Collection

Until I take my last breath, I will dream about opening a small artisan ice cream shop.. I can picture it in my mind’s eye; It would be pure and simple. An odd mix of concrete floors, brick walls, a Pozzetti cabinet storing the ice cream and sorbet in stainless containers propped up to display……...

There isn’t any shame if you’re opening tubs of commercially made praline paste and marzipan. I do it myself. It depends on the usage though. If I am making the Rice Krispy barre, I will gladly open a 5 kg tub of smooth praline paste. The praline in that recipe is important but it isn’t……...

I have always told my cooks that traveling to Paris, arguably the world’s capital city of pastry, is one of the essential things that they must do. I am shocked when I find out that a majority of pastry cooks and pastry chefs have never been to Paris. There is no other way to truly……...

When I stepped into my very first kitchen, I had visions of creating masterpieces of edible art. I had seen every episode of Great Chefs on Discovery and I was sure I would be emulating the chefs that I admired by painting plates with perfectly made sauces, constructing desserts that reached from the table to……...

Despite my lackluster highschool career, I actually love to learn new things. Maybe school bored me. Perhaps it was just the hubris of being a teen. I didn’t really understand why I needed school. Both of my parents were high school dropouts and neither of them could convince me that school was preparing me for……...

I have always loved yogurt. So much so, I have found several usages for yogurt  in desserts. To me, the mission of transforming the public’s perception that yogurt is more than a breakfast food or a healthy snack has been a fun mission. Throughout the many years of my career, I have utilized fresh yogurt……...

If I had enough time left in my life, I would remake everything that I have ever made. Everything that I make is a blank canvas to me. I don’t care how many ingredients that are in it, I always see room for improvement. But I have deadlines to meet so at a certain point,……...

The pandemic of Covid-19 changed many things that have now become ‘normal” for us. It closed a lot of restaurants and millions of hospitality workers were suddenly faced with the reality that I have known for years;  our business is one that is highly unstable. As a pastry chef, we are mostly considered  a luxury……...

I loved Christmas when I was a kid. It seemed to take forever to arrive. It wasn’t just about the gifts; it was also about the meals. My father was a disabled firefighter and my mom didn’t work outside of the home so big meals together were few and far between. My dad was injured……...

I Don’t Want To Be Interesting, I Want To Be Good- Ludwig Mies Van Der Rowe   I teach classes around the world and other than people coming to me to learn how to make ganaches and bonbons, they all want to learn how to make money. And making money in the chocolate industry should……...