It was a one-two punch at the Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards judges’ table, with coffee beverage purveyor Gina Lazarus and pâtissier Alecia Woodbine making distinctly different presentations and enlivening tastebuds at the Spanish Court Hotel two Mondays ago. The lovely Lazarus, blessed with a dimpled winning smile and an easygoing disposition, chatted up her recently launched GinZoe’s enterprise (which will offer specialised coffee beverages for catered events) in-between serving a trio of her caffeinated refreshments.

Meanwhile, the ever-inventive Woodbine, who nabbed Pastry Chef Of The Year honours at the Food Awards two years ago, was back with a dessert duo that was as structurally beautiful as it was decadently delicious. Woodbine also had lessons to impart — with mixing pots, pie dough, pastry cream and fresh fruits — and led an interactive session with the judges on how to create the perfect fruit tart. Join Thursday Life at the table for a double whammy of coffee treats and pastry eats.

FOOD PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR & CATERER OF THE YEAR NOMINEE

For some seated inside Spanish Court’s Valencia Room, it was their second introduction to Gina Lazarus. They had visited her GinZoe’s Café kiosk at Countryside in February for a judges’ exploratory trip to the Courtney Walsh Drive food haunt that’s abuzz on Friday nights with a variety of food purveyors.

This time around, Lazarus brought her coffee concoctions directly to the judges. It was a three-sip course that included gingerbread Irish coffee, salted caramel chocolate frappé and chocolate mocha latte. Consensus was favourable all around the table, with many becoming instant fans of her coffee- and liqueur-enhanced latte.

Lazarus, a pilot who recently traded in her job in the cockpit at Caribbean Airlines for jetBlue, shared with the judges that as a young girl, she developed a fast love of coffee from her caffeine-adoring father. That affinity deepened further when she discovered coffee shops in her years of college in Florida. It was then a natural progression for Lazarus, in her thirtysomething years, to want to set up a coffee enterprise which came last year with GinZoe’s. However, with the recent job switcheroo, Lazarus is finessing her business plan — deftly juggling GinZoe’s Café at Countryside (as well as an ice cream kiosk that she co-owns there) and the catering business.

The newly launched venture would involve taking orders for her specialty beverages for corporate functions or parties. Business, Lazarus revealed, looks promising, and given the relative ease in transporting her mobile operation, she’s eyeing long-term growth potential for the new upstart — that is, when she’s not flying high in the skies.

JING SHI AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PASTRY NOMINEE

There are no shortcuts to excellence for pâtissier Alecia Woodbine. She’s serious about desserts, and not the run-of-the-mill kind. Trained in the art of exquisite pastry-making at The Ritz-Carlton during a nine-year stint, Woodbine returned to a familiar judging panel two weeks ago, save for the addition of a handful of new faces. On offer for the night were two of her architecturally sculpted desserts — the first a hazelnut dacquoise layered with chocolate Bavarian and coffee butter cream and a Baileys anglaise; the second was a passion fruit cremeux embedded by vanilla chiffon cake drizzled with soursop caramel.

After the requisite oohs and aahs subsided over forkfuls of pastry, three of the judges — Arnella Goubault, Jodi Henriques and Matthew Hogarth — volunteered as Woodbine initiated a Pastry 101 tutorial session.

With baking utensils and ingredients at the ready, the pâtissier guided the trio in the necessary steps: from separating egg whites and whisking pastry cream, to making pie dough and how to top a tart with freshly sliced fruits.