The perfect end to a day spent on the links or a day at the spa, dining at Pinehurst has been elevated to new levels with a few recent culinary awards. As the team prepares for a stellar spring marked by a planned extravagant display for Easter, the results are plenty to bet your palate on.

Bill Foltz, assistant executive pastry chef at Pinehurst, was the first to receive kudos at the annual U.S. Pastry Competition in New York in January. Foltz competed against 30 participants throughout North America — a qualified list selected from omre than 100 requests for entry.

Each competitor displayed their sweet creations in three categories: a themed piece centering around time machines, a dessert cake and a plated dessert. Foltz’s “Machines of Time” display and Chocolate Apricot Torte both took second place honors, awarded by an independent panel of six judges.

“’The Mac-hines of Time’ piece took me two and a half months to design,” said Foltz, who’s proud to show the intricate pieces of twisted sugar and chocolate shaped into mini-worlds. The final piece displayed at 11 feet tall and included a sugar hourglass, grandfather clock, sundial and celestial shapes — all of them edible.

“It is a dying art,and certain leaders are just now rejuvenating it,” he said.

Foltz will enter the National Pastry Competition this July in Las Vegas as a team effort. The winning team goes on the most prestigious competition in the world: The International Coup de Monde in Paris. Plans are already underway for the Broadway musical theme.

Not to be outdone, Pinehurst’s Executive Pastry Chef Todd Richter and Sous Chef Michael Herr also took home honors in the American Culinary Federation Regional Competition in February. Both received silver medals for their creations.

“Working in pastry is more than just art,” said Richter. “It involves math, physics, chemistry. Both Bill (Foltz) and I went to school to be architects. We found this medium to be just as much of a challenge.”

Richter, who specializes in molding chocolate to anyone’s fancy, won kudos for his contemporary love display, using sugar doves, chocolate hearts and candied pralines.

Herr received second place overall in the culinary division, for his cold venison platter.

The pastry team is already planning the elaborate display of sugar and chocolate for Pinehurst’a annual Easter Brunch.

“We love to create as a team,” said Foltz. “With Todd’s expertise in chocolate and mine in sugar and pastillage, we’re a winning combination.”

You can see the team’s daily creations at Pinehurst’s Carolina Dining Room, which offers award winning desserts at both lunch and dinner.