NAC: What inspired you to become a pastry chef in the first place?

TONG: My grandfather was a cook and so was my Dad. They weren't chefs. My grandfather never let me touch anything in the kitchen. He wanted to experiment, but his way. He would try and dabble in some pastry, but he couldn't even make a cake with cake mix! So I think my interest in pastry started out because he would always leave lumps of flour in his cakes. Also, my mom used to buy me little [cake] molds to play around with when I was a kid. 

When I told my Mom I wanted to go to culinary school, she was really upset! She really wanted me to sit behind a desk! They wanted me to take it easy, because they, as immigrants, had it tough enough. They thought, as a chef, I would work 14 hours a day and make really bad money. I promised them it wouldn't be that way. She's kind of ok with it now.

NAC: What cooking advice did your mother give you that really stuck? 

TONG: My Mom was a working mom, and my grandparents raised us, so they did most of the cooking.  My mom actually taught me what not to do! There was maybe one thing that she made that was good. It was poached papaya. She poached it was some syrup and some Chinese herbs and it was pretty good.  But it was the only thing. 

NAC: Are there any dishes on the Dovetail menu that have particularly special stories or inspirations behind them?

TONG: The menu keeps evolving, so it's hard to say! My bread pudding is pretty nostalgic. My Mom used to work a lot, and Saturdays were our only days together. She would try to make us French toast, out of Wonder Bread! It was not an easy task. The bread pudding kind of reminds me of that, because it's kind of like a French toast.  So some of my menu is inspired by family, some of it is just from seeing what's out there.  I love to do savory things, but only if it's right. Right now I'm working on a dessert with olives.  Currently on the menu there's a chocolate beet cake, which we are selling a lot of, which I didn't expect because initially it was hard for the servers to explain. 

NAC:  What's your favorite dessert, either on Dovetail's menu or not?

TONG: It's difficult to choose, because there are so many things out there that are delicious.  But if I had to pick one on my menu, it would be the avocado parfait. It's similar to a mousse that's been frozen. That was inspired when I went out with a Filipino friend for dinner and we had avocado milkshakes, which were good, but really heavy. So I decided to do an avocado mousse, and then I paired it with black sesame paste. Strawberries, too, for tartness. 

NAC: Even though there are many more women entering the professional chef work force, it's still an industry that is a man's world.  Have you ever found it to be challenging to be a woman in a professional kitchen?

TONG: It is what you make of it. I started out at age 19, very young, and when I first entered a kitchen, it was very hard. All of the men all think you can't do it; you're small you're Asian, they all look at you and think "whatever." You have to be very observant, and remember that there isn't anything that you shouldn't be capable of. It can be very hard though. You know how guys talk. You have to zone it out and keep remembering what you're in here for. 

NAC: There are many professional chefs and home cooks who look at pastry as too challenging, too much measuring, not enough room for mistakes or improvisation. What words of encouragement would you offer them?

TONG: Follow the directions!  Everything stems from a basic recipe. And pastry doesn't have to always be precise. There are certain laws you have to follow, as far as the leavening, the chemical reactions.  Once you have that small understanding, you can do other things. You can always change flavors, use a little of this instead of that. I don't think anyone should actually be afraid of pastry! 

Vera Tong's Favorite Restaurant & Grocery Store

Favorite Restaurant

Ping's Seafood 22 Mott St # 2 New York, NY 10013 212.602.9988

Grocery Store

Hong Kong Supermarket 8202 45th Ave Elmhurst, NY 11373 718.651.3838