Natasha Pickowicz on the Plight of Pastry Chefs

Radio Cherry Bombe

The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network

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4.6 • 592 Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2020

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Award-winning pastry chefs around the country have been furloughed or let go from their positions as restaurants struggle to deal with the ramifications of the coronavirus. “It doesn’t matter if you won a James Beard Award. It doesn’t matter if you are the most visible figure on a restaurant staff,” says Natasha Pickowicz. “At the end of the day, I think pastry in restaurants and fine dining restaurants is at a critical juncture.” Natasha, one of the most celebrated and visible pastry chefs in New York City and well-known for spearheading an annual Planned Parenthood bake sale, lost her job and has been busy processing and responding to the shifting realities around her. She and host Kerry Diamond talk about her two new initiatives, The Bake Sale Project resource-sharing platform, and the Never Ending Taste pop-up at Superiority Burger in NYC this weekend, as well as the success of the Bakers Against Racism project.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everyone, welcome to
0:03.0	Hey everyone, welcome to Radio Cherrybaum, the number one female-focused food podcast in the universe.
0:24.0	I'm your host, Carrie Diamond, coming to you from Brooklyn, New York.
0:28.3	Among the many folks furloughed and out-of-work right now are the country's top pastry chefs.
0:33.0	These positions once seemed like dream jobs and brought with them visibility and awards.
0:37.2	But the reality
0:38.3	today is somewhat grim, as top restaurants either don't reopen or decide that dessert is not a
0:43.7	priority. Yet, the community of pastry professionals, bakers, and dessert makers has been quite
0:49.2	resilient in the face of everything. Just look at the success of the Bakers Against Racism Project.
0:55.7	Today's guest is very familiar with this scenario. It's Natasha Pickowitz, a cherry bomb favorite. Natasha is one of
1:01.9	the most celebrated pastry chefs in New York City and is well known for spearheading an annual
1:06.5	Planned Parenthood bake sale. Natasha sadly lost her job recently and has been busy processing
1:12.4	and responding to the shifting realities around her. But if you know Natasha, you know she's always up
1:18.3	to something amazing. She joins us to talk about a new initiative she's co-founded, the Bake Sale Project,
1:24.1	which aims to help professional end-home bakers with free resources. And we chat about
1:28.9	never-ending taste, her pop-up taking place July 12th at superiority burger in New York City.
1:35.8	Let's do some housekeeping. Thank you to the folks at Breyer's Carb Smart and Sonos Move for supporting
1:41.2	today's show. Be sure to check them out. We wouldn't have a show without them.
1:45.6	Also, I would love for you to check out a new Radio Cherry Bomb mini-series we just launched
1:50.0	in collaboration with Chef Tiffany Rosier, host of the Afros and Knives podcast.
1:55.4	This four-part mini-series features interviews with black women working in the food
1:59.5	justice movement.
	...

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