When it comes to the restaurant biz, Angela Pinkerton takes the cake. Literally and figuratively.
As pastry chef of New York’s acclaimed Eleven Madison Park , Pinkerton is the woman charged with bringing the same spirit of culinary daring to the dessert menu as proprietor Danny Meyer and chef Daniel Humm have brought to the restaurant overall. And now, her innovative approach has earned her the highest professional accolade: a James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef. (Eleven Madison Park itself took home the Outstanding Restaurant award at the ceremony, which was held this week at New York’s Lincoln Center.)
The 34-year-old Pinkerton didn’t follow a traditional path to chef stardom. A native of Ohio, she studied biology at Kent State. But she also worked behind the counter at a bakery – and that job sparked an interest in a sweeter sort of career. Eventually, she went on to train as a pastry chef at a Maryland culinary academy and then made her way to The Ritz-Carlton in Arlington, Va., before landing the prestigious gig at Eleven Madison.
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