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Top pastry chef builds on tradition

By Daisy Carrington, amNewYork Deputy Features Editor | dcarrington@am-ny.com

September 19, 2007

Rarely do pastry chefs get the same acclaim as their more savory counterparts. One notable exception is Nicole Kaplan, the executive pastry chef at Del Posto.

Though long considered an up-and-comer (she was twice named one of the top 10 pastry chefs in the country by Pastry Art and Design Magazine), Kaplan is a traditionalist when it comes to her desserts.

"I don't really like innovations," she admits. "I like to see how things change and how people do different things, but I'm really an old-school kinda girl. I don't really like that whole, 'Oh, here's how you take mango puree and turn it into a tube and stick it upside down.' That's just not my thing."

Luscious puddings, light, flavorful custards and pristine presentation, on the other hand, do appear to be her thing.

"I think the most exciting dessert is the one that looks good and tastes really good," she says. "The best dessert in the world is the one you bite into and you're like, 'Oh, yeah, this is worth it.'"

She admits that in the world of New York dining, such a feat can prove especially challenging.

"It's a fight," she says. "People don't want to ingest the calories."

Part of the secret to Kaplan's desserts is a highly tuned attention to detail, or what she calls "fussiness."

"[Baking] is very exact, so I think it fits my personality," she says. "I'm very particular, that's one thing about me, and anyone will tell you that."

Particular though she may be, Kaplan, like her desserts, is traditional without being pretentious. She refuses to be called chef and instead is on a first-name basis with her staff, who take turns playing their iPods on the dock stationed in the corner of the kitchen (Kaplan herself has a weakness for '80s music).

"We do get competing music from the pasta area sometimes," she says, "and we have to play ours louder to drown theirs out. But overall, we're all really laid back. It's a really nice atmosphere."