This is episode five of Robb Report’s series Culinary Masters, where we go behind the scenes with some of America’s best chefs to see how their iconic dishes are made. Watch the previous episodes here.
At James Kent’s Michelin-starred Crown Shy, the menu takes influences from the rich diversity of New York City. And with no adherence to a single cuisine, the team is allowed to get creative, like how pastry chef Emily Hall found inspiration for a dessert on a subway platform.
Since there’s no mandate to stick to fine dining French or new American, Hall says she thinks about a dessert people will be familiar with and something her mom would like, and then take that concept and use her years of working at high-end kitchens to develop her own interpretation. With Crown Shy’s churro dessert the seed was planted by seeing churro vendors selling in New York City subway stations and then her fine dining experience kicked in. The sundae combines mini churros with a scoop of housemade horchata and chocolate ice creams swirled together that are then topped by a spicy Mexican hot chocolate sauce.
In this latest episode of Robb Report’s Culinary Masters Hall shows us how she developed six different iterations of her churros to create the crackly consistency she wanted, and then how she introduces savory and spicy elements into her recipe to make it a surprising and delightful dessert.
