Artist. Chef. writer. Traveler

Artist. Chef. writer. Traveler
WELCOME! ¡BIENVENIDOS!
Bren Herrera is an artist, chef, writer, fashionista & traveler with lots of
personality, passion for all things art and quenched eagerness to flavor
your palate with a bit of spice in her Cuban & Latin fusion cuisine with
global influence!
B
ren is a self-taught cook that, simply put,
loves to entertain! Her beginnings with food are
very traditional, having watched everything her
mother and grandmother prepared. “Dinner was
the most important activity of the day. My
grandmother took it so seriously she started
cooking as early as noon!”
“I must say this was a wonderfully cooked meal. Not only was
there a beautiful display of artistry in preparation but a
wonderful presentation as well”-- Jacquelyn Roberts, single
mother of two, Atlanta, Ga
B
orn in Havana, Cuba and raised in the
suburbs of DC, Bren, whose friends call “B”,
grew up in a very Latin home. Spanish was
spoken before English; the kitchen was the
center of all entertainment and daily chitchat; stories of Cuba were shared over dinner.
B
Tra!tional Cuban Flan
brenherrera.com
ren’s late grandmother introduced her to 3
generations of Cuban, Afro-Caribbean and
European inspired dishes she used to prepare in
Havana. Bren was also intrigued by the
reactions family members and guests would
have to her mother’s food. she wanted to
accomplish the same. She shadowed and offered
to help her mother every chance possible. And
so, she fell in love with cooking!
“Cooking makes me feel powerful! I love being in the kitchen!”
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S A SINGLE WOMAN LIVING IN ATLANTA, BREN WANTED TO
MAINTAIN THE TRADITION OF COOKING DELICIOUS FOOD
EVERYDAY. BEFORE MOVING TO THE SOUTH JUST THREE YEARS
AGO, BREN ENTERTAINED FRIENDS AT LEAST TWICE A MONTH,
ALWAYS OFFERING SOMETHING NEW AND CREATIVELY FRESH.
HER FRIENDS CONSTANTLY RAVED AND WANTED RECIPES. HER
POPULAR POLLO EN FRICASSÈ (CUBAN STYLE CHICKEN IN FRESH
B
ren’s love of food inspired her to launch a personal chef business
called Flanboyant Eats™, named after her signature flan dessert, of which
she has 40 flavors! Bren cooks and introduces Cuban and Latin cuisine to
her friends and clients looking for a different experience. She combines
Cuba’s palate, which, includes
African, European and Spanish,
with modern flavors and textures,
to create excellent dishes. Her
approach and philosophy are
unique: using fresh ingredients
and lots of spices, while
maximizing time in her vintage
pressure cooker. She also infuses
international flavors and cooking
techniques she has learned while
traveling throughout the world.
Her goal is to transport her diner
to a special place through excellent
food!
teaching a class how to use
Guava & mint stuffed cuban meatballs
I
ncorporating her chic sense of fashion, you will see her stylishly cook in
killer pumps, while remaining comfortable and efficient. She will come
prepared to give you a brief lesson on the menu’s history. She believes it is
important to connect the food she prepares to its roots. “If you
understand where the dish comes from, you will be able to
appreciate it much more!”
“Your dishes are phenomenal! I have tasted a bunch of dishes
throughout Atlanta, but your dishes are right up there with the finest
restaurants in the city!”--Reggie Carson, Atlanta
pressure cookers
brenherrera.com
B
ren’s passion for food and entertainment is natural if you consider her
other endeavors. A true artist at heart, Bren is recording a Latin fusion album,
incorporating her classical training on the cello with her sultry vocals. Her
presence in the music industry has landed her gigs in Miami, DC, Atlanta and
Europe. Her connection to record labels led her to start freelance writing,
covering music trends and interviewing celebrities and Grammy Award
winning artists such as Ceelo of Gnarles Barkey, Chrisette Michelle, Anthony
Hamilton and 10 time Grammy winner jazz virtuoso, Paquito D’Rivera. Her
equal talent for creative writing positioned her for a steady spot as a
contributing writer for Odyssey Couleur Magazine, Atlanta’s Finest Dining,
Discovery’s “How Stuff Works,” and The Washington Post, among others,
where she covers travel, lifestyle and culinary trends and festivals. Her
assignments have taken her to Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. Bren
currently writes a weekly food column for LATINA Magazine and is also a
weekly contributor to gourmet food purveyor Dean & DeLuca’s ‘Gourmet Blog’.
“You make us want to eat, live, and love Latin style! Keep up the great work!White on Rice food blogger, Los Angeles
Al fresco
lunch for
Paquito
D’Rivera
Her journalistic projects finally led to the creation of
her internationally buzzing Blog, “FlaNboyant Eats.”
There, you will find recipes of Cuban, Latin fusion and
some French foods she prepares with luscious pictures;
restaurant reviews from all over the world, celebrity chef
interviews, cooking video demos, style tips and even a
Spanish “word of the day” for those wanting to learn a bit
of Español!
Bren & Paquito Discuss her book over vino
“Great podcast Bren! You have a gift for conducting
interviews!” -- Dean & DeLuca, Manhattan HQ’s
brenherrera.com
M
ost recently, bren has become a resident chef on
“Bren's a regular dynamo in the kitchen”--Emeril Lagasse
“DAYTIME”, a nationally syndicated talk show, with an
invitation to return as their food & travel correspondent to
do cooking demonstrations & eclectic travel pieces form her
national and int’l destinations. Bren continues to appear on
other local and national TV and radio shows.
O
N July 14, 2008, Bren was a featured guest on celebrity
chef Emeril Lagasse’s
show “Emeril Green” on discovery
network’s new eco-lifestyle channel, Planet Green. In Keeping
with healthy eating, bren and chef emeril cooked a traditional
cuban dinner for her parents at
Whole Foods Market in
Bren
serving Chef
Joël Rubuchon
her flan
Washington, DC. Visit Flanboyanteats.com to see the full
episode!
Of
exciting & laudable note,
bren had the distinct and unique
o p p o r t u n i t y t o i n t e r v i e w,
personally cook and eat with
Joël Robuchon, “chef of the
c e n t u ry, ” i n h i s m a n h a t t a n
l’atelier in september 2009. Bren
made mr. robuchon her famous
flan to which he says “A perfect
dessert is one both young and
old people can enjoy--this is it!”
Mr. Robuchon boasts 26 michelin
stars, the most of any chef in the
world. she’s also done interviews
and demo’s in his monte-carlo,
monaco restaurants.
brenherrera.com
Bren &
Emeril Lagasse
shopping while
taping “Emeril
Green”
Bren was a winning finalist in I Can’t
Believe It’s Not butter’s “Turn the Tub
Around” commercial contest, where her
self-produced video aired on american
idol’s premiere nigh, january 12, 2010!
She is working on her first cookbook and
is in the process of developing her own TV
cooking/lifestyle show.
In The Know!
PRESS
GETAWAY
whe r e to go
Queen
of
the
Night
In Barbad os, a star gets her
close-u p | BY BRENDA HERRERA
wake up sometimes wondering if I’ll ever move out of the
United States. Leave my parents and siblings and begin a
new life, far away from our political and Tinseltown dramas—you know, all those artificial issues that get passed off
as news in our pop-culture-driven society.
If I ever did, it would be driven by my fanatical desire to be classified as an A-list celebrity, and to reap the benefits. Narrowing my
list down is no easy feat. I grew up in really cold weather, so sunnier destinations are automatically more appealing. My trip to
Barbados was the perfect opportunity to test my loyalty to the
States—and to my family.
ALAI N JARA M ILL O
I
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
BISTROS AND BRASSERIES: RECIPES AND
REFLECTIONS ON CLASSIC CAFÉ COOKING
18
FEBRUARY/ M AR C H
2 0 0 7
|
O D YSSEY
C O ULEUR
by Bren Herrera
M
ost creatures of habit exist for a few reasons.
We are complacent and comfortable, we are
lazy or we are simply intimidated by the alternative of doing something different.
Cookbook lovers come to mind. There are the ones
who quietly obsess over owning every new book published.
It can be a book on how to
work with eggs or 365 chocolate recipes for the aficionado.
They are more intrigued by
the books’ covers and expanding their library. Then there
are those who buy and collect
cookbooks because it’s much
easier for them to cook from a
recipe and be guided by voices
of authority and pretty pictures.
While those types are obsessing about what their collection looks like, I’m constantly
stepping outside my Latin box
of ingredients and method and
working on learning other cuisines. I never buy cookbooks. I
own just three: the Cuban bible
of food, “Cocina Criolla,” one
of Emeril’s that I recently acquired while working with him
and now, just gifted, “Bistros
and Brasseries: Recipes and Reflections on Classic Café Cooking” by the Culinary Institute
of America, a pretty cookbook
every home cook should have.
The cover bears an appetizing Confit Avec Pruneaux
et Pommes (duck confit with
prunes and apples), black-andwhite photos of the vintage
bourgeoisie and taste-bud-jerking recipes. I was happy to be
a new owner of the book and
was quickly interested in flipping through the pages of the
newest addition to my pathetically slim collection. So far, it
is the prettiest one I own. I was
eager to find something interesting to make for my closest
friends and clients. With the occasional request for a nonLatin dish, this book is a good starting resource point.
Though I’m not big on relying on precise instruction, I
didn’t mind taking a peek into something from which I
could learn a thing or two.
The Culinary Institute of America has enlisted the
expertise of John Fischer and Lou Jones, both acclaimed
chefs and faculty at the institute, to introduce the everyday cook to traditional French foods found in cafés
46
ATLANTA’S FINEST DINING
and bistros. Much to my enjoyment, I was temporarily
transported to my last visit to Paris. Some of the recipes
were familiar to me, either because I had eaten them or
prepared them at home, and others were concepts I have
heard of through foodie talk.
One dish I particularly remember having and thoroughly enjoying on a late summer night is rabbit cooked
in wine sauce. Tenderly textured and perfectly flavored, I
applauded the cook responsible for something so delectable. It was indeed something new to me, and having no
personal connection to it, a similar recipe in this cookbook caught my attention. Gibellote de Lapin, or rabbit
stew, is accompanied by a reduction sauce, much like the
one I tried. Seasoned with bay leaf, loads of garlic, juniper
berries, white wine and butter, this dish requires a red
wine pairing.
Wine pairing and historical context is offered for
every recipe included. One such as myself, not a spirits connoisseur on any notable level, can appreciate the
suggestions. Can you imagine
having a Pinot Blanc with Coq
au Vin, one of French cuisine’s
staples? It would almost be
considered sacrilege! The authoritative chefs duly note you
must consider a “more expensive version of that (red) wine.”
The popular dish is a challenge,
even in most French kitchens,
so cooking in your home may
require some patience and detail to attention. If you gracefully accomplish preparing this
dish, you should salute yourself
and invite accolades from your
hungry friends.
A thorough collection of
good food, I was happy to see
popular fast foods like crepes. Six
pages of enticing color pictures of
savory and sweet crepes will give
you a very clear understanding of
their genesis. One of my all-time
favorite crepe fillings is Nutella,
commonly sold anywhere from
chateaux entrances to the chic
Champs-Elysees.
On a not-so-tasty note, I
was not interested in seeing a
full-color page on steak tartare.
Though the introductory story
sounds warm and inviting, the
resulting dish is not appealing:
raw ground sirloin and raw egg
yolk. I think the authors would
have successfully made their culinary point had they omitted
this one. But it’s about respect
and homage to the tradition of
a cuisine that is internationally
sought and referred to in other
cuisines. And that’s what counts.
Overall, I am satisfied with the
montage of about 100 recipes,
all with casual stories that make
you feel creative. Don’t be intimated by the highly regarded
reputation French food deserves. Rather, stock up on butter and perch this pretty book on a small easel.
Sample of
Bren’s
published
stories on food
& travel
* Live on FOX 5’s Good Day Atlanta, Jan. 1, 2008 and Jan. 26, 2010
* Live on 1620 AM Sandy Springs Radio w/Kim Colvard, Ph.D., Feb. 4, 2008
* Live on CBS Better Mornings: “Go Latin for Labor Day”, August 29, 2008
* Washington Post , July 11, 2008
* Daily Candy, August 2008
* The Examiner, Washington-DC, Dec. 2008; March 2009
* The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Feb. & Oct. 2009
* Featured on-air piece on Verizon Fios TV, March 2009
* Cooking segments on “Daytime” TV talk show, May 2009-current
* The Examiner, Atlanta, Ga, July, 2009 & July 2011
* Atlanta Latino Magazine, Sept. 2009
* POM Wonderful “Featured Recipe of the Day” Nov. 28, 2009
* Mundo Hispanico Paper, Dec. 2009
* Rolling Out Magazine, Jan. & March 2010, July 2011
* J’Adore Magazine, March 2010
*SAVEUR, “Best of the Web” Feature, Summer 2010
*Black Enterprise, May 2011
*AdAge Hispanic, May 2011
*Food Network, July 2011
Yahoo! News, July 2011
*Jezebel Magazine, August 2011
Bren Herrera is the owner of Flanboyant Eats, a Latin
fusion catering company, and a freelance writer. Visit
her at www.flanboyanteats.com. “Bistros and Brasseries: Recipes and Reflections on Classic Café Cooking”
is available at www.amazon.com.
Fall Issue
CONTACT
The People Brokers, Inc.
Kisha Cameron, Publicist & Media Contact
e: [email protected] c: 404.886.7348
w: www.thepeoplebrokers.com
taping CBS
“Labor Day
Latin Style”
Segment
brenherrera.com