Natasha Pickowicz on the Plight of Pastry Chefs

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.