00:00I mean, it's my favorite thing to do for a living.
00:05I'm Christina Tozzi, I'm 42 years young,
00:08I'm the chef and founder of Milk Bar,
00:10and this is the secret to my success.
00:12I met Dave Chang at Momofuku.
00:14What drew me in at Momofuku
00:16was what Dave was doing with savory food.
00:19Fine dining, very similar path to mine,
00:22went to culinary school
00:23and really sought to democratize savory food.
00:27I really wanted to figure out
00:28how to bring the sensibility of a plate of brownies
00:33to the New York City food scene in a way
00:35that made sense, that I thought there was a giant hole.
00:38He, equal parts, dared me and pushed me
00:41to put a dessert on the menu at Momofuku's Sambar.
00:44I made this strawberry shortcake,
00:45I hid it in the middle of the menu,
00:47and it sold out the first night,
00:48and it sold out the second night,
00:49and it sold out the third night,
00:51and I started adding desserts
00:52to the other Momofuku restaurants,
00:53and before I knew it, I was, I guess,
00:56the pastry chef for all the Momofuku restaurants.
00:59Dave and the Momofuku group basically gave Milk Bar
01:01its loan to sign the lease, to open operations.
01:04Separating Milk Bar from Momofuku
01:06was always the idea from a business standpoint
01:09when you are part of a restaurant group
01:11that is known and loved and trusted.
01:13For me, it was really key
01:15to get the Milk Bar business up and running
01:17and then to take it and run from there.
01:19We need advocates, we need people
01:21that are going to push us outside of our comfort zones,
01:23help us see ourselves in the mirror
01:25when we can't see ourselves in the mirror.
01:27That is what Dave is for me.
01:29Had no idea that it was going to be the thing
01:31that it has become.
01:33For Taylor Swift and everyone else,
01:35I have had to move the goalpost for myself
01:38and for Milk Bar every year,
01:40and that has been one of the greatest joys
01:43of the last 16 years.
Comments