Twelve Days of Chefmas: Susanne Berne

While we love showing you delicious food 24/7, we also think it's important that you know who is behind the food you're eating. So, our "Twelve Days of Chef-mas" series will introduce you to a dozen noteworthy chefs from across the state. That being said: 

🎶 On the fourth day of "Chef-mas," CT Eats Out brings to you... Pastry Chef Susanne Berne of Vespa and her delicious desserts 🎶

How You Got Started In The Kitchen: 

I kinda fell into it by accident actually, I was in college and I signed up for an elective which happened to be Baking and loved it. I knew immediately that I was meant to be in the kitchen. Six months later I enrolled in Culinary School and moved to New York City, I never looked back and I haven't done anything else since. 

Favorite Ingredient To Work With: 

Hands down Chocolate, I am a chocoholic and I love to use all different varieties of chocolate. I love to build things with it, I love to eat it & I love to bake with it. Chocolate is effected by so many different elements and I love bringing out the best in it. 

Favorite Menu Item:

12 Layer Chocolate Cake. Its been a pet project of mine to make the perfect chocolate cake. I use three different types of chocolate in it and I feel that it embodies everything a chocolate cake should be.

Almond Blueberry Tart via @pastrychefberne

Dulce de Leche Pot De Creme via @pastrychefberne

Favorite Holiday Dish To Eat or Cook:

Pumpkin Pie. When I was young I wasn't allowed to eat hardly anything with sugar in it, but for some crazy reason my Mom thought pumpkin pie was healthy. So when the holidays rolled around I was able to eat it and it has stuck with me all my life. 

Restaurant in CT You're Dying To Try:

South End, New Canaan. I have heard nothing but great things and their Instagram feed is filled with food that I want to eat. I have eaten at so many great places in CT this is just one place I haven't been able to make it to yet. 

Funniest Kitchen Story: 

I spent a lot of time working in big hotels and in those kitchens there is always a lot of traffic coming in and out. As people would come and go they would always reach into my chocolate bowls and grab a piece or two. After a while I decided it was time to have a little fun with this, so I filled a bowl with unsweetened chocolate (which is very bitter and chalky, not anything like what people are expecting when they reach for chocolate) and placed it closest to the edge of my prep table. Every time someone walked by and grabbed a piece, I could hear the scoffs and disgust from the other room. It has become one of my favorite pranks to play in the kitchen.  

Social Media:

You can follow Chef Susanne on Twitter @pastrychefberne and on Instagram @pastrychefberne.