Skip to content
Search
Cuisine Noir Magazine
Support Our Work - Donate
Support Our Work - Donate
  • Food & Drink
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Recipes
  • Book Grub
  • Events
  • Marketplace
  • Print
  • Podcast
  • More
    • The Culinary Scoop (blog)
    • Black Wineries
    • Videos
    • CN Review
    • Donate
Cuisine Noir Magazine
  • Food & Drink
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Recipes
  • Book Grub
  • CN Review
  • Marketplace
  • Print
  • The Culinary Scoop (blog)
  • Events
  • Black Wineries
  • Videos
Support Our Work - Donate
Support Our Work - Donate
Search
Cuisine Noir Magazine
Support Our Work - Donate
Support Our Work - Donate
  • Food & Drink
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Recipes
  • Book Grub
  • Events
  • Marketplace
  • Print
  • Podcast
  • More
    • The Culinary Scoop (blog)
    • Black Wineries
    • Videos
    • CN Review
    • Donate
Cuisine Noir Magazine
  • Food & Drink
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Recipes
  • Book Grub
  • CN Review
  • Marketplace
  • Print
  • The Culinary Scoop (blog)
  • Events
  • Black Wineries
  • Videos
Support Our Work - Donate
Support Our Work - Donate

Baking Champion Vallery Lomas Rises to the Challenge

Pictured: Vallery Lomas | Photo credit: Christian Rodriquez
May 23, 2019
Phyllis Armstrong
Share this article
304      
304
Shares

The welcoming aroma of a grandmother’s baking lingers long after those of us with that memory grow up and make our own oven magic. Grandmothers Willie Mae and Leona made a lasting impression on Vallery Lomas, a New York baker, food blogger and privacy attorney. “When you’re baking for friends and family, so much of baking is about love and sharing that love with others. The love flavors the dish,” Lomas says.

After winning the coveted title of America's Best Amateur Baker in Season 3 of ABC’s “The Great American Baking Show,” Lomas looks back with even more appreciation for the amazing desserts that came out of the kitchens of her grandmothers and mother. “They were by no means bakers by trade. They baked, and people loved it.”

Law School Baker

Lomas embraced her baking heritage while attending law school. She started a blog during her third year because she was hungry for something to do to take care of herself. “When I started the blog in law school, I decided to bake something new every day, and I did. I blogged about it and brought it to class the next day,” says the baking champ.

Her friends and anyone who was around got a taste of her favorite dishes to make with apple pie, pecan pie and red velvet cake being among them. After graduating from law school and moving to New York City, Lomas spent what little free time she had perfecting her blog, Foodie in New York, and sharing her creations. “For me, it’s not just the baking. It’s the baking and having something special to share with others that is cool,” Lomas says.

Her blog’s Instagram account got the attention of a casting director who thought the Louisiana-raised baker could nab a contestant’s spot on “The Great American Baking Show.” The ABC-TV version is based on a hugely popular “The Great British Bake Off.” Lomas auditioned and took five weeks unpaid leave from her job as a privacy attorney to enter her first cooking competition. She saw it as an incredible opportunity to showcase her talents as a home baker going up against nine other exceptional bakers. “It wasn’t just who is going to do the best. It was who is going to meet these challenges.”

Lemon Curd from Life’s Lemons

Challenges might be an understatement. The grueling hours shooting the show at Pinewood Studios outside of London, England the extreme time limits on preparing dishes and being judged by some of the world’s best professional bakers pushed Lomas to her limits.

She never expected to win the competition which awards a trophy and a title but no cash prize. Her victory in the finale made her proud and excited about the media exposure that would come with it. “It’s not just about the winner or the loser. It’s about watching the journey,” says Lomas. “It was about visibility and representation, and that was all taken away.”

  • Baker Mona Sanders Makes Retirement A Little Taste of HeavenMona Sanders, owner of A Little Taste of Heaven in Georgia
  • British Baking Star Benjamina Ebuehi’s Simple Recipe for Exceptional Cakes
Baking champion Vallery Lomas
Pictured: Vallery Lomas| Photo credit: The Great American Baking Show

Viewers never got to see all the trials and triumphs of Lomas and the other contestants on Season 3 of the show. After the first episode premiered in December of 2017, ABC pulled the remaining episodes out of its broadcast line up. Several women who had worked with celebrity pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini at Jean-Georges restaurant in New York City several years earlier accused him of sexual harassment and abuse.

ABC network cut ties with the “Great American Baking Show” judge and reduced Season 3 episodes and finale to a few video clips available on Facebook and YouTube.

With little advance notice of the cancellation and nothing more than an ABC Facebook announcement about her win, it was time for Lomas to make lemon curd out of life’s lemons. She relied on the articles published by Forbes, Chicago Tribune, BuzzFeed and other media outlets to give visibility to an African American female who took home the best home baker title. “I’ve met a lot of awesome people in food media, particularly, who have definitely done a pretty great job with helping me share my story.”

Diversity Matters

The talented baker could never have imagined a passion that brought such positivity into her life would be linked to accusations of sexual harassment, which Iuzzini said were inaccurate. Lomas views the allegations about “men behaving badly” as one that unfortunately caused collateral damage for her, the contestants and the staff on the show, including African American hosts restauranteur and celebrity chef Ayesha Curry and former NFL player Anthony Adams.

“They were bargaining to have something that they created out in the world. There was a lot of collateral damage associated with everything.”

Lomas looked forward to people seeing African Americans succeeding on “The Great American Baking Show.” Just from one episode airing, she had heard from the mother of a little girl who loved the baker’s natural hair. “When I was growing up, I was always rooting for the Black person. That visibility is important, having that representation of someone who looks like you out there winning. That is huge,” adds Lomas.

It is one of the reasons she continues to work for Blacks, women and other people of color to get more recognition for their contributions to the culinary professions. Lomas addressed the diversity issue when she presented the Outstanding Baker medal at the 2018 James Beard Awards in Chicago, Illinois.

“I think about all of the amazing creators, Black women who have come before me.  I think about my grandmothers and all the work they did, and how so few of them got recognition for it,” says Lomas. “It’s important to break that cycle so that the future in how we are represented is remarkably different from the past.”

Rising in Baking Ranks

The New York City attorney put her law career on hold in the summer of 2018 to focus on her goal of earning a living as a home baker and cook. She now serves on the board of The International Association of Culinary Professionals, where she hopes to broaden the food industry’s recognition of frequently overlooked minorities, farmers, back-of-the-house restaurant employees and food bloggers.

Lomas welcomes more opportunities to work in front of the camera. She appeared in a segment of Kat Kinsman’s “No Pressure, Extra Crispy” on the YouTube Channel and a segment of the Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family.”

She imagines a future that combines baking, cooking and being on television overusing her skills to work in a restaurant or open a bakery. Lomas wants people around the world to tune in and see what she has learned in her travels: the necessity of food tasting good from Louisiana, the importance of food looking beautiful from France, the value of using seasonal and fresh food from Los Angeles, California and the drive to do more than one great thing from NYC’s relentless hustle. “I think I’m on the right path, and I’m not done. I’m still out here working hard and trying to create opportunities.”

  • Catching Up With the Capitol's Chief of Desserts Padua PlayerPastry chef Padua Player
  • Former NFL Star Anthony “Spice” Adams Reinvents Himself as Comedian and Baking Show HostAnthony " Spice" Adams

Senior food editor Grace Elkus calls Lomas someone who is “poised to take the baking world by storm” in The Kitchn’s “10 People We Have Eyes on in 2019.” And together with publisher Clarkson Potter, she is writing a cookbook on baking that is scheduled to be released in 2021.

You can see clips of Lomas in the finale of “The Great American Baking Show” on YouTube or watch the announcement of her win on Facebook. For recipes from a baking champion, visit Lomas’ blog Foodie in New York or follow her on Instagram.

Get a taste of her baking with the recipe for these Olive Oil Chocolate Chunk Cookies above on in our recipe section.

  • under Food & Drink Rhonda McCullough-Gilmore: Memories of Bernie Mac & Cooking with Love
  • LaTocha Scott-Bivens - Xcape’s and vegan enthusiast
    under Food & Drink Why Xcape’s LaTocha Scott-Bivens Wants to “Veganize” Your Menu
  • Celebrity chef and The Great Soul Food Cook-Off Champion Razia Sabour
    under Black Chefs , Food & Drink Celebrity Chef Razia Sabour Honors Soul Food’s History with Competition Win
  • Soul Food Restaurants by Felicia owners Joselino Neto Lima de Barros, Feliciana de Ceita Neto de Lima and Jose Feliciano Lima de Barros
    under Black Chefs , Food & Drink A Mother’s Dream Inspires Soul Food Restaurant by Felicia in Lisbon
Share this article
Phyllis Armstrong

The joy of cooking became a part of her life when Phyllis was a child learning her way around the kitchen with her mother and grandmother. Her retirement from a demanding career in broadcast news has given her time to write about African-American chefs and restaurant owners as well as other black professionals succeeding in the travel and wine industries. Phyllis still loves to cook and try out new recipes.

Related Articles

Loading...
R&B singer Bobby Brown with Bobby Brown Foods products
Featured Food & Drink

Singer Bobby Brown is Spicing Up New Edition’s The Legacy Tour

Kitchen designer Caren Rideau
Food & Drink Lifestyle

Kitchen Designer Caren Rideau Creates Spaces Inspired by Food, Culture and Wine

Célébrez en Rosé festival attendees
Black Winemakers Food & Drink

Célébrez en Rosé Wine & Music Festival Announces 2023 Spring Dates

Be the first to know about the latest online, industry updates, world news, events and promotions that connect the African diaspora through food, drink and travel.

    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising

    #IAmCuisineNoir

    This site participates in affiliate programs. See our full disclosure for more information.

    Copyright© 2023 Cuisine Noir and The Global Food and Drink Initiative. Privacy
    Site by ACS Digital

    Any unauthorized duplication, download or reprint of images or content from this website for promotional or commercial use is strictly prohibited without written permission from The Global Food and Drink Initiative. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Trademark pending.

    YES!  We’re excited you are signing up too!  

    Get ready to receive our weekly newsletter about:

    • New articles online
    • World news and industry happenings throughout the African Diaspora
    • Mouthwatering recipes
    • Promotions and giveaways

    Right in your inbox!