What were your favorite desserts growing up?
Frozen Custard at Tasty Freeze dipped in that hard coating that sets up when it chills. Also, banana cream pie, peppermint angel food cake, cup cakes, my mom's cherry pie, and poppy seed cookies.

What drew you to making desserts in particular?
I think it was the ingredients, plus how much craftsmanship went into it. I loved the chemistry and physics involved, the precision, the art and design required, the hard work but physical work that felt like dancing.

Where and when did your cooking career begin?
I started waitressing at 19 while I was in art school.

If you didn't become a pastry chef, what would you be?
My degree is in silver and gold smithing so I'm formally trained to do that. I was a diamond setter in high school, plus a professional musician (as well as the rest of my family) so I had a lot of choices. But what I'd like to do is be a wine maker or sommelier.

Who/what has shaped your baking the most over the years?
My family had a lot of influence, so my grandma Elsie, mother Myrna, and her sister, my aunt Greta, and Greta's husband, my Uncle Robert, who is a barbeque expert in Manhattan. Then there was professional people like Juila Child, Gaston Lenotre whose work I would mimic. And then peers whose work I love to eat like Nancy Silverton and Gina DePalma, Claudia Flemming, Michel Richard, Pierre Hermé.

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
Hand Blender, Spatula, Whisk, Blow Torch, Paint Brush.

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Black and white pepper in desserts.

What are some recent dessert trends that you have noticed?
Home made pies, small plates, lots of pork and pig, single origin or estate everything from vanilla and chocolate to vinegar.

What was the most challenging dessert you had to make? Why?
125 hot chocolate soufflés, served all at once. We only had 6 ovens and could only fit 15 per oven so it was quite a feat in timing to get them done and in the dining room at around the same time.

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
Mon Ami Gabi, North Pond Café, Shaw's Crab House, Super Dawg, Max and Benny's, Ina's for fried chicken.

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
Still France.

What was the most spectacular meal or dessert you have ever had?
I don't think I've had it yet...maybe the slabs of foie gras terrine, roast chicken, potato gratin, plus fresh dates on the branch for dessert at L'Ami Louis in Paris, 1989. And the coffee Éclair at Stohrer in Paris.

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Wear comfortable shoes.

What do you eat when you are home?
Tea with milk, fried egg sandwiches, chicken paprikash, pot stickers, beef stew, pasta made from scratch with a fresh tomato sauce, olive oil and torn basil; Salami and brick cheese on rye, matzah ball soup, crepes with peanut butter and jelly.