Specializing in pastry and dessert menu consulting for restaurants and bakeries in the Bay Area.
2011 Winner Women Chef & Restauranteurs (WCR) Internship with Chef Elizabeth Falkner at Citizen Cake & Orson |
I began my obsession with all things sweet at the age of 19. I got my clog in the door at an up-and-coming wine bar, aptly named Noble Rot in Portland, Oregon. For eight months, I made probono desserts every Saturday to prove that I was serious about pastry as a career. My skill was raw and rough, but my passion and tenacity was obvious. From there, the chef at Nobel Rot asked his friend and fellow restaurateur to do him a solid and grant me an interview for a pastry assistant position at Park Kitchen. He took one look at me and figured I would last a week…maybe.
But the lure of dirt cheap labor was too enticing to pass up, plus I would be Ellen, the pastry chef’s responsibility now. I spent the next 14 months scrapping for every piece of culinary knowledge I could get from her; working breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch shifts to ensure that I could swing the pastry pendulum.
Ellen Jackson embraced my curiosity, my determination, my smart mouth, even when it was easier to do the job herself. She taught me precision, presentation, and directed my passion into my career. I spent 16 additional months earning my stripes as an assistant at Wildwood until I was bursting at the seams to be under my own direction. I spread my wings at Ciao Vito and solidified what I already knew; I was a Pastry Chef.
Here, I honed my ability to create region-specific menus and discovered the overwhelming satisfaction of seeing food lovers enjoy my conceptions of sweetness. An 18 month stint at Grand Central Bakery reinforced my command of breads, short doughs, and cakes while reminding me why I was a pastry chef and not a baker. It was time for a change of scenery and new challenges; I threw myself a going away party at Noble Rot and four days later I was knocking on the restaurant doors of San Francisco.
