Monica Glass, Pastry Chef
Monica Glass is a nationally recognized pastry chef with experience working in and consulting with Michelin restaurants, hotels, bakeries, cafes, catering, and cultural institutions. She has been recognized with “Best Pastry Chef” awards from Food & Wine Magazine, Boston Magazine, and Zagat, as well as being named a Food Network’s ChoppedSweets Champion in 2021.
On this episode, she joins Eli in the studio to discuss what she’s been up to on her culinary journey as of late.
Monica and Eli spent time in NYC, Boston and Philadelphia honing her pastry skills over the years and now as her career continues, she is focusing on nutrition, well-being and health as her guiding light.
More info at https://www.inquirer.com/food/ or @jamilarobinson on social media.
Monica Glass, Patry Chef
Eli Kulp: [00:00:00] Hey chef radio listeners at this point, you know, that singer equipment is now a sponsor of the chef radio podcast, which is awesome. But now they decided throughout an amazing offer is exclusively for all you chefs and restaurant folks listening right now. So here's the deal. You'll get half off your first order when you create an account with singer this summer on any order up to $500.
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Hey everyone, Eli here. Welcome back to the chef radio podcast. I really appreciate you tuning in and joining us for these, uh, really amazing discussions. I'm so honored to be a part of, we are on a really nice stretch of interviews with amazingly talented, bold, inspiring women. And today is no different today.
We're going to be talking with pastry chef Monica glass who was instilled is in my opinion, the best or one of the best pastry chefs here in Philadelphia. Monica is an absolute Ray of sunshine who lights up a room wherever she is. And you can just feel her kindness and authentic love for life. I really appreciate that about her.
There was a cruel twist to her career though, and you're going to hear about it pretty early on in the podcast is cruel twist made her have to rethink her entire career. And trajectory is probably the worst diagnosis, a pastry chef or a baker could really ever have. But you're going to hear a Monica has continued pushing herself into new directions and challenging herself to meet these obstacles head on.
So before we get to the show, I just want to ask once again, if you're enjoying what you're listening to, please take the time to review and leave a rating on the podcast. Your support in your feedback means so much to us. And as we continue striving to bring you great content, that's both inspiring, authentic.
We want to hear back from you. So with that being said, everyone enjoy the show. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you as always and have a great wonderful day.
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Monica Glass: [00:03:00] and chef, uh, chef, chef cooking, hospitality and wireman
Eli Kulp: [00:03:06] food. Is that really what it stands for? I never really knew that liver to you, straight from the minds of the people who shaped the way we eat, it's had to believe in the possibility of food over going through these talks, these ideas and more on the chef radio outcast.
I, here we are in the studio, uh, radio kismet here in spring art section of Philadelphia. Uh, today I am pleased to have Monica glass, chef Monica glass here in the studio. How are you Monica?
Monica Glass: [00:03:43] I am doing well. Thank you so much, Eli. It's an honor to be here, chatting
Eli Kulp: [00:03:46] with you. You've been on my list for a long time and I.
You know, kind of going down sort of the list of people that I think, um, have a great story to tell you're somebody who, before I even came to Philadelphia, you're one of the few chefs that I, uh, knew about. You've done some really great things and sort of about the time I came to Philadelphia, I think you were heading up to Boston, uh, at the time.
So, uh, we kind of, sort of missed each other then, but I remember really being impressed by your work. And sort of knowing you on the sort of national scale, from my opinion, Miele you're one of the only chefs, pastry chefs in particular that have had sort of really put Philadelphia on the map in a few different ways.
And I'm really honored to have you here.
Monica Glass: [00:04:31] Okay. Thank you so much. That's a glowing review.
Eli Kulp: [00:04:35] You doing, what are you up to these
Monica Glass: [00:04:36] days? I'm doing great. I've been working part-time for C cap, which is careers, the culinary arts program. I've been taking courses at the Institute of integrative nutrition among doing a bunch of different popups and, you know, one-offs, and we're doing some things for the Philly to table, a new subscription box and teaching my own classes.
That's
Eli Kulp: [00:04:58] great. And you know, the, um, to sort of see you kind of, you know, throw over the past year 2020. Yeah with COVID and sort of seeing you, um, to sound social, like do what you're doing is really cool. And you work with C cap. Uh, I want to talk a little bit about that going forward. Cause I think that's important.
It's actually a really great resource for restaurant owners and chefs out there to kind of tap into that. If you don't know about it, as far as, you know, really bringing, you know, potential talent into your kitchens and only that, but you're also teaching people from, you know, really challenging backgrounds to, to sort of have a profession that they might not otherwise have.
So kudos to you for that. All right. I'm going to read your bio hailing from the great city of Westchester, Pennsylvania, and as a graduate of Penn state university, Monica originally moved to New York city to embark on career in public relations, but like a lot of people in our industry after a brief stint in the corporate world, uh, she realized that she felt more at home in front of the oven than behind the desk.
So Monica decided to apprentice, uh, New York city's Gotham bar and grill and eventually was hired on full-time. Uh, and that time Gotham was like the shizzle. Yes, it was. I mean, it was like the place to be, right. Um, it came to a unfortunate halt his last year, but I mean, God, what a run that restaurant had and, um, you know, Alfred Portale and you know, that, that whole team, so, um, not to get sidetracked here.
So, uh, after that you went on to cook it, the esteem, Liberty din, and her fame, Patriot chef Michael , uh, who is one of the best out there, period. Um, you know, that, that, that then led you eventually to transition, uh, to a new role as pastry chef at 10 RSPs, speedster and lounge with Eric repair. And that's when sort of liberated in a 2.0, kind of got brought to Philadelphia and you know, and Jen Carroll, right?
Jen is the chef. So I guess as the two of you just rocking it. Um, and then, uh, it was 2012, right? You went up to work in Boston and you worked at Cleo, um, and you absolutely crushed it. Uh, Monica. Yeah. You were recognized with numerous best pastry chef awards, uh, from food wine magazine, Boston magazine, Boston, ina magazine has a GAT, uh, until the 15, you came back to Philadelphia to accept a role and as corporate pacer chef with the constellation group, which of course is part of Stephen Starr's empire.
Uh, just last February, Monica was Dame food. Network's chopped sweets champion. So now Monica is embarking on a new adventure on her own with consulting, with restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and other restaurant brands, as well as building a brand centered around holistically, empowering home cooks with a confidence, creativity and intuition.
You know, you've, you've had a really remarkable career in from the beginning. It seems like you were, you sort of had your finger on the poles of knowing where to go. Um, so what you were in New York, public relations, Dothan bar and grill added, you know, like that was a great spot to start. Like what was, what was your intuition there?
Monica Glass: [00:08:05] First off, I did my research. I loved to read and read about food, read about what was going on in New York city. It's the culinary Mecca. And I just felt very lucky that I was in there couldn't necessarily afford to go out and eat at all those places. Yeah. But I would just, you know, I spent my days reading, reading, cookbooks, reading news articles, um, watching, you know, the food, food network and shows about what was going on in the food world.
And also in the PR world, the company that I worked for two, actually three companies in PR before making the full transition to food, they all represented different food clients and different chefs. And I would just constantly ask, can I work on this? Can I work on that? Can I help you with this? And that's how I got to really know more about the
Eli Kulp: [00:08:50] food world.
To the food world and that's, that's a lot of people do. They, they find their way, they find their way in one way or another working in a Gotham grill was the pastry chefs name again? Debra Racicot she's the best. She was great. She is great. Yeah. So what was your first impressions of walking into like a really large busy, popular New York city restaurant and sort of,
Monica Glass: [00:09:17] I was so scared.
Um, actually it's a funny story. I worked up the courage to go walk into godmom and ask to speak with Deborah before like ever even stepping foot into Gotham. I just, one day after work, I was like, you know what, I'm going to do it. I'm going to walk out that door and ask if I can work with her. Um, so I did, and I remember I was shaking.
My poems are like all sweaty and she came up and we just started chatting and I told her how much I had read about her and how much I admired. Her style, her plating. She had always said in her articles that people eat with their eyes first. So your food has to be beautiful. But at the end of the day, what they're going to remember was did it taste delicious.
And that really struck out to me. And I was just telling her all about that and how much I want to, to learn from her because I know nothing. And she was like, all right, well, why do you actually want to learn pastry? And I said, well, because I like to work with my hands. And I like to make people happy because dessert is that extra thing that you don't need, but puts a smile on someone's face.
Just like, okay, come in on Saturday. And I remember stepping foot in there and, oh, it was, it was intimidating. All these cooks fast moving, you know, the sounds of pots and pans and fire and, and pick up, um, it just felt natural
Eli Kulp: [00:10:33] as well. So you felt once you got in there and sort of get your feet wet, but how long did it take you to decide sort of to say.
You know what forget this, this, my, my four year education in that department, I'm going to go into making, um, barely minimum wage working in New York city.
Monica Glass: [00:10:52] That's a good question because actually it probably, I forget the exact number, but it was somewhere between six and eight months because Debra actually offered me a full-time position when one of her cooks left and that was maybe two or three months in after my moonlighting for forever.
And I turned it down cause I wasn't ready to go from making no money to making really no money. Um, so I just continued to Moonlight for her for free. And then she asked me again and I turned it down, but I still continued to Moonlight. And the third time she asked me and I was like, oh, I better accept the job.
Otherwise I shouldn't come back. I accepted the job.
Eli Kulp: [00:11:29] How long had you worked there? What was sort of your takeaways from work? Um, and then sort of your transition to what is now, you know, one of the preeminent and it was then, but now it's of course three Michelin star restaurant, a perennial sort of standout restaurant in New York city.
What was that transition from Gotham to Le Bernadin like,
Monica Glass: [00:11:47] yeah. So I'd say some of my biggest takeaways from working with Debra at Gotham were consistency. You had like repetition and consistency breeds. I don't want to say perfection because there's no such thing as perfection, but it's like the, and I
Eli Kulp: [00:12:04] ha I forgot what that, I'm trying to think of the word too.
Oh, you're stuck. I know what you mean. It allows the opportunity to succeed at the highest level. How would that?
Monica Glass: [00:12:14] And so I, you know, I punched cookies out over and over again until they were consistent and it never dawned on me that, that, that was. Hard or that was, um, not necessarily hard, but that was, you know, boring.
Cause I would try to go faster the next time or I would try to line them up straight or the next time and just challenge myself in those ways. And I think that's kind of the, the setting, the foundation, she really taught me the foundation of how to be in the kitchen. And
Eli Kulp: [00:12:45] that's something that I think not enough cooks do is that sort of self challenging, um, that, uh, that I, that I did as well, similar to that, you know, of course it was more on the savory side.
So I remember, you know, how fast could I break a case of duck, you know? And like I would time myself every time. And sort of write that number down and sort of try to do it the next time you have faster, or whatever's like some of these more mundane sort of repetitive motion tasks that you have to do.
And, you know, you sort of ha you challenge yourself. Um, not because you have to, because you want to. And I think it's always a great way now you always teach cooks or, you know, try to do that. And, you know, sort of some people pick it up naturally, and it seems like you did that. And I think it's a great way to set the tone for your, uh, for your
Monica Glass: [00:13:34] career.
Absolutely is. And I, that's kind of how I inspire and teach my previous cooks as well as the faster or the more efficient and effectively you get things done the next time you get to go onto a cooler task and maybe learn something new. Um, absolutely. Then the transition from Gotham to Labarna den. So actually happened on a fluke.
I. Admired Michael's writing and his blog at the time and just emailed him and had asked for a stodge. I just wanted to learn from him. So I had always wanted to learn from the best. And I remember telling, telling Deborah, I'm like, I'm going to go start with Michael Scott. She was like, that's awesome. You should do that.
And then I went, I got to Liberty Dan and Michael was like, so just so you know, I had someone, uh, put in their notice. So I am. Yeah,
Eli Kulp: [00:14:24] of course. That's how it works. Right. It's like, oh yeah, stodge. Okay. Now you're now you're a, uh, you're line cook
Monica Glass: [00:14:32] immediately, Julian. So I went through the stash and it was fantastic.
I don't remember exactly what I did that day, but I just remember being in such awe at the way, the kitchen moved. It was the same, but totally different than Gotham because Gotham was a little more. Energetic and loud and Lebruna den seem to flow with such ease. And I kind of loved that. Like, people were kind of quiet and silent and, and just focused on their tasks.
Um, and then at the end of the stage, Michael offered me the job and I was like, I wasn't even planning on
Eli Kulp: [00:15:03] looking for it. That's cool though. I mean, you know, it's, it's an opportunity to work for another, you know, phenomenal pastry chef and you know, he's somebody who is in restaurants now, or is he teaching at the CIA
Monica Glass: [00:15:18] he's teaching at ice ice.
That's where he is and has a chocolate. He does chocolate, um, bean to bar work.
Eli Kulp: [00:15:25] Okay. So this guy is immensely talented. Um, one of the preeminent pastry chefs in America, for sure. And, you know, working under him, must've been such. Sort of eyeopening experience and also the challenge, because that's, that's a big jump from sort of Gotham into Labrina Dan, that's a whole nother expectation that that's being put on you
Monica Glass: [00:15:50] absolutely is.
And Michael, the kindest human being in the world, but super intimidating.
Eli Kulp: [00:15:56] Yes. Who are some of your sort of fun memories of Labrina Dan, as far as being a lion cooker making stuff or anything that sort of happened there as far as like takeaways? I
Monica Glass: [00:16:06] think my favorite memory from lumped Bernadin is actually every single morning.
Cause I worked in the morning shifts, Jen Carol would come in at like, I don't know, eight o'clock in the morning after I'd spun all the ice creams and she would taste every single ice cream. Yeah.
Eli Kulp: [00:16:21] Quality control. Uh, you guys became really great buds after that. Right. So did the two of, you know, each other before.
Being that you're sort of from the
Monica Glass: [00:16:32] area? No, we didn't. We met at
Eli Kulp: [00:16:33] Labarna den. Okay. Okay, cool. So did you immediately hit offer, was it sort of a pastry chef, savory chef sort of, um, showdown for
Monica Glass: [00:16:43] not at all? No. We hit it off immediately cause Jen just loves pastries and loves sweets. So she was always coming to visit.
Eli Kulp: [00:16:49] Yeah. Was she a sous chef at that time? She was asleep. Okay. Yeah. So she had worked her way up there as well, so that's cool. So yeah, you know, sous chef had to come over and taste stuff, right? Like what's going to get the sous chef title that sort of allows you to kind of buzz around the kitchen and tastes other things for sure.
Yeah. And then, um, you know, from there coming back to Philadelphia, what was that like? Because a lot of people might not remember this, but Labarna Dan was sort of essentially bringing their talents to Philadelphia. That was a really, that was one of those sort of New York city import restaurants here.
They had to Philadelphia and lady. So running the kitchen. So that must have been an exciting time.
Monica Glass: [00:17:34] Yeah, it absolutely was an exciting time. Uh, to be honest, I wasn't ready to leave New York city at the time. Uh, when Jen Michael and Schaeffer pear asked me, but I also saw such a great opportunity to bring something unique to Philadelphia and hopefully elevate, you know, the dining in our city.
And also the fact that it was two women in charge because you don't see that too. Or you didn't see that too often back then.
Eli Kulp: [00:17:59] Right. Right. And then, so opening the Philadelphia, what was that reception like? Uh, for, you know, cause like I said, it's a New York city restaurant coming to Philadelphia, which doesn't always end well.
Um, because Philadelphians don't always respond, you know, to, you know, this is my food, you eat it now sort of thought process. Um, what, what was I, what was that like? What do you remember that sort of process being, and was it, did Philadelphia really sort of embrace this restaurant from the get?
Monica Glass: [00:18:34] So I think this is twofold.
One, to be honest, I have a very hazy memory of my first days back in Philadelphia or my first year or two, even because I had just dealt with my mother's death the week prior to moving back. Whoa. Yeah. She passed from ovarian cancer the week before I was to move to Philly.
Eli Kulp: [00:18:56] Oh, wow. So that was super
Monica Glass: [00:18:59] bittersweet.
Yeah. Happy to be back in my city and close to my family, but yeah, it was very hard. Um, but from what I do remember, I, I, I believe that people were very receptive to it because a big chef was coming in and to Philadelphia. Women were coming back and our food was, I mean, it was simple and approachable and, but elevated.
So I think people were interested in it.
Eli Kulp: [00:19:26] I mean, I don't want to sort of just step over it, but, um, what was, I mean, I imagine dealing with such a blow when you're also having this moment that you're sort of celebrating, meaning, like you're bringing your talents back home and it's like the city sort of around you and supportive of that.
How did you sort of bear down and sort of still get it done? I mean, going through that and I mean, what was the, sort of the, the, the support around you with, with chef Eric and chef Michael and, and Jan, of course. Do you remember that sort of at all?
Monica Glass: [00:20:07] I do. I mean, everyone was extremely supportive of me, whatever I needed, they were there for me.
I think for myself, I kind of wanted to block everything out and just throw myself into work. So that part was easy. I didn't have to think about not having that option to opt in to
Eli Kulp: [00:20:25] not do it. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. I didn't think about that. Like, you know, it's, you sort of just take your mind off it and sort of just kind of get through it.
All I imagine is sort of a, a sort of blessing, maybe a curse. Yeah, exactly. I mean, that's what chefs do a lot of times, like I remember there's, you know, I went through, you know, tremendous, um, moments of, of sort of challenges my personal life at the same time that I was here in Philadelphia, trying to open new restaurants and, you know, um, in sort of commuting from New York to Philadelphia.
And, and it was just this really big strain on my marriage. And, and, you know, it was, it was one of those things where you just sort of, you, you. Just throw yourself into your sort of what is your real passion, right. And, and, and that sort of, sort of allows you to, I forget, I dunno what it is, but sort of Berry maybe.
Yeah.
Monica Glass: [00:21:22] Yeah. Barry displace any hurt maybe
Eli Kulp: [00:21:26] yeah. Displays. Yeah, for sure. So, wow, man, I must that, I can't imagine doing that must have taken a bit of a toll. So 10 arts talk about that restaurant for a little bit more sort of how long were you there and sort of, what, what was that sort of like a learning process for you because that's your first pastry chef job and how many years had you been working in pastry at that point?
Monica Glass: [00:21:52] Yeah, it was my first pastry chef job. So it was a big responsibility and a big jump because I had only been working in pastry, I think for about four years before that. So I definitely didn't feel ready, but chef and Jen and Michael. You know, had confidence in me. So I was like, okay, I guess I can do it.
Plus I had, I had Michael's help. He was basically with me the whole way, whether, I mean, it was a, he was a phone call away, a train ride away. He would come down. Um, we also had a couple of other chefs from Labarna Denna who consulted and came down and you know, what would be there to support us. And, you know, not every one of my creations was amazing.
You learn from your mistakes and you grow and develop. And eventually I learned how to lead a very small team, but be a manager. And yeah.
Eli Kulp: [00:22:41] What was, what were the biggest challenges at that point becoming kind of going from a sous chef, um, even though you had support and a lot of the food you were probably making was had to get Michael's sort of stamp of approval and, you know, working with him and, and all that.
What was that sort of learning curfew? Do you, do you. You were sort of a natural leader or was it something you had to like struggled with a little bit and how to develop on your own?
Monica Glass: [00:23:07] That's actually a very good question. I think I, I am a natural leader, but I had to learn it and I did struggle. I did, you know, cause you're working with all different types of personalities and I wasn't, as self-aware at 24 years old as I am now at almost 38.
So it was definitely a challenge and figuring out how to best speak with people, how to get them to, you know, think on their own, but also do what you want, um, and how to lead a team, you know, grace graciously without, without getting mad for and being able to inspire them to, to want to do it.
Eli Kulp: [00:23:48] Right. Right, right, right.
I remember this is taking me back to when I had my first sous chef. Had Del Posto in New York. And I had run restaurants in Seattle before that. And then by sort of just like, you know, just sort of threw that away, came to New York, started all over and said, I want to learn from the ground up at the age of 25 after I'd been working in the industry for, for good amount of time, but not in like any high-quality sort of capacity.
And so I had developed some leadership skills, but they weren't anything great. Um, and then sort of working as a line cook for probably better, more or less, I'd say three or four years in New York, and then, um, sort of getting the opportunity to become a sous chef at Del Posto. I remember, you know, I want in my cause and at Del Posto, such a big restaurant, that there was a sous chef for almost every line's as a pasta Suchet there's a meets who said sous chef official one, a hot apps, one Hilo says like, cause you know, you're, you're leaving a team of three or four people, um, per service in each of these lines.
I remember thinking like, you know, I'm gonna have, my, my team is going to do this is going to sort of elevate. We're gonna elevate beyond the expectation. Right? So I remember wanting everything on speed racks labeled perfectly cut. You know, the tape cut perfectly lined up, lined up perfectly. I would remember.
I want this thing to look like a grocery store on our PR our portion of the walking look like a grocery store, like a well-stocked grocery store and me being so frustrated, the lack of energy behind it, and me getting mad, like really mad at people and sort of realizing that it doesn't just, you can't just say it and do it.
You know what I mean? It's, this is a constant sort of continuation of, of the conversation of why he had to do it. Let's do it again, make sure you're doing it. And you kind of, like you say, graciously lead without getting too upset because it's human nature to often. You know, they might have the best intentions, but they might not be doing up to your standard.
So you kind of have to like, you know, kind of be okay with saying it over and over and over again. I tell people all the time, like being a managers is really sort of having the ability to say things over and over and over and over again, without getting too upset. Otherwise just, you sort of throw your hands up in the air, like, why aren't people doing this?
I told him to do it well, unfortunately you got to keep telling him to do it. And if he'd stopped telling him to do it, they're going to slack. It's going to slack. You know what I
Monica Glass: [00:26:19] mean? Yeah. And I think it's also about doing it yourself leading by example. So if you continually do the same thing the same way, eventually, hopefully that'll catch on too.
Eli Kulp: [00:26:28] This time. Your life was crazy. Uh, you mentioned your mother and then Seville's happened to you. Um, what was that? What was that sort of, life-changing also career changing.
Monica Glass: [00:26:41] So I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I had been sick for a long time and progressively it got worse. The worst, my mom got closer to her death.
Um, they say that, you know, you, you have the gene, it might not be triggered until a stressful or traumatic experience. And so that's when I think mine was triggered was when my mom got sick. Cause that's when I noticed my symptoms first starting to grow worse. Cause I'd always been my whole entire life.
I was super skinny, super anemic passing out all the time. Stomach issues, always bloating and yeah. But then when she got sick, I started to get sick and doctors didn't necessarily believe it. I mean, they're like, oh, you're just a five. Yes. Oh, you're just not eating. Right. I'm like, no, actually it hurts to eat.
Every everything hurts, but I love food and I'm in food and you know, I have to taste things too. And then finally it wasn't until. I came down well, actually in New York, right before moving down, I passed out in union square and ended up going to the medical clinic that was right there on the east side of union square now west side of union square.
And that's when they first told me that, you know, I had the lowest iron that they had ever seen and I immediately had to get an iron train. Oh,
Eli Kulp: [00:28:04] really? Now what was that from?
Monica Glass: [00:28:07] Uh, just my body. Wasn't absorbing nutrients. I was malnourished because basically when you have celiac disease, you can't absorb the, um, the protein.
Okay. And that makes up gluten, right. Are two proteins, gluten, but you can't, your body doesn't absorb them. So when it doesn't absorb them, your basically your body attacks itself and the Villa in your intestine start to bend. And when they bend you, all the food just passes through. None of your, none of the nutrients are absorbed into your body and your
Eli Kulp: [00:28:35] bloodstream.
Gotcha. That doesn't only just create pain and aches and all that. It actually doesn't allow your body to sort of get those needed vitamins, nutrients, et cetera. Correct.
Monica Glass: [00:28:49] Oh, wow. So my buddy, I don't know if I knew that. Yeah, so I was very deficient in a lot of things, iron being one of them. And then I remember, I mean, after that, I moved down to Philadelphia and started seeing it and, um, doctors down here as well, and same thing, I had to go on a regimen of, I think it was bi-weekly iron treatments.
I had a couple of blood transfusions as well, uh, to rebuild my health and health. And then I was finally diagnosed with celiac disease and gastro-paresis, and also, um, gastritis and esophagitis Safa Janus at the same time. Oh,
Eli Kulp: [00:29:25] wow. There's through the whole book, but yeah, it was through all of these and some of them must take maybe.
Wow. So pastry chef flour.
Monica Glass: [00:29:35] Basically turned my life upside down. I was like, do I quit? I love doing this. Like, but I can't necessarily eat this stuff. And I don't know to this day, I still don't know how working with the flour really affects me. Um, I think if it's, I can't work in a bread bakery where it's flying around, obviously, cause that'll, I'll breathe it in too much, but it was at that point, I decided that I really love my career and I love what I'm doing, but maybe I start incorporating more alternative ingredients.
Maybe I try to figure out how to make things gluten free, but so they don't taste gluten-free and just, you know, experiment after experiment. Some, a lot of them failed, but trying new things and just researching and, and tasting things. Just, I also like to fi to find out the reason why things work the way they do.
So like science and math, and just kind of figuring out why and how different proteins and different flowers could work in baking and kind of made it my mission to make foods that are gluten-free that no one would notice are gluten-free.
Eli Kulp: [00:30:38] Yeah. So did that become, um, part of your menu that you just sort of, you without even really mentioned it, you as sort of work sort of a gluten-free crust or crumble or something like that into a pastry?
Monica Glass: [00:30:54] Exactly. Yeah. I made sure that, I think at the time there were four or five desserts on my menu and at least two of them were fully gluten-free.
Eli Kulp: [00:31:00] Okay. Yeah. And I mean, 2012 gluten-free was definitely a conversation. It is a bigger conversation now you've seen the success that, um, cause I think back then.
Yeah, there was a few, you know, gluten-free bakeries here and there type, and that sort of thought process was starting to, um, sort of come around. And also, I think with, you know, the addition of social media and connecting and, you know, people being able to connect to their groups and of other people with celiac and, you know, any other sort of diagnosis that you have out there, it allowed for, it feels like more confidence to sort of, um, to go gluten-free, um, with alternatives and where, you know, it's almost 10 years ago now probably that this happened to you.
So I mean, a lot's happened in the gluten-free world since then, just for example, you know, cup for cup, like the flour that, that, that people can buy is very common now. Like that didn't exist 10 years ago, you know, that's just one example of it, you know, what are some of the, you know, the things that you sort of.
We're proud of sort of figuring out or finding out, like, what were some of the aha moments that you had when you're like, okay, I can do this. You know, initially it felt like a real sort of literal punch to the gut, but now it feels like, okay, I can work around this and you don't need to really say it that loudly.
It's just that you just do
Monica Glass: [00:32:30] it. Yeah. I think that's, that's actually protal. I'm probably most proud of is the things that I do put out there because I won't put something out if it's not good, but the things that I do and have put out there, no one has noticed that they're gluten free. And to me, I think that's the mark because I really want everybody to be able to enjoy food and the people who have to eat a certain way, aren't excluded from the dining table.
Eli Kulp: [00:32:57] Yeah. Somebody I know their daughter recently was. Diagnose with celiac. They came into high street and had a gluten-free millet muffin that we do talk to chip muffin. I've had that one. I have you.
Monica Glass: [00:33:12] It's delicious.
Eli Kulp: [00:33:13] Okay. That's great. That's great. And you know, and he was immediately like, can we get that recipe?
You know, can we get that recipe? Yeah. He said he bought a million dollar bag of a cup for cup flour. It was, he got the 50 pound bag or something, but maybe it was just not diagnosed 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago. Do you know why it's happening so much more often? Do they, do they have ideas or, or thought process behind it?
So
Monica Glass: [00:33:41] I don't know exact reasons why, but there are ideas that it is environmental, the way that we process our wheat and the more processed foods that we do eat could have attributed to, I guess, genealogical switches in your system that could cause auto-immune. Diseases. Cause I mean, actually something that you probably don't don't know is over the past four or five years, I've also been diagnosed with three more autoimmune diseases because typically when your body reacts to, or has, you know, one, it can build up and then your body can more and systematic reactions.
So I also have rhinos mixed, mixed connective tissue disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Eli Kulp: [00:34:25] Ah, yay. Okay. But,
Monica Glass: [00:34:29] and yet you're still here yet. I'm still here, but it's fine managing them by, you know, food, less stress, um, all over wellbeing, taking care of myself, making sure I sleep enough. Um,
Eli Kulp: [00:34:44] so all these things can be triggers for these sorts of things to flare up.
Uh,
Monica Glass: [00:34:48] yeah, and I noticed, I mean, I haven't had a flare up in at least the past. Year and a half. Um, I think, cause my stresses are, are different. It's not the long hours. It's not, you know, running around all day necessarily. And for me that was not good for my body.
Eli Kulp: [00:35:05] Right. So, I mean, clearly didn't know this and you're like, okay, I'm going to take a job in Boston, Cleo working for working with Ken orange and that crew up there because they don't go slow.
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How far in, where you're sort of in your sort of diagnosis and your journey to become more sort of a gluten-free chef, uh, before you went to Boston,
Monica Glass: [00:38:32] I think it was about two or three years of experimenting and trying to figure it out. And, and I had a solid foundation that I had built for myself, but then Ken, uh, his he's the absolute best.
And what really helped me is that Ken constantly would push you to think outside of the box. Um, and that really, it just, it helped open my eyes and my world to so many other different things in ways that I could do
Eli Kulp: [00:38:58] things. Well, I was going to ask now, first of all, how did you meet chef orange and, um, you know, that team, but also.
Was the gluten-free conversation, part of the sort of hiring process for, for you. And also now
Monica Glass: [00:39:18] the gluten-free conversation was not a part of the hiring process. It just happened to be that that's what I did too. Um, but we met, I actually didn't meet him before doing a tasting and interview, and I knew Jamie Bissonnette and a mutual friend that Kiko Mormon had introduced me to Jamie and said that they were looking for a pastry chef for Cleo.
Oh yes. Work with Ken orange,
Eli Kulp: [00:39:43] right? Yeah. They're um, you know, their, their company and their brand is solid for sure. And he's been, you know, I would say Boston's one of the, one of Boston's preeminent chefs for quite some time, what was, you know, moving to Boston, um, you know, first of all, how was that city?
How was that sort of, you know, people say it's like, Philips, don't take this the wrong way. Philadelphia. It's like a nicer Philadelphia, um, for, you know, for, uh, for, um, for lack of a better term, I think, from the historical reference. Um, and you know, what was, what was Boston like, w w what did, how did they accept you and, and sort of what was that sort of transition?
Monica Glass: [00:40:31] Yeah. I loved my time in Boston. Um, I, I felt accepted right at the bat that people just, you know, open arms accepted me. I knew nobody in Boston. I had no friends and I left with a great network of people and a lot of friends. And, um, I think they were excited to have somebody new as well. And I don't know, I happen to like people and talking to people and making friends.
So I don't think that was a challenge, but the winters were,
Eli Kulp: [00:40:59] it was
Monica Glass: [00:40:59] rough, but summers summers in Boston are some of the absolute best.
Eli Kulp: [00:41:04] What about like the. The produce the fruit, everything to work with. I mean, you know, in general they probably have a similar seat growing season, maybe a little bit later than ours.
Um, but sort of what was, what were you seeing up there? The markets are these similarly, the farmer, the farmer relationships and all that. Um, how, how was that up there in Boston?
Monica Glass: [00:41:28] So that was really my first experience with, I mean, I had worked with a lot of farms and everything at Gotham Barton grill and Labrina den, but having the farmers come to the restaurant can, I don't know whether they just did that on their own or Ken had organized it, but yeah, a couple days a week, we'd just have people come in, drop off random things that we didn't necessarily order, but they're like here I have this for you.
All right. Let's make something with it. Um, so it was really cool. I also went to the farmer's market. I believe it was every Friday before work. I would pop down there. Um, Ken said, buy whatever you want for. Desserts create something new. And sometimes he would go with me and be like, mommy, we've never seen this before.
Let's use that. Um, so it was, I always had access to great produce and, uh, uh, you know, whether that, I mean, that is Ken's networking, how Ken's relationships with people that allowed me to have that experience. It was even in the winter, everything was great.
Eli Kulp: [00:42:31] Touching on the gluten-free thing also again, what was that?
Did you even go further that up there with that you sort of push it to the boundaries a little further.
Monica Glass: [00:42:42] I, I did push the boundaries further on that because Ken encouraged me and allowed me to, um, he loved that, you know, I could create things for diners that people wouldn't know are gluten-free and then eventually it wasn't until a couple of years ago, but his daughter actually.
Was diagnosed with celiac disease. His wife Celine has been experimenting with it for quite some time too. So they really enjoyed being able to eat.
Eli Kulp: [00:43:11] Right. Good example. What was, what was some of the, some of your signature dishes that, that sort of, um, that, that you sort of were really proud of while you're up there?
Because you know, if people don't know Cleo, it's more of an avant-garde, uh, style of restaurants. They really pushed the boundaries. I remember some seen some of yours. I don't remember what the name of it was, but I was like kind of a purple-y color. Um, something, what was
Monica Glass: [00:43:35] that? The one that you're probably thinking of was I remember as a Valentine's day dessert, it was a purple lilac tweel, uh, Marangu wheel with leechy milk chocolate coconut.
One of the probably biggest takeaways that I also got from Cleo was experimenting with different flavors and finding different combinations that you. You know, are familiar, but unfamiliar together.
Eli Kulp: [00:44:03] So how did you infuse lilac into a Marine twill?
Monica Glass: [00:44:07] Um, dried buds and also some
Eli Kulp: [00:44:09] essence. Okay, nice. That's cool.
Yeah. I mean, there was no real sort of, um, so he has boxed, you had to work in, right? It was, it was sort of like just take different ingredients, sort of put them into this really beautiful plate of food and that worked. What are your sort of guidelines when working sort of in that fashion? Because a lot of times I can just be confusing food and, you know, people put, you know, X, Y, Z, and it doesn't necessarily want to be together, but as forest, what are some of your parameters when you're thinking about sort of building a new dish?
Monica Glass: [00:44:46] So when I was building those dishes, I would either, I would start from one of two. One, either trying to highlight the natural producer, like the fruit or vegetable, and then kind of work from there and see what things I could marry with them. So one of my dishes I remember was a carrot dish. So I used orange and purple carrots and had those two as separate components that were very boldly, colorful, and also boldly flavored like carrot, earthy, and then to go with it that I tried to find other earthy elements that would highlight the natural.
Dirt flavor, not dirt, but dirt elements. So maca, I used, um, coconut, just trying to highlight nature really. Right. And then the other thing I would do was also maybe a concept, a very familiar concept. So like pumpkin pie, how can I make something taste like pumpkin pie, totally different. It tastes like pumpkin pie.
Eli Kulp: [00:45:48] Right. So sort of surprise you as a diner. Yeah, that's cool. Right. That's cool. Yeah. I think also that style when pastry chefs began sort of looking a little bit more towards the savory side of things. When did you first start doing that and sort of, was that something you did on your own or is that something that you sort of learned in or Michael or, or another chef and you started experiments on your own because if you dine it sort of like an avant-garde style.
Restaurant, you're typically not going to get a slice of chocolate cake or, you know, with whipped cream and some cherries or something. Um, you're going to, you're going to be sort of push your boundaries and be pushed, and that's why you're going there. And I've, I always enjoy it. You know, when there's savory aspects put into it dessert in a thoughtful way.
When did you sort of start playing with that and, and sort of what would have been, what have been successes and where some more of the challenging parts of doing those types of desserts?
Monica Glass: [00:46:48] Yeah. So my first experiences with savory items in dessert was from Michael Michael, loved to play around with, you know, the sweet, savory balance.
Um, and then also I just from staging at all different places in New York city, I got to see other people testing the waters and trying different things and, um, bringing different nuances of flavors to, to dessert that weren't necessarily just sweet. And then I also realized that my. I don't like sweet. I actually rarely eat dessert.
Um, I prefer, you know, salty, bitter sour things. So I also think that it's extremely important to incorporate all of those into a dessert, to really bring out different flavors and different taste buds. And, you know, have you craving things in different ways without it just being sweet and cold,
Eli Kulp: [00:47:36] right? Yes, because I mean, um, even like, like I did a very mediocre, uh, uh, peach pie this last, uh, July 4th.
Um, I say meteoric because we didn't make the crest and we just bought one. Um, no, no, it's not. Okay. Okay. Don't say it's okay. I have the time and the, you know, but I always keep citric acid in the house because sweet is good. But if you can add that sort of element of the. Acidity to go along with it. Um, so you sort of had that balance, not only are you able to, um, enjoy more of it because it doesn't, it doesn't exhaust your palate as much, but also I think is helps your mouth sort of, kind of, you know, salivate and sort of keeps your taste blesses, dancing a little bit more and sort of
Monica Glass: [00:48:30] balance that out.
You know what actually food manufacturers call that the bliss point. Oh, is it bliss, bliss point. It's that point where it's just enough to like, make you feel satisfied, but also that you could reach for some
Eli Kulp: [00:48:44] more interesting makes it feel light, right? Yeah. It's like, it's like a beautiful Burbank, you know, it's, it's butter slowly butter in some sort of like liquid, probably like a sort of a vinegar based or somebody acidic.
Um, and it's. Emulsified in a way that, you know, you eat it and it's tastes like you're eating something so light and refreshing, but you're literally eating butter. You know what I mean? That's, that's, that's a, that's sort of the, the, uh, sort of magic behind a perfect burger along, you know? So it tricks you, I guess that's the bliss point in Berlin.
I mean, that was the original plus point. It could have been well, like now, because, you know, you're, you've taken all of these experiences and, and like you said, you've, um, you know, you're, you've been diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases and, you know, you're, you clearly have been forced to sort of connect your body to what you eat and how you feel, and sort of not only that, but how you feel mentally, emotionally, all of that, um, trans translates to how you feel physically.
Where are you at with that? You know, tell it, tell us a little bit about sort of your journey right now, sort of what you're doing, how you're trying to connect these different dots and, um, potentially what kind of, um, sort of work that you think you're going to be doing in the future?
Monica Glass: [00:50:16] Yeah. So I am, I've been trying to really find a way to fuse my passions together.
That is, you know, the fine art of pastry, um, and the simplicity of just eating from the earth. I really admire to the same degree, like what our farmers are doing and you know, what a pastry chef would a baker, what are the actual, like savory chefs are doing and really trying to find a way to fuse those together and support wellbeing in myself and also empowering others.
So I've been taking a course at the Institute of integrative nutrition and, um, finding ways to holistically build a business around. Empowering home cooks and, um, people who might not necessarily like to cook yet, but want to cook and want to find ways to be in the kitchen and support them, um, on their journeys to health and wellbeing as well, and live a healthy, happy
Eli Kulp: [00:51:15] life.
Talk to us about the Institute of integrative nutrition. What it, tell me more. Cause I honestly don't know a lot about, so
Monica Glass: [00:51:22] it is a school in New York city. I am doing the online version of the course since I thought about doing this in COVID. Um, and it's basically, I'm doing the accelerated six months course at the end of it.
I am certified to become a health coach, a health and wellbeing coach. Um, and if I decided to take that further, I can get other different nutrition degrees, other, you know, coaching degrees. But the basis of the course is about how to teach people and inspire people to live holistically because food.
Health is not just one thing. Health is kind of everything that we combine and put into our bodies and everything mentally, um, physically the food that we eat, the sleep that we have, the relationships that we have, the, how we nurture ourselves. I feel
Eli Kulp: [00:52:10] so unhealthy right now,
Monica Glass: [00:52:13] but it's how it all synergistically combines together.
And it can, if you're low in one area, whether that is, I don't know, spirituality, that could affect other ways. And it could affect also the way that you eat, if you're unhappy in one part of your life. So then you make unhealthy choices in other areas.
Eli Kulp: [00:52:33] No, I had a peach pie sit on my counter last night.
I'm like, I'm gonna need some ice. I don't want to throw it out. I'm like I made more than we needed. No, I was like, all right, I'm just going to eat, do my part and eat some more of that pie, even though I don't need it,
Monica Glass: [00:52:50] but that's also totally fine because if you're making a choice. To indulge or to take pleasure in your life.
I think that's so important because life should be lived fully and with pleasure, it's not just an all or nothing thing. And it's about building the
Eli Kulp: [00:53:06] balance, right? Yeah. So the, the, the integrative, uh, nutrition program that's going to, um, does that, that brings in food that brings in, um, sort of mental, emotional wellbeing.
Is that, is that how it works? Like where, what are some of the course titles that you're taking that would sort of help somebody like me understand what this is
Monica Glass: [00:53:29] right now? I am about three quarters of the way finished and this week, what I'm working on or what the courses are on are on like gut microbiomes.
So we are, um, and it's basically things, whether it's, you know, the things that you eat, whether it's the medicines that you're taking, things like that, that can affect your gut and how gut health. Everything. If your gut is, um, crying out for help, it could affect your, your mental health that, uh, could affect your physical health.
Maybe you don't want to exercise as much how it's all interconnected.
Eli Kulp: [00:54:06] The probiotics that you buy in a pill form are those as good as natural probiotics that you might get through fermented foods or through other ways that we might get them into our, into our gut and our microbiome. If you have you learned much about that, we
Monica Glass: [00:54:24] have, and I do take probiotics every day.
I do as well. Yeah. I think it's a great way to supplement it because we also can't get all the nutrients that we need in just the diet. And also, I don't know about you, but I love fermented foods, but I can't eat them every single meal every single day.
Eli Kulp: [00:54:46] It's it's a, uh, it's a love, hate relationship with my gut and the microbiome and fermented foods.
Yes.
Monica Glass: [00:54:53] But I also love, you know, a gluten-free pizza.
Eli Kulp: [00:54:56] So where do you find a good gluten free pizza
Monica Glass: [00:55:00] here? Um, the best one, actually that I found that has been Sevino, uh, I don't even know if they're still
Eli Kulp: [00:55:07] closed. I think they're closed, unfortunately. Yeah. I don't think they reopened after the pandemic,
Monica Glass: [00:55:13] but I've been making my own and I really want to get one of those things.
Good recipe.
Eli Kulp: [00:55:18] Now you have a website
Monica Glass: [00:55:19] too. I do have a website. It is very, uh, raw.
Eli Kulp: [00:55:24] I checked it out. I checked it out. It's got a couple of things on
Monica Glass: [00:55:27] there. Thanks. I'm working on building it up again. It's got to get
Eli Kulp: [00:55:31] vibe. Yeah. Yeah. They keep that going. Um, gluten-free pizza crust recipe. You have a good one.
What, what are some like what. Yeah, just, you don't have to give me measurements, but like, what are, what's the combination of, of non-gluten flowers that you like to use for something like a pizza?
Monica Glass: [00:55:53] So I typically use different, I create my own mixes and blends, um, for different purposes, but for something like the pizza, it would be, it it's very white rice flour, heavy with some brown rice flour, maybe some millet flour, um, tapioca starch.
So it is starches actually error, error. It's good for you. It is white starches, right? So it's not necessarily the most, you know, healthy, healthy thing, but yeah, but it's pizza.
Eli Kulp: [00:56:25] I mean, come on. Exactly.
Monica Glass: [00:56:28] I just want to slice a pizza
Eli Kulp: [00:56:29] when I want. Right, right. You want it to sort of fill that craving hole in your stomach for her crust, that's crispy and chewing all that.
You're not looking to make pizza sake. No fake pizza, right? Yeah. No, he's
Monica Glass: [00:56:44] a joy, the real thing. And then, you know, you won't have to necessarily Gorge on the real thing after you eat the fake
Eli Kulp: [00:56:50] thing. Exactly. So, um, I think I read that you, you experimented successfully with Ali mochi flour, is that right?
Right. And what is mochi flour? What is that? Is that from something? So
Monica Glass: [00:57:04] it's, I mean, it's from rice, it's glutinous rice, flour, rice flour. It's not gluten, correct. I guess it's I'm pro I don't know if I'm right or wrong on this. So don't, don't quote me, but it could, I think it's from like the endo's from of the rice and it's natural form.
It's glutinous sticky, like sticky rice. Um, but yeah, I've, I've used it in, I mean, one to make mochi, but then in other baked goods, because it does mimic that kind of gluten glutenous texture without adding the gums, like zap.
Eli Kulp: [00:57:39] Okay. Right. Because you have those available too, but those feel a little bit more to have, um, chemical, but processed.
Monica Glass: [00:57:49] Yeah. Eating too much of that is not necessarily good for you either.
Eli Kulp: [00:57:52] Right. I mean, xantham gum shows his face in a lot of things. Um, binders. Yeah. I mean, he sort of almost dressing you by or sauce or anything. Um, you're, you're offering us he's Anthem gum. Cause it, it does emulsify beautifully and you know, sometimes a great for that.
Yeah. He's in desserts. I've used it for clarification. Um, you know, processes. Yeah. So there's, there's a lot of benefits to it as well. So that's actually a really
Monica Glass: [00:58:21] good point that I forgot, totally forgot about. I stopped for a week at one very prominent restaurant in New York city. It was fantastic. I loved it, but they are very chemical driven hydrocolloid driven.
And I thought it was super important that I learn all about these things. But at the end of the week, I was invited to have a meal there. And I woke up at like four o'clock in the morning with stomach convulsions. Cause I don't really eat processed foods and it was so many chemicals in the meal. And so it was kind of after that point too, that I decided, you know, I'm not going to use that many chemicals and I really only use them in, um, cooking.
Cause I know a lot of people think of Cleo as like being so innovative that we're using all, all those things he did and moderate uses, but I would only use it if it would actually really enhance it. Right. Just throwing them all
Eli Kulp: [00:59:09] over the place. Right, right, right. I'm not going to guess that restaurant. I think if you have a good idea.
Yeah. I mean, that was, that was a moment in our industry. I remember working in, you know, more traditional serve French American or, or, you know, sort of classical restaurants, uh, at the time, you know, there were sort of innovative. Um, but I never, I never really felt the desire to kind of chase that, um, that sort of rabbit, because I think it was cool.
Like you said, the, the modernist chef as we went through that, and then during the two thousands, um, you know, and that was sort of started in Spain with, you know, uh, Billy and sort of trickled throughout the world. And yo it was just, it was really sort of this sort of mind bending experiences, uh, that, you know, you know, making olive oil droplets and all of these really cool things and caviars and you name it, it was, it was done.
Edible wrappers and everything. It was just there, just this, there was this whole movement of, of this, um, you know, fun, fun way of dining. Right. But it wasn't cooking with care passion, or it was passionate, but not like the other thing, like you think of passion cooking, you think of like a perfect pasta, you know what I mean?
It's just like, everything's right from the heart. Right. Where a lot of this food felt more, um, Laboratoire laboratory, as I said, laboratory laboratory, what am I British? Alison, the boy toy, uh, uh, laboratory driven food that was, was fun to eat. That's not something you're gonna eat twice a week. No, definitely not.
It's like one and done or one every, every, uh, six months or something. For sure. So as somebody who has worked and major name and really sort of name brand restaurant, And, and fountain and put yourself in these, these positions to succeed, uh, throughout your career. And I'm sure you never saw yourself when you were 28.
Um, you know, thinking that you would be doing much more than sort of continuing to be a awesome pastry chef in awesome restaurants. Um, maybe you did, but, you know, have you had to sort of come to realize or come to grips with the fact that you're not sort of living out sort of the, maybe the, uh, what would have been the traditional pastry chef, you know, famous pastry chef role that you've sort of, that you were working towards and now have you had to sort of have that reckoning or deflate?
This is a really sort of wonderful, beautiful step where you want to go with this sort of new way of thinking about your role in this world.
Monica Glass: [01:02:03] So I think it's actually a combination of the, of the two. I definitely had to come to that reckoning. Um, because growing up I wanted to be the next Michael Wascana.
So I wanted to work at, you know, one of the top Michelin star rated restaurants and be that, you know, four star pastry chef, right? However, over the past few years of me really recognizing what is good for me and my health and my body, and also my family, my dad's been pretty sick this year. And I was able to take three months and go take care of him because I wasn't pigeonholed down to a restaurant.
And prior to COVID, I was looking for a space to open a cafe. That was the
Eli Kulp: [01:02:41] dream. Remember we had the
Monica Glass: [01:02:42] conversation and thankfully I didn't find that space. And then what this past year and a half has allowed me to really process is the fact that I'm not going to be doing the same thing that I thought I was going to be doing two years ago.
It doesn't mean that I can't continue to inspire people in ways. And I can't, you know, because at the end of the day, I just want to make people happy and I want to make people smile. And it doesn't mean I have to do that through selling them, you know, a pastry. Yeah. And I really want to create something where I can help more people and maybe better their lives in other ways, and also create a life for myself where I don't have to be stuck in one place.
Eli Kulp: [01:03:28] Yeah. Yeah. Right. You have more, uh, fluid fluidity in your, in your life and, and be able to pick and choose and, you know, sort of find your way that way. So that's great. That's cool. Yeah. You, you, your career has definitely sort of spanned, you know, a couple of really great, well, almost decades. We're all getting old.
Oh no. I
Monica Glass: [01:03:51] turned 38 and
Eli Kulp: [01:03:51] less, less than a month. Well, you're still younger than me, but regardless. The the time keeps marching on and we've all had to find our ways. And so many chefs have had to sort of make decisions that we haven't wanted to. Um, you know, I I've, I went through in a different way. Um, you know, where, you know, I saw my career going very differently as well.
I never thought I'd be a podcast host. Um, and that would be sort of my, um, sort of new hobby, but here we are, and you're doing a great job. Well, I appreciate it. I don't know sometimes, but, um, it's, it's been, it's been a pleasure talking with, you know, just other, um, career professionals that, that have stories to tell, you know, for sure.
And you have a really great one and, you know, somebody who has gone through, you know, what you've had and, you know, I knew a little bit about, but I didn't know, sort of the details of what you've, what you've had to endure over the years and sort of go through. Um, you know, to sort of keep that positive outlook cause you you're all about joy.
You really are all about smiles. What's the, what does it say in your email? That's your signature it's
Monica Glass: [01:05:07] um, it's a Julia child quote, uh, those who love to eat food are the best kind of people or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Eli Kulp: [01:05:15] It's absolutely. I mean, it's, it's a, um, you always had a really super positive attitude and it shows through in your, and your food and what you're doing, and it's great to see that you're at a place where you feel that, um, you're happy and that you're able to sort of help others.
Thank
Monica Glass: [01:05:32] you so much. That means the world to me.
Eli Kulp: [01:05:35] So anyways, it was a pleasure having you here today, for those that don't know you already, what's a good way for them to find you.
Monica Glass: [01:05:42] I am probably most active on Instagram. I like the visuals. So at chef Mani and my website, www dot chef Monica glass.
Eli Kulp: [01:05:53] Awesome. And best of luck with everything and just keep going.
Cause I know your year mate, you're making an impact.
Monica Glass: [01:05:59] Thank you so much.
Eli Kulp: [01:06:02] Thanks for listening to the chef radio podcast. If you'd like to support the show, please leave us a review. Wherever you listen to your podcast, it helps others find the show and allows us to continue to make great content. The chef radio podcast is produced by radio kismet post-production and sound designed by studio D podcast production.
And I am your host, Eli called.