Today we’d like to introduce you to Reed Ross.
Hi Reed, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
As long as I can remember, I was always baking with my mom, Melissa, and grandma, Carol. Each year, we made a massive array of Italian and other classic Christmas cookies: biscotti, anise pizzelle, chocolate chip, peanut butter blossoms, orange sugar-crusted chocolate chip cookie balls, thumbprints, lemon orange cookies, fudge, sugar cookies we decorated together, lady locks, anise balls with rainbow sprinkles, to name a few. Enough to last several months, even after giving many of them away to anyone who would take them. Most are recipes from my great grandmothers, Nana Ross and Nana Frank. As I grew up, I had mastered many of these, and grew an intimate connection to the process of making biscotti and pizzelle. My family is Italian, and when I make these two recipes–it’s hard to describe. I just feel part of something larger, and this feeling has only intensified since my Grandma Carol (my maternal grandma) passed in 2022 a few weeks before I graduated college.
My education is in drawing and painting, and the creative experimentation that happens when one gets an art degree began to break into my culinary endeavors– at this point still a hobby. After college, I was hired as a host on the inaugural team at Hi Flora!, a vegan restaurant, where after being allowed some creativity, trust, and time in the kitchen, I discovered that baking was truly a part my life’s purpose. On a slow service the day before Christmas Eve, we took turns making vegan holiday cookies, and I made a batch of biscotti, and the new challenge of vegan baking added fuel to the fire. Since then I have worked in several bakeries, and I’ve learned many new pastry techniques, and began developing my own recipes. Last fall, I began working on my own culinary practice: Bella Notte, Biscotti Studio.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I wouldn’t describe it as smooth; it’s been a bit of a slow start. I do not have a business background, I work full-time, and I don’t come from money. Most of the last year, outside of work I’ve spent time dreaming about all the possibilities of what Bella Notte (which means “beautiful night” in Italian) could be. And I think I am still in this phase, but I am narrowing my focus over time as I find my niche. I am still learning so many new baking techniques, and I am aware that there is so much more out there I haven’t tried yet.
Most of my struggles in this journey have been financial, whether that is being able to afford ingredients to make something happen or to recipe test, or the cost of renting a commercial kitchen space often far exceeding my wages, or recipe testing in the confines of my own apartment kitchen using 4 square feet of counter space. Even though these things are frustrating, I think there is something to learn from all of it, like better money management, maximizing the use of kitchen space, and making things work with the tools available. These are all things that will make me a better chef over time.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in Italian cookies and a mix of Italian and French pastry. Everything I make is rooted in its tradition in form, but never boring in flavor. My biggest obsessions right now are choux pastries and tarts, stabilized creams, so I’ve been focusing on those areas lately. With more space and equipment, I’d love to get back to laminating!
I’d say that I’m most known for unconventional flavors. My sweet potato ginger eclair, pink peppercorn biscotti, and curry leaf vanilla bean shortbread cookies both take flavors that are usually a smaller part of a dish and place them in a new role as the top note. For me it is like a love letter to my personal favorite flavors. I also have began developing a lot of vegan pastry recipes, and that’s becoming part of my appeal to people as well. While you can find vegan cookies and cupcakes all over, they often taste like strange oil combinations and excess sugar. But you rarely find a vegan tart comparable to its non-vegan equivalent.
Something close to my heart in the creation of Bella Notte, Biscotti Studio that I think really sets me apart from others, is really keeping the emphasis on creativity, which is where the choice for the word “studio” over the word “company” came from. You’ll never hear me describe Bella Notte as a brand. I am an artist at heart, and will not lose that part of Bella Notte for the sake of capitalism, an algorithm, etc. If I am ever blessed to be able to expand into my own commercial kitchen and hire few people one day, I will be keeping creativity and expression at the forefront. I’m here for the occasional batch of something that isn’t profitable but would be cool to make. That’s worth it to me. My passion for baking and pastry is only as strong as it is because of those who trusted my creativity and gave me the space to try something weird.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
There are a few things I’m seeing and hoping to contribute to changing in the food industry and especially in pastry.
One is an over-reliance on global micro-trends in order to draw a customer base instead of larger more sustainable trends and local community connection and innovation. Right now in pastry, social media microtrends are taking over the “specials” section of menus, rather than something new and innovative. Small business owners can’t really afford any failure right now, so when something goes viral I think we’ve developed a tendency to copy it because it feels like guaranteed success. Artists copy each other all the time, and while it’s a great way to learn and shows admiration (when it’s not plagiarism), and there is value in that. These trends don’t last long enough to sustain, and instead we should investigate more overarching trends.
I am also seeing poor wages, and poor treatment of staff, as something far too common in the US. In the years ahead I can really see this going a couple of ways:
1. New generations will be starting businesses, and these younger generations who no longer tolerate unfair labor practices and low wages will come up with creative solutions to make things more sustainable, and unionizing will become increasingly popular. And this sets higher standards for existing and future business owners.
2. Or, and this depends entirely on the state of the economy, it will be so difficult to open a new business as the convenience of chains owned by large corporations drive out or buy up any business starting out. I think this is likely to happen first before we see some big changes, as there’s already ample evidence of this happening.
And I don’t have many immediate solutions for these things as I just started in the industry in 2023, but I think those of us in power in the kitchen can start this process for free by leading with empathy and treating employees like humans rather than production machines. Unfortunately these aren’t particularly positive, but I think as new generations become business owners, we will see more of a shift starting to happen!
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