From traditional chocolate chip cookies to elaborate buttermilk sorbets, the Mpls St. Paul Magazine has picked out some of the best pastry chefs in the Twin Cities.
In this feature Andrew Zimmern emphasizes the differences of each chef's personal history, culinary background, and techniques. The individuality of each chef is reflected in the delectable desserts that they create.
Zimmern gives a description of, what he considers, the top five pastry chefs in the Twin Cities. Christina Kaelberer of Chambers Kitchen, Leah Henderson of D'Amico Cucina, Carrie Summer of Spoonriver, Khanh Tran of Cosmos, and Michelle Gayer of La Belle Vie are among those that made the list.
At Chambers Kitchen, Kaelberer is known for her "passion fruit soufflé with passion fruit caramel and bitter chocolate sorbet." It is considered as "one of the three best desserts in the Twin Cities."
Over at D'Amico Cucina, Henderson likes to whip up a "lemon mascarpone panna cotta with roasted black mission figs, ruby port glaze, and candied spiced pecans."
As for Summer, she likes to stick to the classics, but adds a modern twist to all her dishes. Her "chicory-chocolate cream and sake apricots," are recommended at Spoonriver.
At Cosmos, Tran likes to play with contrasting textures and flavors. Her chocolate tart is a great example of this. She tops it off with white pepper ice cream, smoked hot chocolate, spiced figs, and salted almond praline.
And last but not least, Gayer of La Belle Vie impresses customers with her rustic and classical style. Her menu has not yet been finalized, but customers should be expecting a lot of browned butter.
This piece combines a consumer guide feature and a profile feature into one article. Zimmern not only provides an index of their restaurant's information, but he also personalizes each pastry chef's profile with entertaining anecdotes. I thought providing information about what their "favorite sweet" was was an interesting touch to the feature. Throughout the feature Zimmern provided intricate details, but still kept everything clear and concise.
What a fun feature article! As I was scanning the article, I saw "La Belle Vie," and had to read it. I've eaten at La Belle Vie before so it was interesting to compare my experience to Andrew Zimmern's take on one very important aspect of this and every other restaurant: the pastry chef. I thought this consumer guide approach was the most appropriate for a feature on the best pastry chefs of Minnesota. This guide gives dessert-lovers plenty of practical information while still including some fun extras like each chef's personal favorite desserts.
I liked how you touched on each chef featured in the article in your summary of the feature. The wording in your blog was just as clear and concise as that in the feature article you talk about, which made it a pleasure to read. I agree that the author did a great job of going "above and beyond" the basics of the subject matter with his careful attention to detail. Great job!
When I was looking at your articles, this one caught my eye and made me very hungry! I like how you lined up your piece to match with Andrew Zimmern's. You stuck right to his article and didn't add any wishy-washy language (I find myself doing that a lot.) Great job!
After reading his article, it really made me want to stop into each restaurant! The thing I really found interesting was that none of the chefs looked like the typical pastry chef. When I was reading your snippet, I began making mental images of each chef based off of the food they made, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was I surprised by how long each chef had been in the business. A month seems like a long time to me, the same goes for a week! But to be in the business for 20 years like Henderson and Summer, that's just crazy!
(I deffinately want to go to the Mill City Farmer's Market to get some of Summer's pumpkin donuts too! :) )
This is such a sweet feature that talks about the top pasty chefs in the Twin Cities. The article gives a concise and lovely story of each chef and provides information of the restaurants they currently work at.
I like the blogger's catch about each chef and their dessert special, makes me mouth water.
Also, I think the pictures of the chefs works quite well with the feature. It's a fresh piece and easy to read.
I think this is a great feature, especially around the holiday season. Zimmern captures each chef's unique personality, and addressed their culinary connection to the area. He also informs his audience about the complexities of "pastry work" in his introduction.
The blogger does a great job describing the chefs' recipes concisely and accurately. However, I think Zimmern focuses more on the chefs' culinary influences, rather than their specific recipes.