“Baking is both an art and a science.”
“The essence of a thoughtful spring menu is bringing the table to life with flavorful color!”
“Truth is, I love to play bartender and assist my husband at the BBQ.”
“I want to open a destination place where you go for the best chocolate chip cookie you’ve ever had in your life, the biggest champagne list ever, the best fruit tarts you’ve tasted.”
“When I was four and my sister six, we got a Susie Homemaker oven for our birthdays.”
“I learned that things taste better on pretty plates.”
“In baking, cooks need to understand ingredient ratios.”
“It’s all about technique. Rotisserie sounds simple, but to really do it the right way is important so you can get really great products and let them stand on their own.”
“Once you have a chocolate-chip cookie with whole-wheat flour, you never go back.”
“I’d rather bake 14 times a day than bake one time a day and have all the bakers go home, and then everything’s 14 hours old by the time anyone eats it. No.”
“If someone wants to order a cake, I might say, ‘OK, when do you want to eat it? What time are your guests arriving? 6 P.M.? So you might be done with dinner around 8:30? Fine, you can pick up the cake at 4. Any earlier than that, it won’t be good, it won’t be fresh.’”
“Grandma played a taste test game with my sister and me when I was 3 years old. She would blindfold us and have us guess what was on the spoon: the first flavors I got were strawberry – then coffee!”
“I’m big on breakfast.”
“While they’re still warm, I like to sandwich a chocolate chip cookie with raspberry stracchiatella gelato.”
“I see City Perch as a destination restaurant.”
“Brush your teeth often.”
“At Spago, we make all of our pasta from scratch with egg yolks, so I’m always looking for new ways to play with egg whites.”
“Meringue allows me to cut out flour in a lot of desserts and make them lighter. It’s just about my favorite thing to work with.”
“Few people realize what a perfect ingredient brown butter can be for desserts. It adds a whole new flavor dimension.”
“Sugar is my friend, not my love. I always season sugar with a bit of acid or salt. Listen to your tongue.”
“I can’t sit still.”
“Any opportunity I get to melt butter, I continue on to the ‘noisette’ stage.”
“Caramel gives chocolate a run for its money.”
“Desserts are my life – making them, eating them, and teaching others how to prepare them perfectly.”
“Efficiency is key to a successful kitchen. Clean your station as you go. Make yourself aerodynamic. Buy the best. Taste ingredients as you go.”
“The Governors Ball is like a big birthday party, and all these stars are like excited kids running around – ‘Oooo, look at my pretty new dress!’ And what’s the best, most fun surprise at a birthday party? When the cake comes out!”
“The appetite starts with the eye.”
“Promise less, deliver more.”
“Desserts are all about form and function, about warm and hot and cold. I want every component to hit your palate on different levels at different times.”
“You have to know when to give up control, and if you go to a good restaurant, you have to give it up – it’s a trust factor.”
“In California, you’re on a first-name basis with fruit. You take a beautiful Blenheim, you don’t want to mess with it.”
“It’s all about the fruit. A crumble should maintain the integrity of the fruit.”
“I shop at the farmers’ market twice a week.”
“The composition of my desserts is taken care of by the farmers’ market.”
“The market is my church; it’s my family.”
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