secrets of success

FOODSERVICE EAST PRESENTS
April 2013
SECRETS OF SUCCESS
An ongoing series of
interviews with
chefs, restaurateurs
and foodservice
operators, Secrets of
Success looks at the
paths taken to
professional
recognition and
acclaim.
Molly Hanson
Executive Pastry Chef, Grill 23 & Post 390, Boston, MA
By Foodservice East
Molly’s career began when she wound up working in a local restaurant after college and fell in love with
“the restaurant life/people and went to culinary school” to hone her skills. She realized early on that pastry
was her calling because of its planning and precision.
SECRETS OF SUCCESS April 2013
FOODSERVICE EAST
SECRETS OF SUCCESS
FSE: Who is your greatest mentor?
HANSON: Tom Blivens – he was my chef at
Shelburne Farms, my first pastry chef position, and
took mentoring very seriously and gave me great advice
early on in my career. He later went on to be the
Executive Chef at New England Culinary Institute. I
also loved working with Emily Luchetti of Farallon in
San Francisco. She was my pastry mentor. Emily
shaped a lot of my approach to pastry.
FSE: You are a born and bred New Englander - how has that influenced the way you cook?
HANSON: I think it make me a little more
straightforward in desserts. It also means that apples
hold a special place in my heart. I think New England
grows the tastiest apples. So I have made pies, crisps,
bettys, dumplings, cobblers and many more. I have my
favorite varieties that I look forward to seeing in the fall: Mutsu, Cox Orange Pippin, Northern Spy.
FSE: I understand you're into beekeeping and
learned it from your father - do you and
Himmel Hospitality have any plans for hives
atop Post 390 or Grill 23?
HANSON: There is a lot of construction in the Grill
23 area right now, which makes it currently impossible. It doesn't hold us back when it comes to using honey in
desserts however.
FSE: What is the ‘secret’ of your success?
HANSON: Working with talented and supportive
people and trying my best to maintain good
relationships with all of my colleagues in the kitchen,
front of the house and office.
FSE: If you weren't a chef, what would you be
doing?
HANSON: Something with my hands that is creative.
Obstetrics seems pretty exciting, but maybe that’s not
very creative.
FSE: You have two little girls. How do you
juggle motherhood and being a chef.
HANSON: I am fortunate enough to have a very
supportive family. My wife, Kate Henry, is home with
our girls most of the time and my parents watch them
one day a week so Kate can work. I race home at the
end of the day to get some time with my daughters. I
do baby bath and bed time most nights of the week. Kate will occasionally bring the girls in for staff lunch
on Saturdays so they can see me and run around the
restaurant and sample my desserts.
FSE: What do you love most about your career
and what’s your pet peeve?
HANSON: I love being in the thick of the busy season
and the buzz you get from too much caffeine and lots of
work to do. My pet peeve is when one of the savory
cooks borrows a tool and forgets to return it. I still tell
stories about some of the worst transgressions, years
later.
FSE: Is there one single kitchen utensil you
couldn’t live without and if so, what is it?
HANSON: I have a red handled Victorinox and I use it
for everything at work, at home and at every event I
work. I love it.
FSE: What’s your favorite dessert and why?
HANSON: It changes constantly. I usually have a
current favorite that will be my pet dessert for a few
weeks. Right now its a Scandinavian berry pudding
that my family has been making for years. I love it
because it's made with my family's berries that we pick
and freeze during the summer months. We serve it
with toasted almonds and poured cream.
FSE: What advice would you give to a young
person entering the industry?
HANSON: Work in the kitchen, either in a restaurant
or a bakery, before going to culinary school. The
kitchen isn’t for everybody, and it is better to sample the
actual work before committing to it as a career.
FSE: What are the differences between the
desserts you're doing at Grill 23 and the ones
at Post 390, especially now that Post 390 has a
'tavern' menu downstairs in addition to the
menu upstairs?
HANSON: Grill 23 has a more traditional, hearty
dessert menu with cakes, creme brulee, bread pudding,
and a host of seasonal favorites that our regulars look
forward to every year. At Post 390 I really love our
Farm to Post menu, which has had me doing desserts
featuring regional produce as well as lard, tallow, Taza
chocolate, and now cheeses from 5 Spoke Creamery. For the Tavern at Post I include some fun share-able
desserts like a cookie jar and hot fudge sundae.
FSE: What do you expect to be doing in 10
years?
HANSON: Well, I love my job so it is hard to imagine
leaving it. Kate and I talk about opening a place
together some day and perhaps that is where we’ll be in
10 years.
FSE: Who is your favorite pastry chef ?
HANSON: In the Boston area, it is definitely Maura
Kilpatrick of Oleana and Sofra in Cambridge. I
especially love her fruit desserts and her nougat glace at
Oleana, which I always pick for my birthday dinner.
My favorite cookbook author is perhaps Christine
Ferber. Her tarts are magical.
FSE: What’s in your home refrigerator?
HANSON: Two shelves in the door of my refrigerator
are filled with homemade jams and chutneys. I also
have many different forms of dairy... two types of milk,
cream, lots of hard cheeses, butter, cottage cheese,
Greek yogurt and kefir.