The Future of Food is You: Stephanie Loo Transcript
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Hi, everyone. You're listening to Radio Cherry Bombe. I'm your host, Abena Anim-Somuah. Welcome to The Future of Food Is You, a Cherry Bombe mini-series we're dropping every Thursday that's all about emerging talent in the wonderful world of food. As for me, I'm the founder of The Eden Place, an emerging community gathering people intentionally around food. I just love this new generation of chefs, bakers, and inspiring people making their way around the world of food and drink. Today I'll be speaking with Stephanie Loo, a pastry cook, writer, and recipe developer. As a native New Yorker, Stephanie developed her palette by visiting the local food establishments in Queens where she grew up. She's been working in the world of fine dining, has assisted on some incredible cookbooks, and even wrote an essay for the newest issue of the Cherry Bombe magazine. Stay tuned for our conversation about the future of restaurants, finding balance, and more.
Before we get into it, here are some future Cherry Bombe updates. Are you a fan of cookbooks? Cherry Bombe's Cooks & Books Festival is happening this weekend, November 5th and 6th, at Ace Hotel Brooklyn. It's for all the cookbook nerds like me, and probably you, too. There'll be talks, panels, and demos with amazing authors, chefs, and bakers. Don't miss the conversation with Andrea Pons of the cookbook, Mamacita, with Fany of Fan-Fan Doughnuts. I heard there's a special collab doughnut that everyone will get to try. Dough not miss it. For you cake lovers out there, my dear pal Jessie Sheehan is interviewing four of the most incredibly talented cake artists for the Cooks & Books Finale at 4:30 on Sunday. There's From Lucie, Frosted Hag, Pelah Kitchen, and Yungkombucha. Visit cherrybombe.com for the schedule, the full talent lineup, and tickets. I'm going to be there, Team Cherry Bombe's going to be there, and I hope you'll be there, too.
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Stephanie Loo:
Thanks so much for having me, Abena. I'm so excited to be here.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Of course. You were born and raised in Queens.
Stephanie Loo:
Yep.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
New York City. How did that shape your food experience growing up?
Stephanie Loo:
Very proud native New Yorker. At the time, I guess I didn't realize how fortunate I was to be surrounded by such a diversity of good food growing up. Specifically, I grew up in Flushing, so lots of good Asian food there. Also, growing up in Queens, certain things like I learned to speak Spanish growing up, which really has helped me now working in restaurants.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, cool.
Stephanie Loo:
Growing up, my parents, they did not like cooking at all. We're not a foodie family, so sometimes my family, they joke, they have no idea where my love for food came from. There's lots of great places. Lots of great cheap eats in Queens, so feel really lucky to be surrounded by that. I think even going out to Manhattan felt like such an adventure, but something within reach that I could do growing up.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's amazing. Are there spots that you used to go to in your high school, college years, that you're still going to back now that you're fully back in the city?
Stephanie Loo:
Yeah, totally. I mean, I live on the Upper East Side now, so admittedly, I don't get out to Flushing as much as I'd love to. There's a really great food court called New World Mall in Queens that I highly recommend. They have great dry pot there. And then I used to study a lot at the Flushing Library, and right next door there's a Latin bakery that's name is literally Latin Bakery. They have amazing baked goods there.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
So your family wasn't really big into food, but it seems like you've had this natural love for it. Now that you're working in pastry, do you remember the first time you ever baked a recipe on your own? What was that like?
Stephanie Loo:
I don't know if I would call it baking, but growing up, on the weekends, every Saturday I would make Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. You know how you get that satisfying pop when you open the can?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, yeah.
Stephanie Loo:
Arrange them in a dish, bake them, and then you get that frosting to put on top. I used to love doing that. Probably the first thing I ever made from scratch was pancakes. We used to make buttermilk pancakes. I think the first cookbook I remember getting was Joy the Baker, her original cookbook. I really treasured that thing, so I made a lot of recipes from there.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Was there one recipe in there that you can still go back to, one that you frequented?
Stephanie Loo:
Her chocolate chip cookies were really great.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
After living in Queens, you moved to Philadelphia to study at the University of Pennsylvania. What'd you study while you were there?
Stephanie Loo:
Yep. I studied at Wharton, which is the business school. I graduated with a BS [Bachelor of Science] in economics.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What was the food scene like in Philadelphia?
Stephanie Loo:
I really credit Philly to being the place where I fell in love with restaurants specifically. I think Philly is one of the greatest food cities in the US. Really affordable and just people doing really interesting things there. It's also a much smaller city than New York, so I think the food scene's really tight. I actually worked in restaurants all four years while I was there. It wasn't a full-time thing, but once a week, I worked at High Street on Market and Fork Restaurant, both which I highly recommend if you're in Philly. I had such great mentors. Ellen Yin, who's the owner of those restaurants, Sam Kincaid, who was the pastry chef at the time, and a lot of other people at that restaurant who I still keep in touch with today. Really, some of my earliest mentors. I would say Ellen was at the forefront of, in quotes, "farm to table movement," at least in Philadelphia, was an early supporter of local farms and purveyors. I was really introduced to so many different ingredients and pastry techniques while I was there.
I worked with Ellen and the team at Fork and High Street all four years when I was in school there. Being in the environment that Penn was, people loved to go into Center City and try different restaurants, so I loved doing that. Also, I would say, not to be cliche, but studying abroad in Copenhagen while I was in college, that really opened my eyes to, I would say, fine dining and just what was going on in Copenhagen at the time. I think I worked three jobs the semester before I went abroad so I could eat at Noma and Geranium.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Amazing.
Stephanie Loo:
So many other restaurants while I was there.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What particularly about Copenhagen sparked a love of food?
Stephanie Loo:
The first thing I noticed was that people go grocery shopping there every day. I don't think you can buy eggs in more than a pack of six. So people would just go to the market. It was the first time I had real rye bread. I think just there's a lot of connection. A lot of people come there because they're interested in design and restaurants, foraging. I think it was being with people that I'd never met before, and also just a different style of dining, too. I think there's a lot less of a separation between the front of house and dining house. A lot of times, cooks serve food. I think even very fine dining spots that really take their food seriously, a lot of times, the vibe is really casual. It's great. The menus change really frequently, which I think some of those trends you're seeing a lot more now here in New York.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Definitely. You wrap up your time at Wharton. You join the corporate world with that economics degree. What were you doing at that time?
Stephanie Loo:
I almost took a job at Goldman Sachs right out of college, which was the thing to do, I guess, when graduating from Wharton. I ended up actually working full time at a private investment office. I was working mostly on managing the foundation side of things. It was a really great job. I was there for three years and really enjoyed it, actually. I liked a lot of aspects of working a desk job. I think I enjoy working in general, so I really liked it. But I think while I was there, I was still baking a ton and had this real longing to be in food and restaurants. That's why I decided to switch to go to culinary school.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How is baking playing a role then while you were working your desk job?
Stephanie Loo:
I would come home, honestly, almost every night if I wasn't going out to a restaurant and have all these recipes that I wanted to try, or develop my own recipes. I was baking all the time. There were always people at the office that wanted to eat stuff. Yeah, I really loved it.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. I'm sure you made a lot of friends that way.
Stephanie Loo:
Yeah.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Now there's a spark to go to culinary school. What prompted that decision to apply?
Stephanie Loo:
I think growing up, I always knew I wanted to be a pastry chef. Both pressure from society, from my family a little bit, and my own expectations of myself. I wanted to do something a little bit more stable and safe, I guess. But I knew that this is what I really wanted to do, and time's ticking. The time is now to do it. The time I applied to culinary school was summer of 2020, so I think during COVID as well, a lot of people were just rethinking their lives and what they were doing, how they were spending their time. I applied to culinary school. Actually, it was a really easy application process compared to applying to college.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Really?
Stephanie Loo:
I had also taken my GMAT [Graduate Management Admission Test] a couple years before, thinking maybe I'd go to grad school. But I think it was more a matter of would I actually be able to do this? What's happening with the pandemic and everything? I started culinary school in December 2020, which was definitely an interesting time to be doing that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You studied pastry and baking arts at the Institute of Culinary Education.
Stephanie Loo:
Yes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What does the first day of culinary school feel like?
Stephanie Loo:
It's really exciting. I have always loved school. I think I tend to thrive in really structured environments. I thought it was the coolest thing ever because you go to school, and you learn a new baking or pastry technique every day, and then you get to eat it, too. I loved it. It was a really small class. I had great instructors there, and I really tried to soak it in. I think going to culinary school during COVID, there definitely are fewer opportunities, I would say, maybe compared to pre-COVID, when there were a lot of chef demos, volunteer opportunities. But I feel like I tried to make the most of the opportunities there. I loved my classmates.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What did a typical day look like in culinary school from start to finish?
Stephanie Loo:
I was in an evening program because I was actually still working my day job during the duration of most of the program. I would actually start school at 7:00 p.m. and then leave at 11:00. So, in some ways, I was like, "This is preparing me to work at restaurants where typically you are there pretty late." Usually, we'd come in. There's usually a small demo or a small lecture at the beginning, where the chef instructor will lay out a concept or a technique or a project that we'll be working on. Then usually we'll split into pairs and then tackle something, whether it's bread or cake, plated desserts. There's a different theme every day. Then at the end you wrap up, clean up. That's usually how a class is.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You started doing externships and stages. What restaurants did you do those at?
Stephanie Loo:
I knew coming out of culinary school that I definitely wanted to be in restaurants. I think now that I'm in the pastry world, I realize there's so many routes you can take, but when I was in culinary school, I thought, "There's two things you can do. You can work in a bakery or at a restaurant." For me, I was like, "I definitely want to work in a restaurant." Specifically, I wanted to work in fine dining. I would say I staged at a lot of the Michelin star places in the city. I ended up going to Blue Hill at Stone Barns, which I really was not expecting to be there, mostly because at the time, did not know how to drive. Also did not have a car. But I had the chance to eat there for the first time last July. It really blew my mind. So I was like, "I really want to work here. I really want to learn from the people here and be part of this team."
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Wow. Classic New York kid. You didn't learn how to drive until it was necessary. Yeah. What specifically was appealing about fine dining?
Stephanie Loo:
I was thinking about this because my birthday was just last week and-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, happy belated birthday.
Stephanie Loo:
Thank you. When you work in pastry, especially in fine dining, so many people that come in, they're there to celebrate something important, an anniversary, a milestone, a birthday. Birthdays have always been really important to me and celebrations. Recently, I've been staging at a few places. Especially places where it's an open kitchen place and you see the dessert come out for the celebration, it's so satisfying. I think with fine dining, of course, for some people, it's very accessible as an everyday luxury. But I think for a lot of people, it really is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's something that's very memorable and special. To be part of that is really meaningful to me, especially being in pastry where you get to be creating things that are for celebrations. I think, especially at the two, three Michelin star level, there's just a lot of rigor and attention to detail and just everyone pushing at a really high level, which I love being part of that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. It still affirms the professional student energy, that structure. Yeah. Pastries have to be perfect. You fulfilled a career dream by working at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. What was that experience like?
Stephanie Loo:
Yeah. I had a really great experience there. Especially being a city kid, I think being at a restaurant that's directly on a farm was such a cool experience for me. I learned so much about seasonality. The menu would change almost every day, so it really kept me on my toes. I loved the pastry team there. We were a really lean team, so I got to take on a lot of responsibility. I think seeing the seasons change and being there throughout the course of that was so exciting. One of my favorite dishes that we did was called Four Stages of Maple Sap. We had about 30 maple trees on the property, and we would get fresh maple sap. Creating a dessert out of that was really ... I think that was my favorite dessert that we did there. We also did a lot of weddings, which was a lot of fun. But working service, I would say that was the most exciting and fun part for me.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. It seemed like it was a fun restaurant that had guests coming in and out all the time. Was there a particular guest that brought out the fan girl in you?
Stephanie Loo:
Yeah. There's definitely a lot of important people, I guess, that come to the restaurant. We don't do a lot of covers every night, so it's very special, I would say, to get a reservation there. The guest I was most excited to serve was Alice Waters. I mean, when she came, I was just so excited that she was going to taste the food that we had prepared. At Blue Hill at Stone Barns, there's a lot of opportunities for us as cooks to interact with the guests, which is something I really loved. So getting to talk to Alice Waters and give her a hug and make dessert for her was just really a memorable moment for me.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I feel like that's a childhood dream of the farm to table queen coming to your farm to table restaurant and trying your farm to table pastry. Pastry's an incredibly technical, practical ... It's almost like science and art coming together.
Stephanie Loo:
Definitely.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How did you manage when things went wrong in the kitchen?
Stephanie Loo:
Oh, my gosh. I feel like I made so many mistakes while I was there. I think that's the nature of being at a restaurant and learning, growing. I can remember many ice cream bases that I have messed up, things I've dropped, recipes that I've scaled incorrectly. There's definitely a lot of learning to be done. I had a very patient pastry chef who taught me a lot. I think with pastry there's always so much learning because as you were saying, it is a lot of science, and everyone has a different way of doing things. So just with doing R&D and things like that-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What does R&D mean?
Stephanie Loo:
Research and development. Just as we change the menu, there's just a lot of different techniques to learn. I would say there's a lot of things I still don't know that I didn't really get to practice as much while I was at Stone Barns. Definitely, in the areas of chocolate and bread, a lot of room to grow and learn there.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Tempering chocolate, I think. Is that a big one in the pastry world?
Stephanie Loo:
It is, and something I am definitely not skilled at all.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Maybe a couple of solo videos might help the trick, if anything. Tell me about a dessert that you still think about a lot from your time there.
Stephanie Loo:
There was another dish that I really loved. It was called Doughnut Peach Doughnuts. It's during the end of the summer. You can get doughnut peaches, which are the most adorable peaches, and we would actually make them into doughnuts. We would cut out the core, dehydrate them, and then fry them in a tempura batter, and then put a glaze on top. They looked just like doughnuts. People used to go crazy for them. There were two panna cottas that I really loved. One we did was a grape, buckwheat, and yogurt panna cotta. That was delicious. Then I made a lot of burnt honey panna cottas while I was there, which is so simple, but I'm caramelizing the honey. We would get honey from the property, too, which is really great. Yeah. Caramelizing the honey and burning it in a way created such a delicious flavor. I think those were some of the things that really stood out to me.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How did it change your relationship with produce? Did you get to go out and pick the stuff you were using in your desserts?
Stephanie Loo:
Sometimes. I would say a lot of the herbs we get from the herb garden there. Stone Barns isn't actually much of a fruit growing farm. So I would say on the pastry side, a lot of the fruit we get are from a lot of the farms and purveyors that you can find at the Indian Square Greenmarket. I love Norwich and Phillips. So many great farms that we got to work with.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Now that you've been fully immersed into the culinary world, how has your relationship with food changed?
Stephanie Loo:
I think now that I work in restaurants, which sometimes feels so surreal to me because I feel like I always wanted to be a restaurant person, I think I have so much of a greater appreciation for restaurants, food, the people that work in food. I think being surrounded by it all the time really just has given me a greater curiosity and desire to learn more and experiment more. So I feel grateful to be working with food.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Something I've always loved about you is how extroverted and how much you thrive in community. At Cherry Bombe events, you're always saying ‘hi’ to everyone. Even when you're working at any bake sale, you're constantly trying to find that community. How have you found that in the restaurant world with other chefs?
Stephanie Loo:
I love the restaurant community, especially in New York. I can really only speak to New York and Philly, but being in New York, I feel like people really take care of other people that work in hospitality. I think there's a shared feeling and understanding of what it's like to work weekends and work the really long hours. Just meeting other people that work in the industry, I love it. I think people that I've met have been so generous. Our job is to take care of guests when they come in and hopefully give them a really great experience. So I think that extends in people's personal lives as well.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Have you found mentorship as well in the community of chefs?
Stephanie Loo:
Not to stereotype, but especially in pastry, tends to attract a lot of females, which I think is awesome. There's so many incredible pastry chefs out there. As far as mentors go, I definitely have people from my college days that I still talk to and ask for their advice on what should I do next? Where should I go? I'll text them to update them on things that I'm doing. Even here in New York, people that I met during culinary school have opened up a lot of opportunities for me. Then just sometimes it's a friend of a friend, or definitely through Stone Barns, people that I still keep in touch with. So there's definitely a lot of people who I would say are mentors to me, both in a personal way and also just whose careers I really admire. I love to see what they're doing.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
We all know fine dining is incredibly beautiful. Such amazing dishes are coming out of the restaurant. But it's also a grind. Long hours, commuting, being on your feet all day. How do you take care of yourself once you clock out?
Stephanie Loo:
Yeah. It is tough. As you were saying, the hours are really long. Generally, the pay is not great. I think physically, it's also really taxing. I remember my first month working. I was so sore every day. I was like, "How do people do this?" But I think you get stronger over time, both physically and mentally. Having a really great support system, so family, friends, both outside of work and on the job, is really important. I think having a sense of humor in the kitchen is something that's really underrated because fine dining people can take themselves so seriously. But being able to just have a good attitude and persevere during really hard services is fun. I would say something for me, actually, is I'm pretty fluent in Spanish. Growing up in Queens, I picked up on it, studied it in school. So that's been a surprising nice advantage because a lot of times, our dishwashers, porters, prep cooks, they work so hard. They are so amazing, and sometimes there can be a language barrier. So I love being able to make friends in that way.
I would say I wish that there were more conversations about mental health and even things like personal finance, which is something that I feel like a lot of hospitality workers maybe are not so knowledgeable about. Things that I feel grateful for, to have had that foundation before I started working at restaurants. My pastry chef, Gwen [Steuart], at Stone Barns, and I, we used to have reminders every day to stretch and practice our Spanish. We try to keep things fun. On my days off, honestly, I still love going to restaurants. I feel like that keeps me inspired.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. That's awesome. A Spanish and stretch hour. That’s funny. It's like you stretch, and then you can talk about different techniques.
Stephanie Loo:
Yeah.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Also, it's amazing that humor is a great way to understand another language. I'm sure you've picked up on so many phrases and things that you wouldn't really learn in the traditional setting.
Stephanie Loo:
Yeah. For sure. I've never played professional sports or anything like that, but I think that the high you get after a really great service, I live for that. It's such a great feeling when everything goes the way you want it to, which is definitely not every night, but I love working service. There's so much adrenaline. There's such a rush. I think it's really satisfying just to see people enjoying the food that you're putting out.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Absolutely. I think as someone who loves restaurants, I always am the person fascinated by the kitchen.
I'm that one patron sticking their head out. It looks almost like a ballet, just the way that expo's moving, or people. Everyone's got a different role. Everyone's in the right place.
Stephanie Loo:
For sure.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Everyone seems coordinated. It's really beautiful to see that. To hear that you feel this purpose for it almost makes the food much more enjoyable-
Stephanie Loo:
Definitely.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
... I would say. I'm always constantly impressed by not only how hard you work, but also the way you deliver. I just think you are so good at putting your heart into everything that you do, and it shows. You'll make a cake for somebody, and it's the most eloquent cake, even though you've worked 80 hours before. But in addition to working at restaurants, you've also started to work on some cookbooks, particularly with Erin McDowell and Jessie Sheehan. What were some highlights on working on cookbooks?
Stephanie Loo:
Yeah. I appreciate the kind words, Abena.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, anytime.
Stephanie Loo:
From a young age, I learned to be very scrappy and resilient. Even when I was younger, throughout college, I always had so many side projects and jobs going on. The cookbook stuff and more of my work in the food media, it always has been freelance work for me and on the side. But I love it. I love writing. I love the creative process. It occupies a different part of my brain.
I would say one of the skills I picked up on in business school is writing a cold email. I could write a pretty great cold email. Actually, the opportunity to work on Jessie's cookbook, which was the first one I worked on, I just emailed her. I saw an Instagram that she was working on a new cookbook. During culinary school, I had a lot more free time during the day, so I was just like, "Hey, can I help you on your cookbook, test recipes, do anything for you?" She actually replied to my email and asked me if I wanted to test recipes. So I tested all the variations that are in her cookbook. It's Snackable Bakes, by the way. I highly recommend it.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Amazing book.
Stephanie Loo:
Then she gave me the opportunity to work on set with her during the photo shoot week. That was a really great experience. I have to give a shout-out to Katie Wayne, who is her food stylist for the book. Katie really opened up a lot of other opportunities for me. She's been Erin's right-hand girl for a long time. Through Katie, I got a chance to work on Erin McDowell's new cookbook, Savory Baking. That was a lot of fun as well.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Were there any techniques from the pastry world that lent themselves into working on those cookbooks?
Stephanie Loo:
I would say with recipe testing and things like that, it's interesting to think about the communication process between the recipe developer's brain and then what is a home cook? Somebody who's never cooked or baked before. How will they be able to execute this recipe? I love being in that space, being able to help with recipe testing and troubleshooting, things like that. I think with the cookbook, it's a huge creative endeavor. I've never written one myself, but just seeing people who have gone through the process, at the end of it, you produce something, hopefully, that you're really proud of, and it really takes a whole team. But it's something maybe I'd like to do in the future. I feel like I have a lot of ideas always percolating in my brain. I like writing. I love the photo aspect. I love books. I love cookbooks especially. So maybe one day.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Are there any other projects you're working on right now?
Stephanie Loo:
Not right now. Just been taking some time off before I start at my next job, which I feel really grateful to have had a couple weeks off and also recognize the privilege that it is to be able to take that time. But no projects right now. I usually do have a steady stream of freelance work, just some recipe testing and writing, things like that. I used to do popups in the city and stuff. I miss doing that. So hopefully in the future, I'm going to have more time be able to jump back into that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
All right. We're about to enter the future section of the podcast. What does the future of food mean to you?
Stephanie Loo:
It's such a big question, Abena. I guess if we're talking about restaurants specifically, I think over the last few weeks, I've been able to stage at a lot of different restaurants in the city, just seeing what's out there, what direction people are going in. I think it's a positive one for the most part. I can only speak from my vantage point, but at least in the pastry world, I think there's so many talented pastry chefs, pastry cooks out there.
But also, I think what I've been more impressed by is there's a lot of chefs leading with empathy and compassion for their teams and recognizing people as whole people, not just as employees, recognizing that people have a life outside of the restaurant. I think there's a lot of movement towards just recognizing that restaurants need to be a better place for people to work at. I think there's a lot of seasonality and local sourcing, things like that, that I learned a lot about at Stone Barns, but I see it here in the city as well. I think that people are doing exciting things in restaurants, bakeries, just in food stuff. I think what you're doing, Abena, with your events is so cool. Yeah. Just a lot of great things happening.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Well, thank you for the shout-out. Yeah. What's one element of the fine dining industry that you would consider to be timeless?
Stephanie Loo:
I think that the creativity and the ingenuity behind these kinds of experiences is something that I hope will stay. I think people really seek out meals that are not only delicious, but where they felt taken care of and that were so beautiful, so memorable to them. I hope that people see working in restaurants at this level as a really noble and amazing job to have. I definitely feel excited to be in the industry.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Do you have any advice for someone that wants to transition into the culinary world, particularly from the corporate world?
Stephanie Loo:
I think everyone's path is really different. I personally loved going to culinary school and the opportunities it opened up for me. But every time I've gone to school, whether that's college or culinary school, I also have recognized that it's very expensive. My parents have always been like, "If you want to go, you got to apply for scholarships." I was really fortunate enough to get some money to help pay for school. I think some of the best pastry chefs, though, they just started out working in restaurants with no formal training.
I do think that mentorship, something we discussed earlier, is really important. I think being patient, too, is a really important thing because I feel that the way you progress in corporate environment can be a lot more linear at times. I think one of the best pieces of advice I got from a pastry chef that I really admire, she was just saying to be patient in the sense of be a cook as long as you can before you move up into management, sous chef, pastry chef, executive pastry chef role, because when you're a cook, you get to absorb a lot of information and learn a lot. Whereas, when you're a manager, you're managing. You're the one that has to give out the information. I think in any industry, a network is really helpful. I think that anyone can really start building that network. And I think just to be curious and to work really hard.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Is owning a fine dining pastry restaurant something you would consider?
Stephanie Loo:
Sometimes. I used to dream about opening my own restaurant. I used to actually have a supper club that I used to do out of my dorm in college, but I was only responsible for the bread course and dessert because it's funny. I notoriously am not a good cook on the savory side. I don't know if being the owner or executive chef of a restaurant is in the cards for me. But entrepreneurship and doing my own thing is definitely something I'd be interested in. People have told me before that I have the disposition or personality to work for myself. So it's definitely something I think about a lot.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I see a Stephanie Sweets line in the future. Yeah. You're incredibly motivated. From the first time we ever met, it was something that I took up right away. We're starting a tradition for The Future of Food Is You Podcast called The Future Flash Five.
Stephanie Loo:
I love it.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You're going to get to do five questions. Answer them as quickly as possible.
Stephanie Loo:
All right.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Whenever you're ready.
Stephanie Loo:
I'm ready.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Let's do it. Next pastry trend?
Stephanie Loo:
Ooh. I feel like there's a lot of nostalgic flavors and things from childhood coming back in. I also see a lot of tableside service at restaurants, so things being cut or finished tableside. I'm there for the theatrics of that. I love it.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. If you could invent your own kitchen gadget, what would it be?
Stephanie Loo:
This is very niche, but I would love something that can sharpen a serrated knife. I'm always using a serrated knife. You can sharpen regular chef's knives or Petty knives, paring knives. But I feel like I always have to replace my serrated knife because it's impossible to sharpen.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. We need that niche whetstone. Most underrated pastry tool?
Stephanie Loo:
I would say either a pair of scissors or a spoon. I feel like I'm always reaching for one of those.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Simple. If you had a cafe on the moon, what would your signature pastry be?
Stephanie Loo:
I love plated desserts, but my favorite cake is a carrot cake. I think I make a pretty darn good one, so maybe a slice of carrot cake.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Well, I need to try, but I mean, you'd have to get someone to grow carrots on the moon. So maybe that's a side hustle. True farm to table. Or is it moon to table, would it be? Next restaurant on your bucket list?
Stephanie Loo:
I'm really itching to travel, I think, especially since COVID. So I would love to go back to Paris and just eat my way through the boulangeries and restaurants there.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Stephanie, thank you so much for being on The Future of Food Podcast. Another thing we're doing is we're letting everyone leave a voicemail at The Future of Food Is You phone box. We're going to give you one minute to leave a voicemail for your future self, and they'll pick it up 10 years from now. You've reached the mailbox of The Future of Food Is You Podcast. Please leave a message after the beep.
Stephanie Loo:
Dear future Stephanie, this is me. You're in New York City, trying to make your way in the restaurant industry, working really hard. I hope that in these last 10 years you were able to achieve your dreams, become a pastry chef. This is what you wanted to do your whole life. But I hope along the way you also prioritize the things that are really important to you, family, friends, faith, taking care of yourself, being there for other people. Know that I'm really proud of you for taking the leap to pursue your dreams. I hope that you have been able to mentor people along the way. Be kind to those around you. Make the restaurant space, the pastry space, not only more delicious and exciting to be in, but also a place where people feel safe and comfortable bringing their whole selves to work. I'm sure you've had some really amazing experiences along the way. I'm sure this goes without saying, but I hope you've eaten a lot of amazing desserts and eaten at a lot of really great restaurants with people you love over this last decade.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's it for today's episode. Stephanie, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. Follow Stephanie at Stephanie Loo on Instagram for her amazing food recs and behind the scenes content on restaurant life. Don't miss the second annual Cooks & Books Festival taking place November 5th and 6th, this weekend at Ace Hotel Brooklyn. Visit cherrybombe.com for more. Thank you to Cypress Grove, maker of great American goat cheese, for supporting The Future of Food Is You mini-series.
If you enjoyed today's special episode, I'll be back again next Thursday with another guest. Be sure to listen to our first two episodes with Sarah Teich and Abi Balingit. The Future of Food Is You and Radio Cherry Bombe are a production of Cherry Bombe Magazine. Thanks to the team at CityVox Studios, Newsstand Studios studio engineer Joseph Hazan, executive producer Kerry Diamond, managing editor Catherine Baker, and assistant producers Jenna Sadhu and Krista White. Catch you on the Future Flip.