What were your favorite foods growing up?
My mom is Filipino and I used to love it when she made boiled squid and sticky rice for lunch. She would also make fried plantains sprinkled with powdered sugar for an after-school treat.

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
I don't think I ever "decided." I took my first cooking/baking job while in college and that just took me down a whole different path.

Where and when did your career in food begin?
I got my first job as a short order cook in a vegetarian cafe in Ashland, WI called The Black Cat.

If you didn't become a chef, what would you be?
I would love to have a job that would pay me to travel around the world.

Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
The different regions that I have lived in and also all the great people that I have worked for and with.

How would you describe your cuisine?
The desserts at Lantern are mostly Western in style and method but have strong Asian flavors and characteristics.

What influences your cooking style and particularly the menu at your restaurant?
The dessert menu changes with the seasons and with what is available from our local farmers.

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
A really good heavy bottom pan for making caramel and our fickle ice cream machine - I have a love/hate relationship with that thing.

If I'm trying to watch my weight and I'm eating at your restaurant, what should I order to eat?
I'd recommend the sorbet with the fortune cookie.

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
I was submitting a recipe for persimmon pudding for a magazine article and was trying to re-formulate it so that people could use Hachiyas instead or our native variety. It just wouldn't work and was a disaster!

What is your least favorite food?
Really ripe papaya--I just can't stand the taste or smell.

What is your beverage of choice?
Water--it's so important to stay hydrated.

What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
The increase of local and organic foods on menus. In the last few years the farm to fork movement has really gotten national attention even though a lot of restaurants have been doing it for years.

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
At home with my family.

What do you eat when you are home?
Mostly, whatever I can get my 4-year old to eat. We have chickens so we eat a lot of eggs and every Sunday my husband bakes fresh bread in out outdoor hearth oven.