Stella Parks is an American pastry chef and food writer based in Kentucky. She has worked in various Lexington-area restaurants, notably Table 310, and was a longtime contributor to Serious Eats. Parks received a James Beard Foundation Award in 2018 for her bestselling cookbook BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts.

Early life and education

Stella Parks was born in Kentucky, where she grew up in Versailles. ^{[1] [2]} She began working in restaurants at the age of 14. ^[3]

Immediately after graduating high school, Parks left to study at the Culinary Institute of America. ^{[4] [3]} She graduated in 2002 from the school's baking and pastry program. ^{[1] [5]}

Restaurant career

Parks worked in a variety of restaurants in the Lexington, Kentucky, area, including Wallace Station and the Holly Hill Inn. ^[6] She also spent time in Tokyo, moving there to study Japanese as part of a self-described "quarter-life crisis." ^[5]

In 2010, she was hired to work at the new Lexington restaurant Table 310 as its pastry chef. ^{[5] [2]} In 2012, she was named one of America's Best New Pastry Chefs by Food & Wine magazine in recognition of her work at Table 310. ^[7]

Writing

As part of a project with a photographer friend, Parks started her food blog BraveTart in 2010. ^{[2] [8]} A year later, she began writing a "BraveTart" column at the food website Serious Eats. She became a longtime contributor to the publication, where she served as a senior editor and was dubbed the website's "pastry wizard," though she has continued to be based in Lexington. ^{[8] [9] [10]} After contributing to Serious Eats from 2011 to 2019, with three years as its pastry editor, Parks became editor emeritus at the site. ^[11]

Parks's work combines baking, history, and science. ^{[12] [13]} She is known for developing precise, complex recipes that often elevate American childhood favorite desserts through copycat recipes. ^{[14] [3] [9]}

In 2017, Parks published her debut cookbook, BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts. ^[15] She spent six years working on the book, which involved archival research as well as recipe testing. ^[12] The cookbook celebrates iconic American desserts and explores the history of the commercial food industry's influence on home baking. ^{[8] [16]} The BraveTart cookbook became a New York Times bestseller and was well received by critics. ^[4] It was described as "the most groundbreaking book on baking in years" by Saveur and "one of the greatest dessert books of our time" by Bon Appétit. ^{[1] [17]} In 2018, Parks's BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts won a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Baking and Dessert Book. ^[18]

References