Be your own biggest critic. Don't let someone else beat you to constructive criticism.
I was raised by a gaggle of women who all loved to bake. Dessert always existed after any savory meal. I was raised with cookies on the plate, brownies in a Tupperware container, and so on.
Nike Air Zooms are what I usually run in. In the kitchen, I wear a beaten-up pair of Converse All-Stars in winter and Keds in summer.
The 'Momofuku Milk Bar' cookbook is rather technical. I wanted it to feel like you were walking into the doors of our kitchen, it was your first day at work, and we were going to teach you everything.
I love roasted pecans. I'll make a sort of granola with the roasted pecans, turn that into a super nutty pie crust, and top that with apple-syrup pudding and top that with cooked custard and maple syrup.
Whether I'm making a gluten-free cookie or a lactose-free milkshake, my end goal is always to make it so awesome, clever, and creative that you'll want to indulge whether you have a sensitivity, dietary nuance, or don't.
I need healthy options around, or else if I get hungry, I'll go straight for a cookie.
My family, as you can probably guess, was more into Christmas cookies and not so much the fruitcake.
When I was about to graduate, I asked myself, 'What could you do every day and never get sick of?' My answer was really simple: Make cookies.
I think my biggest heartbreak was when I just couldn't get an American cheese cake/pie with a saltine cracker crust and green tomato sorbet to work out in my favor.
As a chef, I got into this because I love the creative energy and I love the science, but I also love to feed people and make them happy.
Out of culinary school, I worked as a pastry cook in amazing restaurants for years. I ended up leaving the pastry cook scene because, though I loved the industry, the restaurants and the chefs I worked for so much, I had to be honest with myself. I was never going to be them.
I went to culinary school to eat.
I was an infamously picky eater as a child but also had an infamous sweet tooth. All I wanted was dessert for every meal of the day.
There is no right or wrong way to pair or prepare a dessert. Follow your instincts, edit, and taste-tweak-taste until you get it just right!
I don't watch what I eat, because the concept seems exhausting to me.
There's something about fall that very much translates into those nurturing, nostalgic food flavors. It's the season where you can really make the marriage of fresh produce with spices and aromatics.
Nothing could be lovelier than running across the Golden Gate Bridge in the middle of the fog.
A bright lipstick is a quick way to glam up my look.
Good food is good food. It doesn't have to come with pretense.
