Published in
4 min readFeb 10, 2015
Nicole Plue, our Director of Pastry Arts is high on our list of Cooks Who Inspire. She spends so much time sharing her vast knowledge with pastry students here, we were curious where she finds her muse so we asked her who inspires her, and why.
Here are 5 Cooks Who Inspire Nicole:
- MFK FISHER, Food Writer
I majored in English Lit in college and have always loved words and writing. On the very first day of culinary school, in the first moments of class, the Chef passed out a reading list full of food writers. (I found out later she was an English major as well and we even graduated from the same college.) That reading list gave me a little moment of confidence that I was on a good path. MFK Fisher’s The Gastronomical Me was on the list. I bought an old copy at a used book store and fell in love. The chapter titled “A Thing Shared” is about her, as a child, eating a peach pie on the side of a road with her sister and father and what an impression the experience made on all three of them. First, it’s beautiful writing, but it’s also an inspiration to me as a chef that sometimes the simplest things have the most impact and that sharing food can be a powerful experience. When people tell me how my desserts have made a lasting impression on them or created a happy memory, I think of that story and know what an honor it is to be part of that experience. I now hand out a reading list on the first day of class with MFK Fisher (and George Orwell) on it and I’m still looking for a peach pie that tastes that good. - CHARLIE TROTTER, Chef/Owner of Charlie Trotter’s
I never met Charlie Trotter or tasted his food but when I was a young pastry chef at Hawthorne Lane his cookbooks were published. At the time, there were very few cookbooks directed to an audience of professional chefs. I bought them all, even the fish one with no dessert recipes. Partly due to the amazing photography, I had never seen food like that before. Those pages became for me inspiration for what fine dining food should be: small, refined, beautiful, and thoughtful with meticulously sourced ingredients. - CLAUDIA FLEMING, Pastry Chef/Cookbook Author
After Hawthorne Lane, I moved to NYC to get better as a chef. At the time in New York, there were two camps in plated desserts. You were either male and French or you weren’t. And if you weren’t, Claudia Fleming was who you aspired to be. Lucky for me, we both worked for Danny Meyer and so I got to know her a bit. Our first meeting I thought she was tough as nails, but as I got to know her, I saw she had a big heart. Her desserts stood out for their smart ideas, impeccable executions and simple clean presentations. This was at the time that you could order desserts that looked like park benches or the Brooklyn Bridge. Danny Meyer would always say that it took a lot of confidence to be so restrained. Her style very much informed mine that first year in NYC and I was a better chef for it. - SHERRY YARD, Pastry Chef/Cookbook Author
When Sherry Yard was the pastry chef at Campton Place, I was a young pastry cook who interviewed to be part of her staff. She didn’t hire me. Years later, when I worked my way up to pastry chef, we both took a class with master chocolatier Ewald Notter in suburban Maryland. We would go into DC every night and dine and got to be friends as peers. She has a big relentless fighting passion for pastry that through the years has remained constant. She has always been a resource for me, very generous in sharing recipes and contacts and she was the one who connected Richard Reddington and me. - NANCY SILVERTON, Chef/Owner of Osteria Mozza, La Brea Bakery, & Campanile Restaurant, and Cookbook Author; MARY SUE MILLIKEN and SUSAN FENIGER, Chef/Owners of CITY Restaurant & Border Grill Restaurants, and Cookbook Authors
Combined, these chefs inspired me to take the leap and enroll in cooking school. I grew up in Los Angeles in a big family. I started baking on weekends and eventually cooked family dinners, especially when my mom went back to school to get an MBA. I had thought about going to culinary school but the lack of female role models stopped me. I knew I did not have a revolutionary soul. I was no Norma Rae. After graduating from college and working in an office job, both CITY Restaurant and Campanile with the attached La Brea Bakery opened and suddenly the idea of being a woman in a professional kitchens looked possible. I have since met all three and Nancy Silverton announced and presented the Beard Award the year I won.
