If you were among those who attended the RAMMY Awards ceremony this past June, you would have watched a dazed yet thrilled Heather Chittum accept the award for the 2008 Pastry Chef of the Year. Since Washington has become a city of high-profile super culinary achievers, that is no small feat. But for her the award must have very special meaning, because by all standards of the game, she is a relative newcomer to the pastry kitchen.
“Getting the award was pretty incredible,” she says. “It was such an honor to be nominated.”
Had she stuck to her original career, however, Chittum would not have won an award and would certainly not be the pastry chef at Georgetown’s Hook restaurant. Instead she would probably still be working in some political venue or another.
After all, as a government and international relations major in college, her first job brought her to the Hill, where she worked in the office of Sen. Patrick Moynihan, before she moved on to fight poverty and hunger with Share Our Strength, a national non-profit organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger.
As fate or luck would have it, the SOS job entailed working closely with some of the nation’s greatest chefs, an association that tapped into her inner “I-love-food-and-cooking” passion she had been nurturing since childhood.
“Because of my dad,” she says, “there was always lots of cooking and baking. … We lived in the Italian area in Brooklyn with bakeries and pastry shops. … and Middle Eastern bakeries with so many spices and aromas.”
She even remembers how her grandfather would come home carrying loaves of semolina bread, and sit down to enjoy them with butter and sardines.
In addition, food was the central theme for family gatherings, celebrations and the pure joy of creating in the kitchen.
“We were always celebrating with food,” she says. “I cooked and baked with the family. Even in college, I cooked and baked as well.”
Lucky for the dining public that hanging around the SOS chefs inspired Chittum to get it together and head to culinary school. In 2001, Chittum enrolled in the Fundamentals of Pastry Arts program at L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg and subsequently has worked in several notable local kitchens, including working as pastry chef with Michel Richard in Citronelle.
Now with her own pastry staff and the freedom to create, Chittum reflects on her path to this kitchen, and the rewards she’s found along the way. For one, becoming a pastry chef seems a natural reflection of her love for desserts and for doing its necessary intricate detail work.
“My dad was an artist,” she says, “so maybe I inherited that. … I love making something beautiful. After all, you eat with your eyes first.”
But for another, it’s the sense of accomplishment when creating an awesome dessert. She remembers the note an 8-year-old guest left her once.
“I came back to meet you and to tell you that was the best cake I ever had,” he wrote. “Thank you.”
Finally, Chittum can sit back and sigh, saying the scramble of the past few years has been worth every moment. Not only has she been feted and praised for her work, but she has managed to do something very important.
“I felt very nervous when Nycci [Nellis] handed me the award,” she says. “But I got to stand up and really say to my colleagues, ‘Thank you.’ ”
If you go
Hook
3241 M St. NW
Hours: Dinner: 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday-Tuesday, 5 to 11 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday Friday; Brunch: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
Q&A with Chef Heather Chittum
What’s your comfort food?
Well, again, it is mood-based. I love steak with fries with a bearnaise sauce like at Montmartre (on Capitol Hill). Another restaurant I crave, Palena, and it doesn’t matter there what I eat. And Proof’s late-night menu of steak and cheese made with provolone. I just like good food.
Which of your desserts is your signature one?
It’s really hard to say because when you are in this field, it’s so creative, and all desserts are a reflection of you, the mood and the season. But I guess the first thing would be the lingonberry linzertorte with tallegio ice cream (see recipe, minus the ice cream). It’s sweet and savory and what I try to be.
Who has influenced your baking the most?
Lisa Scruggs and Michel Richard. You need balance, and these two are the balance.
What is your baking philosophy?
Keep it simple, with clean lines and nothing too fussy or with too many flavor combinations. Less is more, and it’s best to use seasonal and local ingredients and to let them shine through. People should know what they are eating.
What’s in your fridge?
A big bag of spinach, chicken, Greek yogurt, grapes, carrots, hummus, olives, feta cheese, milk, Champagne, water, turkey slices and granola.
From the Chef’s Kitchen
Lingonberry linzertorte
Makes 6 individual or 1 large torte
» 6 1⁄2 ounces unsalted butter, softened
» 1 1/4 cups sugar
» 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
» 1 teaspoon baking powder
» 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
» 1 large egg
» 1 (14 oz.) jar lingonberry jam, or more as needed, or raspberry jam
» 1/2 pound hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Mix together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon and set aside. Beat the egg into the butter-sugar mixture. Fold in the dry ingredients in three parts until well combined. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Lightly flour a work surface, and roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Put a tart ring mold (with a removable bottom) on the cookie sheet, and line the mold with the dough. Trim the edges. Refrigerate the crust until firm, reserving the extra dough to make strips for the top.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill the tart shell with lingonberry jam. With the remaining dough, using a knife or a fluted wheel cutter, cut thin strips to cover the top of the linzertorte with a decorative pattern. Weave the strips of dough across the top of the tart to create a lattice pattern. Refrigerate to firm.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.
