Women in Pastry: A Conversation at Brooklyn Bread Lab
Brooklyn Bread Lab hosts a panel of incredible bakers and chefs to discuss the wonderful world of pastry on Wednesday, July 25 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. FREE!
Moderated by journalist Lisa Held, whose writing can be found in acclaimed epicurean publications like Eater, Tasting Table, and Civil Eats, will lead a conversation with: Brooklyn Bread Lab’s Executive Pastry Chef Leah Morrow, Black Seed Bagels’ Executive Chef and Head Baker Dianna Daoheung, Sunday in Brooklyn’s Executive Sous Chef Mallory Cayon, and De Maria’s Executive Chef Adriana Urbina.
Topics to include: the nuances of bread and pastry making, what it means to be a woman in the industry, and more. A short audience Q&A and pastry samples from the panelists will follow the conversation.
Brooklyn Bread Lab is a dynamic warehouse kitchen owned and operated by the culinary team at The Williamsburg Hotel, where grains are freshly milled and crafted into artisanal breads, pastries, pizza dough, and more.
More About the Panelists:
Lisa Held (Moderator)
Lisa Elaine Held is a journalist with a primary focus on covering the food system, from seed to plate. She is a regular contributor to Civil Eats and also frequently writes for publications like Eater, Edible Manhattan/Brooklyn, and Tasting Table. Her expertise is in telling stories that connect food production and consumption to issues like environmental impact, social justice, economic inequality, and health. She is also the part-time editorial director at Nutritious Life and has written about women’s health, nutrition, and fitness for publications like Well+Good, Cosmopolitan, and Women’s Health. She has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Northeastern University.
Leah Morrow (Brooklyn Bread Lab – Executive Pastry Chef)
Owned and operated by Harvey’s culinary team, Brooklyn Bread Lab is led by Executive Pastry Chef Leah Morrow, a veteran of Per Se, Le Cirque and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.
A native of the Champlain Valley in upstate New York, Leah grew up in a family of artists and restaurateurs, and boasts over a dozen years of culinary experience. She graduated at the top of her class form the Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY), and honed her skills in some of New York City’s most revered kitchens.
With a passion for creating baked goods as delicious as they are beautiful, Leah brings ingenuity and innovation to Brooklyn Bread Lab. She debuted a new High Tea menu with savory and sweet offerings, and is responsible for all breads and pastries served at The Williamsburg Hotel (made with the flour freshly milled at Brooklyn Bread Lab).
Dianna Daoheung (Black Seed Bagels – Executive Chef & Head Baker)
Dianna Daoheung was raised as a first-generation Thai-American. She was often “forced” to help cook as her mother prepared authentic Thai foods, and this is how Dianna gained her initial skills and love of cooking.
After graduating from the University of Central Florida, she moved to New York and spent four years in advertising. Finding less satisfaction in advertising than she did in cooking, Dianna decided to follow her instincts back to the kitchen. She studied at the French Culinary Institute and soon after graduation, she was working a line cook at Mile End. She expanded her experience in San Francisco while working as a pastry cook at Boulevard.
Eventually, Dianna moved back to NYC to assist Mile End with their bread program, then baking and testing recipes out of their former facility in Red Hook. When the headquarters was waylaid by damage from Hurricane Sandy, the bread program got put on hold, and she bid her time as a sous chef at the critically acclaimed Isa.
Enamored with the science of bread, she reunited with Noah Bernamoff (Mile End) and Matt Kliegman (The Smile) to help launch a new project in 2014: Black Seed Bagels. Dianna perfected the recipe and the process behind the now wildly successful Black Seed Bagels, developing the shop’s unique honey-boiled, wood-fired bagels, and expanding offerings to include pastries and sandwiches on bread made with the same proprietary dough as the bagels.
Dianna was a finalist for the James Beard “Outstanding Baker” award in 2018, and a semi-finalist in 2017.
Mallory Cayon (Sunday in Brooklyn – Executive Sous Chef)
Ever since she was young, Mallory Cayon knew she wanted to become a pastry chef. After working at a local bakery in high school, she attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park where she earned an associate degree in Baking and Pastry Arts.
She then earned a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from Florida International University. Her first foray into a professional kitchen was during her time in Miami when she joined the opening team of DB Bistro Moderne as a Pastry Cook.
In 2012, she transferred to New York City to continue to work for the Dinex Group under acclaimed Chef Daniel Boulud.
In 2014, Mallory was offered the Pastry Sous Chef position at the two Michelin-starred Atera under Mathew Lightner. It was there she met Jaime Young and under his mentorship, Mallory was able to hone her skills in savory.Young then moved on to open Sunday In Brooklyn in Williamsburg, where Mallory is currently the Executive Sous Chef. There, she oversees the kitchen, as well as the restaurant’s bread and pastry program.
Adriana Urbina (De Maria – Executive Chef)
Chef Adriana Urbina was born in Caracas, Venezuela into a creative family of architects and artists. She refined her natural eye for design and plating expertise at top international culinary programs including L’Ecole de Cuisine Alain Ducasse in France and Sumito Estévez’s Instituto Culinario Caracas in Venezuela, before serving as an apprentice at one of Spain’s most well-regarded Michelin 3-star restaurants, Martín Berasategui.
Chef Urbina has also spent time at several fine dining restaurants in New York City, including Atera, Rouge Tomate, and French Louie; most recently, she operated her own successful pop-up and private dining company, Tepuy Dining, and won Food Network’s Chopped.
Despite possessing incredible culinary discipline and precision, more than anything, chef Urbina strives to cook from her heart. She’s also a passionate activist, specifically for causes linked to immigration reform and women’s rights.
Brooklyn Bread Lab
201 Moore Street
Brooklyn, NY 11206
Brooklyn Bread Lab hosts a panel of incredible bakers and chefs to discuss the wonderful world of pastry on Wednesday, July 25 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. FREE!
Moderated by journalist Lisa Held, whose writing can be found in acclaimed epicurean publications like Eater, Tasting Table, and Civil Eats, will lead a conversation with: Brooklyn Bread Lab’s Executive Pastry Chef Leah Morrow, Black Seed Bagels’ Executive Chef and Head Baker Dianna Daoheung, Sunday in Brooklyn’s Executive Sous Chef Mallory Cayon, and De Maria’s Executive Chef Adriana Urbina.
Topics to include: the nuances of bread and pastry making, what it means to be a woman in the industry, and more. A short audience Q&A and pastry samples from the panelists will follow the conversation.
Brooklyn Bread Lab is a dynamic warehouse kitchen owned and operated by the culinary team at The Williamsburg Hotel, where grains are freshly milled and crafted into artisanal breads, pastries, pizza dough, and more.
More About the Panelists:
Lisa Held (Moderator)
Lisa Elaine Held is a journalist with a primary focus on covering the food system, from seed to plate. She is a regular contributor to Civil Eats and also frequently writes for publications like Eater, Edible Manhattan/Brooklyn, and Tasting Table. Her expertise is in telling stories that connect food production and consumption to issues like environmental impact, social justice, economic inequality, and health. She is also the part-time editorial director at Nutritious Life and has written about women’s health, nutrition, and fitness for publications like Well+Good, Cosmopolitan, and Women’s Health. She has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Northeastern University.
Leah Morrow (Brooklyn Bread Lab – Executive Pastry Chef)
Owned and operated by Harvey’s culinary team, Brooklyn Bread Lab is led by Executive Pastry Chef Leah Morrow, a veteran of Per Se, Le Cirque and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.
A native of the Champlain Valley in upstate New York, Leah grew up in a family of artists and restaurateurs, and boasts over a dozen years of culinary experience. She graduated at the top of her class form the Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY), and honed her skills in some of New York City’s most revered kitchens.
With a passion for creating baked goods as delicious as they are beautiful, Leah brings ingenuity and innovation to Brooklyn Bread Lab. She debuted a new High Tea menu with savory and sweet offerings, and is responsible for all breads and pastries served at The Williamsburg Hotel (made with the flour freshly milled at Brooklyn Bread Lab).
Dianna Daoheung (Black Seed Bagels – Executive Chef & Head Baker)
Dianna Daoheung was raised as a first-generation Thai-American. She was often “forced” to help cook as her mother prepared authentic Thai foods, and this is how Dianna gained her initial skills and love of cooking.
After graduating from the University of Central Florida, she moved to New York and spent four years in advertising. Finding less satisfaction in advertising than she did in cooking, Dianna decided to follow her instincts back to the kitchen. She studied at the French Culinary Institute and soon after graduation, she was working a line cook at Mile End. She expanded her experience in San Francisco while working as a pastry cook at Boulevard.
Eventually, Dianna moved back to NYC to assist Mile End with their bread program, then baking and testing recipes out of their former facility in Red Hook. When the headquarters was waylaid by damage from Hurricane Sandy, the bread program got put on hold, and she bid her time as a sous chef at the critically acclaimed Isa.
Enamored with the science of bread, she reunited with Noah Bernamoff (Mile End) and Matt Kliegman (The Smile) to help launch a new project in 2014: Black Seed Bagels. Dianna perfected the recipe and the process behind the now wildly successful Black Seed Bagels, developing the shop’s unique honey-boiled, wood-fired bagels, and expanding offerings to include pastries and sandwiches on bread made with the same proprietary dough as the bagels.
Dianna was a finalist for the James Beard “Outstanding Baker” award in 2018, and a semi-finalist in 2017.
Mallory Cayon (Sunday in Brooklyn – Executive Sous Chef)
Ever since she was young, Mallory Cayon knew she wanted to become a pastry chef. After working at a local bakery in high school, she attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park where she earned an associate degree in Baking and Pastry Arts.
She then earned a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from Florida International University. Her first foray into a professional kitchen was during her time in Miami when she joined the opening team of DB Bistro Moderne as a Pastry Cook.
In 2012, she transferred to New York City to continue to work for the Dinex Group under acclaimed Chef Daniel Boulud.
In 2014, Mallory was offered the Pastry Sous Chef position at the two Michelin-starred Atera under Mathew Lightner. It was there she met Jaime Young and under his mentorship, Mallory was able to hone her skills in savory.Young then moved on to open Sunday In Brooklyn in Williamsburg, where Mallory is currently the Executive Sous Chef. There, she oversees the kitchen, as well as the restaurant’s bread and pastry program.
Adriana Urbina (De Maria – Executive Chef)
Chef Adriana Urbina was born in Caracas, Venezuela into a creative family of architects and artists. She refined her natural eye for design and plating expertise at top international culinary programs including L’Ecole de Cuisine Alain Ducasse in France and Sumito Estévez’s Instituto Culinario Caracas in Venezuela, before serving as an apprentice at one of Spain’s most well-regarded Michelin 3-star restaurants, Martín Berasategui.
Chef Urbina has also spent time at several fine dining restaurants in New York City, including Atera, Rouge Tomate, and French Louie; most recently, she operated her own successful pop-up and private dining company, Tepuy Dining, and won Food Network’s Chopped.
Despite possessing incredible culinary discipline and precision, more than anything, chef Urbina strives to cook from her heart. She’s also a passionate activist, specifically for causes linked to immigration reform and women’s rights.
Brooklyn Bread Lab
201 Moore Street
Brooklyn, NY 11206
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