Pastry Work
Before I came to UX I also worked in pastry for two years - in fine dining and at a high-volume pastry shop called Bottega Louie (they have the most yelp reviews out of any restaurant in the world).
Top Lessons Learned:
- Through music I learned storytelling, and through pastry I learned design thinking. Firstly through taste, as developing unique and new combinations of flavor and texture requires iteration and "user testing" (though at least in pastry, you are often the user!). Secondly, pastries need to be beautiful and enticing in addition to delicious. Part of the experience of eating pastry at a fine dining restaurant or high end pastry shop is the reluctance to eat something because it's so beautiful, which makes the experience feel so much more luxurious and like a real treat.
- Though I learned the value of working to perfection in music, it was applied in a similar but unique way in pastry. Particularly at Bottega Louie, perfection and strict attention to detail is expected of everyone - not only does it need to be cooked correctly, the icing must look identical for every cupcake, every piece of fruit needs to be the same size on a tart, and the colors of our glazes were matched to Pantone swatches.
These are some of the pastries I've made over the years, both at Drago Centro, at Bottega Louie, as a caterer, and at home.
Hover to see the pastry descriptions!
Bottega Louie pastries
Croissants I made
Bottega Louie pastries
Bottega Louie pastries
Strawberry fraisier with almond dacquoise, kappa cream, and pistachio crumbs
Pain d'epi - French pull apart bread
Wedding entremet - carrot sponge cake, cheesecake mouse, crispy milk chocolate feuilletine layer, brown butter sable, with caramel glaze and white chocolate deco
Cannolo with pistachio dacquoise, stracciatella gelato, and pistachio foam with a white chocolate garnish and cherry sauce
Almond dacquoise with mascarpone cream and fresh berries
Key lime tarts with meringue and lime zest
Lemon tart with sugar dough crust, lemon glaze, lemon cloud, and lemon gelee with lime zest
Passionfruit tart with toasted meringue and passionfruit curd
Chocolate tart with chocolate sable crust, dark chocolate creme, milk chocolate cremeux, and tempered chocolate decoration
Key lime tart with toasted meringue
Grand macaron with raspberry kappa cream
Macarons with milk chocolate earl grey ganache
Homemade passionfruit marshmallows
Chocolate bon bon with raspberry caramel
Chevre and creme fraiche cheesecake with brown butter graham cracker crust, with strawberry lavendar compote and blueberry compote
Pear frangipane galette with fresh rosemary
Chocolate "log" cake for forest themed baby shower
Winnie the Pooh custom cookies
Rose water meringue cookies
Christmas ornament cake - mousse and cake ornaments with white chocolate glaze and chocolate deco on a puff pastry base
Homemade stracciatella gelato
Caramel Saint Honore