MEET YOUR BAKER: ZOE NATHAN
Huckleberry's Pastry Pro
by Krista Simmons, Metromix | March 20, 2009
Zoe Nathan looks more like a fit yoga instructor than a pastry chef. Tall, slim and radiant, she scurries around Huckleberry bakery and cafe wearing navy-blue Lulu Lemon pants and a blueberry-stained apron. But blissed-out yogi she is not–this woman is hustling.
Not only has the 27-year-old skewed the curve by opening her own bakery, she is also a semifinalist for the 2009 James Beard Awards as outstanding pastry chef. (The finalists will be announced March 23.) "It's all sort of overwhelming," she says. "Putting yourself out there is scary." Amid the chaos, she's smiling. And she should be: Huckleberry is popping, and guests in line are drooling over the delicacies in the display cases.
As if that weren't enough excitement, Nathan also recently married Josh Loeb, owner of Rustic Canyon and her partner at Huckleberry. The two both grew up in Santa Monica and were set up on a blind date by their mothers. With Loeb overseeing operations and Nathan in charge of the food, the two seem to work well together.
Nathan's famous Niman Ranch maple-bacon biscuits, a huge hit at Rustic Canyon, are baked at Huckleberry. "My favorite thing is bacon," she says, and she's also baking up other porcine treats, such as buttery, flaky croissants enveloping slices of La Quercia prosciutto and Gruyere cheese.
As a testament to Nathan's infatuation with pork, she and Loeb had a whole roasted pig at their wedding, which Rustic Canyon executive chef Evan Funke catered. "There were 18 courses," Nathan recalls. "I went straight out of my dress and into my sweat pants. The food was just too good to miss out on."
Nathan took the opportunity to step away from the rolling pin and let Funke take care of baking the cake too. "Wedding cakes are the one thing I don't do," she says. You might not hold her to that though, as she's been known to change her mind: At one point early in her chef years, she swore off pastry making altogether. "There was just too much math; I wanted to be a butcher," she says. "Then I learned to make pastry work for me...It's given me a way to express myself with my hands. It's given me a voice."
Nathan still holds onto that creative, whimsical side at Huckleberry. Don't be surprised when you call in for your takeout order of green eggs and ham: When you're placed on hold, you'll hear tunes from a little girl's music box.
She's also brought another element of childhood to Huckleberry: her family. Her dad works as a line cook Saturdays, and her mom brings flowers in every morning. It's the role reversal everyone wished for as a kid. "It's kind of fun to boss them around," Nathan chuckles.
It's hard to picture someone so smiley and sweet playing the big, bad boss, but Nathan has nothing but respect for the people she works with. "I love it all. I work with some of the most talented women."
