Word has reached me that Gretchen Glatte is out at Wildwood, replaced by Michelle Vernier, from Blu Restaurant in Boston. Her bio:
“Pastry Chef Michelle Vernier creates desserts for blu’s dining room as well as breads and pastries for the casual café.
Michelle first experimented with cooking at a young age – once setting her parent’s cabinetry on fire during a botched attempt at flambé. In high school, she worked as a line cook in her hometown of Detroit, where she learned the kitchen ropes (and some better flambé techniques).
After attending the Culinary Institute of America, she was offered a job at Andante, a fine dining restaurant in the lakeside resort town of Petoskey, MI. In October of 2000, Michelle moved to Boston to work at Rialto. She then took a short break to travel through Europe to experience fine cuisine and pastry first hand.
Once she returned to Boston, Michelle became a bread baker at Sel de la Terre under head baker Michael Rhodes. She then became pastry chef at Tremont 647 under Chef Andy Husbands before moving to blu in June 2004″
She certianly seems creative; from a press release “Kudos to blu Pastry Chef Michelle Vernier for her award-winning edible rendition of The Gates-Central Park by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Michelle — along with Chef Tom Fosnot and Creative Director David Perry — took home the “Best Artistic Interpretation” award at the recent Edible Art competition. Michelle constructed her gates from saffron breadsticks and saffron pasta. A pumpernickel path, covered with salt and pepper, ran between the gates, which were flanked by rosemary and thyme “trees” and fig “stones.”
Leave a Reply