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<\/p>\nSusan Bae is the only chef in the District to win the prestigious James Beard Award this year.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 Chef Susan Bae has a simple vision for the ultimate dessert.<\/p>\n
\u201cGlitter everywhere,\u201d the Moon Rabbit pastry chef said with a laugh. \u201cI would put glitter on everything if I could.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sense of whimsy, along with a willingness to take risks and challenge diners\u2019 expectations has helped make Bae one of Washington’s most celebrated chefs.<\/p>\n
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This year, it also earned her one of the culinary world’s highest honors: a James Beard Award.<\/p>\n
Bae, the pastry chef at Moon Rabbit, was the only chef from the Washington, D.C., region to take home a James Beard Award this year.<\/p>\n
\nAn Unorthodox Approach <\/p>\n
Her desserts aren’t exactly conventional.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Think green curry sponge cake, avocado sorbet and fish sauce caramel, combinations designed to surprise diners and sometimes make them rethink what dessert can be.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople become surprised initially,\u201d Bae said. \u201cThe best way I can describe it is, there’s a bit of tension in all of the desserts.\u201d<\/p>\n
That tension is intentional.<\/p>\n
For one creation, Bae said she started with something simple: the color green.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to create this monochromatic dessert of sorts,\u201d she said. \u201cI was like, I love the color green. I love nature. Let’s start there.\u201d<\/p>\n
It’s that willingness to experiment that has become central to Bae’s approach in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo risk, no reward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\nAn Unexpected Opportunity <\/p>\n
Bae’s path to Washington was just as unexpected as some of her desserts.<\/p>\n
\u00a0She said her move to D.C. began with an Instagram message from Moon Rabbit\u2019s head chef and co-owner Kevin Tien.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still joke about this because it’s just such a funny story,\u201d Bae said. \u201cHe literally slid into my DMs and he said, \u2018I’m looking for a pastry chef.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0The two had followed each other on Instagram. Tien was in Washington and needed a pastry chef.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018I need a chef, a pastry chef. Can you come on board?\u2019\u201d Bae recalled.<\/p>\n
She did, without hesitation.<\/p>\n
\nFood Shaped By Loss <\/p>\n
Bae came to Washington without family or friends, eventually building a community in the city that would become especially meaningful after experiencing devastating personal loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve suffered from grief,\u201d she said. \u201cI’ve lost my entire immediate family; my mom, my dad and my older sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bae said those experiences have shaped her, and ultimately, her food.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe go through these experiences, and these experiences translate into the food that we make, unbeknownst to the guests, of course,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But as chefs gain larger platforms, Bae said they’re also gaining opportunities to share the stories behind their work.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that we have these sorts of platforms, we are now able to maybe share our own stories, have an impact in that way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\nA Win For Whimsy <\/p>\n
For Bae, the recipe behind a James Beard Award may be difficult to measure.<\/p>\n
A little blind faith, a willingness to take risks, and, of course, plenty of whimsy.<\/p>\n
After three nominations, Bae\u2019s hard work finally paid off with the James Beard win for Best Pastry Chef.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Susan Bae is the only chef in the District to win the prestigious James Beard Award this year. WASHINGTON \u2014 Chef Susan Bae has a simple vision for the ultimate dessert. \u201cGlitter everywhere,\u201d the Moon Rabbit pastry chef said with a laugh. \u201cI would put glitter on everything if I could.\u201d That sense of whimsy,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-6032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chefs","tag-chef"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117228361695980561","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}