TASTING SALON: PASTRIES WITH CLAIRE PTAK

Join Culinary Fellow Andrea Blum and distinguished pastry chef Claire Ptak, owner of Violet Bakery in London, to kick off the Labor Day weekend! Ptak has been baking since she was four years old. Still in her 20s and with no formal training, she walked into Chez Panisse with some huckleberry tartlets with rose-geranium pastry cream that so impressed Alice Waters that Ptak was offered a job. After moving to London in 2005, she became the city's cupcake queen. Her luscious creations with organic frostings have a cult following from local kids to Stella McCartney and super chef Jamie Oliver. She released her first book, The Whoopie Pie Book, in the Fall of 2010. Join Ptak for an inspiring talk and hands-on demonstration of a favorite recipe, followed by a prix fix dinner prepared by Andrea Blum in celebration of modern pastries.