Adam Young of Sift Bake Shop in Mystic is the “Best Baker In America.”
The pastry chef was crowned the winner of the second season of the Food Network baking competition show Monday night.
Young was one of nine competitors on the show, which premiered May 7, in which “bakers from across the country are put to the test in each episode to create elegant and delicious versions of classic baked goods,” according to a Food Network program description. The winning baker at the end of the seven-episode run was set to earn a grand prize of $25,000.
This is Young’s second national TV appearance; he was a competitor on the network’s “Spring Baking Championship” in 2017. He told The Courant in May that his previous TV experience boosted his confidence, but “this competition, specifically, was much more challenging. The challenges themselves are a little more advanced.”
“It was a difficult secret to keep, but I think that makes it even more exciting,” Young said by phone, calling his win “overwhelming.”
“Quite frankly I didn’t think I was going to win…I was completely shocked, surprised,” he says. “Even to compete there with those folks was gratifying.”
Young reported that the bakery was “packed” Tuesday morning, and that the staff was looking forward to a busy week. “The outreach is just sensational.”
A classically trained pastry chef and alum of the Ocean House in Westerly, R.I., Young opened Sift on Mystic’s Water Street in May 2016. The French-inspired bakery immediately captured the interest of locals and tourists alike with its daily selection of scratch-made cookies, muffins, artisanal breads, quiches, scones and tortes. Croissants with 81 layers of hand-rolled dough and butter are best-sellers, as are delicate French macarons.
Sift expanded over the border this spring, as Young opened a Watch Hill outpost of the bakery on April 20. The Rhode Island location will be open seven days a week through the summer season, he says, receiving fresh product baked on-site in Mystic.
Sift’s Mystic neighbor, PIZZETTA, hosted a watch party for the finale Monday, and the bakery shared its gratitude in a Facebook post Tuesday morning.
“What was most touching for me was the [outpouring] of support from the community,” Young said. “Just to see that and connect with them on a personal level, was just extremely humbling, and it’s such a great feeling to be in a community that supports all this.”
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