Meet The Birchwood Properties Pastry Chef Rocco LaPorte

2 weeks ago

Petersburg, United States Birchwood Inn Full time

**Meet The Birchwood Properties Pastry Chef Rocco LaPorte**

October 12, 2021 In Happy National Dessert Day Thats right, today, October 14, is one of the sweetest days of the year. In honor of one of our favorite holidays, we sat down with The Birchwood Properties Pastry Chef Rocco LaPorte and discussed his background, ice cream flavors and what inspires his culinary creations:

*Pictured: Pastry Chef Rocco LaPorte with three batches of ice cream*

Im from Chicago and my parents cooked every day growing up. My moms parents owned a bar that they converted into a restaurant in Chicago and I have lots of uncles and aunts who are either chefs or they own catering companies. So I was just really immersed in it from a young age. Ive seen a wide variety of cuisines living in Chicago and because of my European background.

*Pictured: Chef Rocco creates Birch & Vines popular Peanut Butter Bars*

My grandparents are from Germany and I was raised with really good quality European pastries. Those are the types of things I like to make because they arent easy to find. They arent something you can get from a typical grocery store. So if I wanted it, I had to make it or purchase it at a German bakery.

I try to pull inspiration from everywhere. Being from Chicago, Ive seen a lot more than other places. Like other major cities, there are many types of cuisine in Chicago. Ive also traveled and I try to pull inspiration from other places.

I moved to St. Petersburg without ever having been here. I didnt have a job or an apartment, and I secured both on the drive down. My first job was as the assistant number one to the pastry chef at th St. Pete Yacht club. Later, The Birchwoods Executive Chef Lee Aquino found me on LinkedIn, and thats how I started here. When the Pier was under construction, I was asked to help with our sister properties, Pier Teaki, Teak and Driftwood Cafe. And of course, I wanted to be part of that.

*Pictured: Chef Rocco prepares Pineapple Right Side Up Cake for Teak*

I make the ice cream for Driftwood Cafe and a few desserts for Teak like Pineapple Right Side Up Cake and the Pecan Pie Bread Pudding.

I like to be creative and do things that other people enjoy. But also I get to enjoy myself. I think I like the nostalgic part of it. And just being able to kind of treat people by making their celebrations special, or doing something that will make it special and then they might remember.

**Describe your food style in five words or phrases.**

Classic with a twist, fruity, rich, nostalgic & inspired.

New ingredients and fresh flavors.

It was a rabbit dish cooked by my chef friend Matt Starling in a Kentucky restaurant that I worked at.. It was braised, tender and savory and my first time trying rabbit.

I think my Oma, who is my grandma from Germany. My grandparents got the bar and turned it into a restaurant. And really, thats what made me turn to the whole pastry thing.

I want to continue in the pastry field. What I want to do is get a couple more aspects of the art under my belt and master them. There are certain things that Ive done every day for years that I feel strong about. And there are other things that I havent, like croissants for example. Ive done them, I can do them, but I want to be the person thats been doing them for months every day. Ive done sugar sculptures. fruit tarts, lots of doughs, mousses, and ice cream all day for years. But I specifically want to master chocolate work and croissants.

So the Driftwood Cafe serves super premium ice cream and its not custard. But that means it has a lot more cream. We do a lot of mix-ins and nostalgic American flavors. I once created a flavor called Mexican Mocha that had a chocolate base with coffee, which was popular.

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