize. The show, which is hosted by Ron Ben-Israel, is back for a second season.
Chauca’s strength is in baking chocolate mousse, cheese cakes, brownies, and Napoleons—which she has been doing at Mario’s for the past 26-years. Meanwhile, Cuervo is a specialist in baking custom cakes—for weddings and other special occasions.
The women were selected for the show after Cuervo applied online to compete. She was called in to meet with producers from the show and a video clip was created. They called her back for a follow-up interview – this time over the phone—which subsequently resulted in her being selected for the show.
Cuervo, who lives in Sunnyside, told the producers about her mother and she too went through the same interview process. Chauca is from Woodside.
The show has already been taped. However, “We have been sworn to secrecy,” said Cuervo. She hopes that local residents will watch the show and root for them.
