Heads up, foodies (especially those with a sweet tooth...or two)! Michael Mignano has been named Executive Pastry Chef for The Pierre, A Taj Hotel on New York’s Central Park. The chef previously spent eight years at Four Seasons Hotels in New York, and spent seven years at the Pierre Hotel before it was acquired by Taj Hotels. He was also the opening team Pastry Chef for NYC’s Balthazar Restaurant, as Pastry Cook for Aureole Restaurant and Bouley Restaurant as well as Executive Pastry Chef for Hershey Entertainment & Resorts in Hershey, Penn. Fans of Food Network might recognize him from his appearances on "Sweet Genius" and "Fat Chef."
Before returning to The Pierre, Chef Mignano spent six years as chef/owner of Long Island’s Main Street Bakery & Café in Port Washington. (We hear his Main Street Bar—a combination of caramel, cashews, macadamia nuts, chocolate ganache and Rice Krispies on a graham cracker crust topped with Hawaiian Sea Salt—was a local favorite and was named “New York’s Most Memorable Food Item” by Newsday in 2010.)
In his new role, Chef Mignano will oversee all pastry and confection creation for the hotel, including designing seasonal desserts and high tea specialties as well as inventive treats offered in Two E Bar/Lounge, in-room dining and for all private social events, weddings and conferences. A key focus will be developing new sweets for catering menus, including dessert buffets for meetings, parties and gala weddings.