Sugar Burn

After leaving a career in the insurance industry and then one in massage therapy, Ryan Kurr decides to follow his dream of becoming a Pastry Chef. As Ryan whisks his way through some of Chicago’s most acclaimed restaurants with notoriously difficult, award-winning chefs at the helm, he learns an important recipe for self-worth and balance that includes ingredients that are both sweet and savory. After graduating from pastry school, he began trial days in kitchens, quickly learning the pace was lightning-quick and strenuous. He struggled with his own intense anxieties and sensory overloads as he became acclimated to the industry. After landing his dream job at a famous pastry-driven restaurant, owned and operated by a recent James Beard Award winner, he struggled to keep up, stay alive and pay rent. Surrounded by adrenalized mania, and gargantuan egos, he began to question the structure of the culinary world, his skill and his dream. In turn, he then analyzed what it truly means to be successful. Sugar Burn is Kurr's detailed and truthful look into the world of professional pastry kitchens and all its pleasures and idiosyncrasies.