Not your typical pastry chef

If you were to typecast the ideal pastry chef, you might describe someone who has a poetic demeanor, someone who dreams of spun sugar and delicate chocolate pastries.

You probably would not figure on Scot Harlan, pastry chef at Virginia’s Inox in Tysons Galleria: He more closely resembles a ruddy, robust athlete who’d rather play rugby than create divine sweets.

In his case, looks can be deceiving, for this cheerful extrovert ranks among those skilled pastry chefs who can brighten a patron’s sweet tooth after a restaurant meal. It’s here at Inox where you can dip into his banana-cardamom ice cream or his milk chocolate bread pudding with fleur de sel and olive oil sherbet. But frankly, for those who love kiddy treats in sophisticated wrapping, his Bacon-Chocolate Sablé (otherwise known as the “Oreo”; see recipe) would eclipse all other contenders.

An Arlington native, Harlan (at the ripe old age of 29) has traveled far and wide to gain his pastry skills. He attended the Alpine Center: The Swiss Business School for Hotel and Tourism Management in Greece, and then did an externship in Scotland. After graduation, he signed up to work in Fairbanks, Alaska, in the city’s historic The Pump House. Following his time in Alaska, he took a series of pastry jobs at such hot-spot restaurants as The Inn at Little Washington and 2941, locally. But he left again, to work in New York’s fancy Daniel Boulud’s acclaimed Daniel and then moved to the pastry kitchen of Bouley and Danube, and Gordon Ramsay’s The London, a one-Michelin-starred restaurant.

But why, one might wonder after sizing him up, isn’t he out playing rugby?

The story may be a familiar one among chefs: his mom is a great cook, and at a young age, Harlan began pestering his mother and grandmother for the use of a springform pan, essential equipment for making a cheesecake.

“I did my first cheesecake at 11 or 12,” he says. “I love cheesecake. I love the structure [of making desserts], like watching cornstarch thickening on the stove. So much transformation on the stove and so many little things go into the picture.”

His first kitchen job of sorts was with the now-closed Pica Deli Gourmet in Arlington, where as stockboy and dishwasher he got a taste of the culinary life.

“I made sandwiches,” he says, “and I was first exposed to prosciutto and to real Parmesan cheese. And real Valrhona chocolate.”

Surely it was the quality chocolate that hooked him, a young man who selected this sweet life for several reasons: “With pastry, you are learning new things all the time,” he says. “The experimenting draws me into it. I play with cream and milk ratios, for example, and changing proportions and what that does to things.”

A product of a bustling home kitchen with a mother who loved to cook, Harlan knows the old-fashioned desserts, but prefers to update the classics.

“I know the classics,” he says, “but I don’t have them as part of my repertoire.”

Indeed, not. Harlan’s signature dessert is an out-there creation: a kalamata olive-and-dark chocolate bread pudding made with olive oil.

Q&A with Chef Scot Harlan

What’s your comfort food?

Anything that my mom used to make. My grandma was from Pennsylvania and used to make lots of casseroles like corned beef and cabbage.

How do you get your inspiration?

I am a book hog. I really love books and I am a voracious reader of novels and cookbooks. So books and friends are my inspiration. We are food geeks. I proudly call myself a pastry geek. … And what’s in the market.

What is your favorite restaurant?

That’s hard to say … I just love a good bistro. They serve simple things at a high level. Or a taverna in Greece with fish right out of the sea and grilled with olive oil. Or Central Michel Richard. I love it. It has simple things done to high standards.

What do you do in your leisure time?

I have some favorites. Being with my buddies, watching sports on TV and hanging out with my cousin.

Which is your favorite cuisine?

It could be Mexican because it offers so many different aspects and regions. It’s the first true fusion cuisine with Chinese, American and Spanish influences.

From the Chef’s Kitchen

Bacon-Chocolate Sablé with fleur de sel

(Note fleur de sel is a sea salt gathered by hand. Look for it online or in well-stocked supermarkets.)

Makes 12

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup light brown sugar

3 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 pound good quality dark chocolate

1/2 tsp fleur de sel

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Cream the butter and sugars together with the vanilla until smooth. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda, and stir into the butter mixture until just incorporated. Melt chocolate over low heat, and stir the slightly cooled chocolate and fleur de sel into the dough. Roll the dough into two logs and wrap in wax paper. Chill and slice each log into 6 cookies; arrange the cookies on the baking sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, and cool at room temp. Meanwhile, make the bacon filling.

Bacon filling

2 slices good-quality bacon

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Render the bacon in a pan over medium-low heat until crispy. Drain the fat on paper towels, and reserve the fat at room temperature. Chop the bacon very fine and add back to the fat. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and bacon. On low speed, stir in the sugar until it becomes a spreadable icing. Pipe this icing one cookie and top with the second cookie to make the sablé.