Baking in Hell's Kitchen

December 2018

My roommate Madelaine and I “skipped” Thanksgiving this year and instead spent the last week of November in the Chile portion of the Patagonia, backpacking the “W” circuit in Torres del Paine. We decided to bring our own tents and sleeping equipment, so we could fully appreciate the sights and sounds of this beautiful place. We got caught in heavy rain on our trek from Las Torres to El Paine Grande (with a pit stop in Los Cuernos), but the sky would clear every few hours, and all the blues and greens would re-emerge.

Instead of the usual Thanksgiving staples, Madelaine and I subsisted almost exclusively on granola bars, peanut butter, and an occasional hot meal served in los refugios (or shelters). I’ll be honest and say I didn’t mind it at all -- it’s well worth the culinary monotony to unplug and spend some quality time outdoors. Among the most rewarding parts of the trip was meeting other trekkers along the way, from those on vacation for a week (like ourselves) to those hiking their way through South America for the next few months. We’re hopeful a couple of them will reach out the next time they’re in New York.

Despite spending most of our time in Chile, we flew through Argentina on our way out to attend a wedding celebration in Buenos Aires. We spent 2 nights in the country’s capital, where we were finally able to shower, shave, and begin returning to our normal diets. Despite being pescetarians in a country famous for its grilled meats, Madelaine and I found plenty to eat.

When it comes to sweets, Argentinians love dulce de leche and consume this decadent sweet in much the same way that Americans enjoy peanut butter. It’s commonly served on breakfast toast, but it’s also a popular ingredient in cakes, pies, pastries, and ice cream. While it’s similar to peanut butter in terms of popularity, most Americans would compare the flavor profile and consistency of dulce de leche to that of caramel. At first glance, you might even think they’re one of the same, but their translations alone hint at the biggest difference between the two. “Caramel” translates to “burnt sugar” in French, while “dulce de leche” is “sweetened milk” in Spanish.

Pictured above are alfajores, a popular Latin American cookie. To make these, sandwich a generous layer of dulce de leche between two crumbly shortbread cookies, and then roll them in sweetened coconut. True to its name, the most straightforward way to make dulce de leche is to heat a can of sweetened condensed milk (after peeling off the label) for 2 to 3 hours in a pot of simmering water.

I’ve been telling customers about Richard’s aspirations to serve breakfast since the summer. After a couple soft launches, we’re finally live :)

August 2018

Let’s talk about key lime pie. Key lime pie is to summer what pumpkin pie is to the fall. It can be a little polarizing, and it may not be the most texturally sophisticated dessert there is -- but its flavor profile is exactly what you’re craving on a hot summer day: a buttery crust filled with cool and creamy key lime custard, topped with a heaping serving of sweet and pillowy marshmallow meringue.

Now, the little masterpiece pictured on the bottom right is not my own -- this is the famous key lime pie at Llama Inn in Brooklyn. It was what inspired my sudden urge to make key lime pie the following weekend, after picking up a couple limes from Whole Foods down the street.

Finally, a headline that doesn’t (mis)use the word “ban.” Read the language of this policy closely. WeWork isn’t banning meat; it’s simply not buying or serving meat at company events.

July 2018

Meet my all-female BCG case team -- and my other boss, Richard Ho. Since early March, I’ve been working at a noodle shop in the East Village on Sunday evenings, helping Rich grow his brick-and-mortar restaurant, which he opened in January of this year.

It all started after I responded to a Facebook post by my friend Jack, who was starting a new job at WeWork and needed someone to take over a few of his shifts at the restaurant. I can’t tell you exactly why I felt so compelled to reach out, but there’s something so exciting about joining an effort in its early stages. I knew Sundays would be the only viable option given the unpredictability of my weekdays, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to start the conversation.

After a few email exchanges and evenings of shadowing Jack and Rich, I joined Ho Foods as its fourth employee. As I’m sure you can imagine, the past few months have been insanely hectic. Sundays used to be my rest days, for catching up with friends, running errands, and occasionally logging in a few hours of work if need be. For the past few months, however, I’ve been spending every Sunday afternoon and evening with the team at Ho Foods, reflecting on the past week and getting ready for the Sunday dinner rush. Believe it or not, the traffic does not slow down despite the summer heat. 

Last week, I had the extreme pleasure of bringing my current case team to Ho Foods, so they could peek into my “other job.” It’s not exactly your typical case team dinner, to say the least. I think they were a bit shocked to see how small it was -- Ho Foods seats no more than 12 to 14 guests at a time, which means we almost always have visitors lined up outside. So yes, you’re seeing about half the restaurant in this photo :)