传奇的糕点厨师返回纽约市
克劳迪娅·弗莱明（Claudia Fleming）不确定伯德罗尼（Bomboloni）。味道在那里，质地也是如此。这是她重新思考的形状。糖粉甜甜圈是为甜点菜单的一部分而开发的。CI Siamo, the latest opening from Danny Meyer's联合广场酒店集团(USHG). Each doughnut looks like a flower, with six petals for easy tearing, easy dipping (into the chocolate amaro that comes on the side), and—most important to Fleming—easy sharing. But Fleming, thelegendary pastry chefwho stepped into her new role as USHG's Executive Pastry Director last April, said, "It's very hard to get the cooking time right, and I don't know, you look at something for a really long time and you say 'Is that really a good idea?'"
It's not only a good idea, it's a great idea. And that's because after a meal at Ci Siamo, sharing dessert is really the only option. You'll be stuffed (chef Hillary Sterling's caramelized onion torta with pecorino crust and fonduta could be a meal of its own), but you'll also want one of everything. There's an espresso-forward chocolate budino, a perfectly pungent lemon torta, hearth roasted figs that are smoky and sweet, and a roster of gelati and sorbetti (hazelnut gelato and blackcurrant sorbet just to name a couple). While traditional Italian bomboloni, which are often spherical and stuffed with Nutella or jam, aren't made for communal eating, Fleming's pull-apart rendition was designed to be ordered for the table—a move that feels right given the dual returns of indoor dining and normal life.
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The restaurant itself, which opened in Manhattan West in October, is homey and warm—an invitation to get back to it all after being shut away for so long away. Even the name echoes this sentiment: Ci Siamo is Italian slang for "we've made it," or "we've arrived," or "we're here." Fleming said, "It feels like an exclamation point in the shape of a hug."
对于弗莱明（Fleming），他是另一家USHG餐厅的首届糕点厨师Gramercy Tavern，从1994年到2002年，这个角色本身就是一个归乡。当弗莱明（Fleming）于2005年搬到长岛（Long Island）北福克酒店与已故的丈夫格里·海登（Gerry Hayden）在一起，她认为自己再也不会回到这座城市。但是，在海顿（Hayden）在2015年去世与2020年出售北叉酒店（North Fork Inn）之间的某个地方，弗莱明（Fleming）决定打电话给她的老老板。
"Danny reminded me that on my exit interview from Gramercy, I told him I would never work for another restaurateur," Fleming said. "I knew when I left I had reached the peak." 20 years later, Fleming has returned to that mountaintop, this time to oversee pastry across all USHG brands. She said, "I can't really imagine coming back to New York after so long and not being somewhere familiar."
Fleming announced her new role with a limited-time run of strawberries-and-cream scones atDaily Provisions, the USHG coffee-and-sandwich shop known for its maple crullers. She's been working primarily on Ci Siamo since July, but the idea is for her to ultimately advise all of the pastry teams across USHG.
Though the ingredients and techniques Fleming uses in her desserts have changed throughout the years, her approach to pastry has stayed consistent. Flavor, seasonality, and simplicity are what Fleming refers to as her driving forces, whether she's making her signature Chocolate Caramel Tarts or a holiday-readyGoat Cheese Cake with Wine-Poached Cranberries。在厨房的美味一面，希拉里·斯特林（Hillary Sterling）致力于实现相同的目标，这是两者之间很好地工作的部分原因。
弗莱明（Fleming）习惯于更多的筒仓工作，但斯特林（Sterling）以一种新的方式实践了弗莱明（Fleming），这是她发现鼓舞人心的一种方式。两位厨师在整个夏季测试食谱都在地下室厨房度过Marta，Ushg的罗马风格的比萨店。弗莱明说：“我们在同一页面上。”“有了甜点计划，我不是在这里自己发表声明。这一定是凝聚力的。这是挑战的一部分，这就是美女的一部分。”
弗莱明（Fleming）还在CI Siamo率先率先面包计划，这在职业生涯中并没有花太多时间。在80年代和90年代，弗莱明（Fleming）在乔纳森·瓦克斯（Jonathan Waxman）的Jamsand then Gramercy Tavern, New York was full of high-quality, artisanal bread bakers, so lots of restaurants sourced out for their baguettes. But now, it's almost expected that great restaurants make their bread in-house. It's an opportunity Fleming has embraced and, naturally, excelled in.
One thing that hasn't changed about New York City restaurant kitchens? The speed. "I'm getting my ass kicked," Fleming said. "I don't have quite the same stamina. But it's a muscle, you build it back." That's exactly what Fleming is doing at USHG, and what Ci Siamo is doing within the city's restaurant scene as a whole. "It feels like a real honor to be part of the revitalization of New York."