SLO County chef to compete in final of TV baking competition tonight. How to watch
A Michelin star pastry chef in SLO County has been competing in a national competition for the crème de la crème, and it ends tonight.
Florencia Breda, renowned chocolatier and owner of Breda, has been creating pastry confections, chocolate work and precision-plated desserts alongside 15 other elite pastry chefs for Food Network’s newest baking competition series.
The show, The Ultimate Baking Championship, spanned eight episodes thus far, streaming on Food Network every Monday, where the chefs bake decorative sugar elements, pastry cream concoctions and elevated desserts worthy of a few Michelin stars.
Breda remained steadfast in the competition, receiving praise for her chocolate truffle work by Amaury Guichon in the sixth episode titled “Mastery of Chocolate.”
“I consider myself a chocolatier more than a pastry chef, honestly, even though I’ve done both side-by-side for the last 23 years,” Breda told The Tribune. “When Guichon was judging my truffle, that definitely was the highest thing that could have possibly happened on the show, or in life, really.”
Breda has been baking for over 20 years, training and working in Italy, London and the south of France before bringing her Italian delicacies to the Central Coast in 2019. She was first inside Mistura, serving her signature chocolate and patisserie delicacies before moving her operation to a brick-and-mortar on Higuera Street in April 2025.
The chocolatier and pastry chef is not the only contestant representing California on the national television series, however. Three chefs, including Breda, made it to the finale. Clement Le Deore is representing San Diego, and Molly Coen is from Carmel.
“That’s really the best part of it, I know it sounds cliche, but at some point you don’t even start to think about winning,” Breda said. “You think about the bonds that you have with these chefs and really make friends and colleagues for life.”
The finale for The Ultimate Baking Championship airs tonight on Food Network at 9 p.m., where the three final chefs must create a dessert display that showcases their overall skills.
Breda invited friends and community members to its shop at 1021 Higuera St. to celebrate and join the watch party while the winner of the competition wins $50,000 and the title of Ultimate Baking Champion.