Freelance Baking: 8/31/08

Farallon (on Post Street near Union Square) was the restaurant that gave me my beginning in the world of pastry and for that I am infinitely grateful! The pastry chef at the time, Jen Creager, and the executive pastry chef, Emily Luchetti, took me in a patiently taught me the basis of what I know today. I worked there for a year and 8 months, eventually working under pastry chef Terri Wu, and sous chefs Lauren Vasallo and Theresa Ebilane (now pastry chef at Waterbar). I loved my time there.

Emily's desserts are elegant on the outside but home-y and comforting on the inside. Terri adds a hint of the exotic in her interpretations of Emily's recipes. For example, Emily has a summer berry pudding that goes on the menu each year. It is to die for, consisting of brioche soaked in a berry compote made with blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. It's simple and delicious! This year Terri added a blackberry-rose geranium sauce and a ricotta cream to go with the pudding. I loved the added depth of flavor.

At Farallon I split my time between plating desserts and dessert production (the actual cooking and baking). Plating could often be stressful but at the end of a hectic and crazy night, it felt really good to look back and realize that I had done it! I remember the adrenaline rush I'd get when we would have 10 tickets that just came in (all at once of course), ice creams running out, the back-up cakes just coming out of the oven (we need them now!!!), communicating to Theresa or Lauren what I was doing so they wouldn't repeat it (firing 5 pies all day...no make it 6. Firing 13 amuses...seriously...13?), a customer comes to the pastry station asking if we like to bake, yelling "runners please!!!" so that the food would go out before the ice cream melted everywhere...

After a shift like that I'd be plating desserts all night in my sleep. I can't say I miss plating on nights like that, but I can look back with a sense of accomplishment, knowing that what didn't kill me made me stronger.

Production at Farallon was just fun. I got to make ice creams, cakes, cookies, pie dough, chocolates, candies, sauces, fillings, etc, etc, etc. It differed from Zuni (where I work now) in that it was more stream-lined for efficiency. At Zuni, Jen (the pastry chef) and I sometimes feel like grandmas when we do tasks like making pie dough by hand. At Farallon we would just throw the dough in the mixer. The recipe was such that it would still come out well, but the tart dough at Zuni has a superior flakiness and tenderness. The flavor at both places is equally delicious. I'm getting off subject thinking about eating crust, one of my favorite foods.

All in all, Farallon has delicious desserts and I am proud that I worked there. I recently returned to Farallon for dinner and dessert with my friends Sylvia, who used to work there too, and Julie, who still works there. Here are pictures and descriptions of the delicious desserts:

Summer Berry Pudding with blackberry-rose geranium sauce and ricotta cream