Stella Parks
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Stella Parks is an American pastry chef and food writer based in Kentucky. She has worked in various Lexington-area restaurants, notably Table 310, and was a longtime contributor to ''
Serious Eats Serious Eats is a website and blog focused on food enthusiasts, created by food critic and author Ed Levine. A Serious Eats book was published by Levine in 2011. Serious Eats was acquired by Fexy Media in 2015 and then by Dotdash in late 2020. ...
''. Parks received a
James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...
in 2018 for her bestselling cookbook ''BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts''.


Early life and education

Stella Parks was born in Kentucky, where she grew up in
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
. She began working in restaurants at the age of 14. Immediately after graduating from high school, Parks left to study at the
Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first to ...
. She graduated in 2002 from the school's baking and pastry program.


Restaurant career

Parks worked in a variety of restaurants in the
Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
, area, including Wallace Station and the Holly Hill Inn. She also spent time in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, moving there to study Japanese as part of a self-described "quarter-life crisis." In 2010, she was hired to work at the new Lexington restaurant Table 310 as its pastry chef. In 2012, she was named one of America's Best New Pastry Chefs by ''
Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and sea ...
'' magazine in recognition of her work at Table 310.


Writing

As part of a project with a photographer friend, Parks started her food blog ''BraveTart'' in 2010. A year later, she began writing a "BraveTart" column at the food website ''
Serious Eats Serious Eats is a website and blog focused on food enthusiasts, created by food critic and author Ed Levine. A Serious Eats book was published by Levine in 2011. Serious Eats was acquired by Fexy Media in 2015 and then by Dotdash in late 2020. ...
.'' She became a longtime contributor to the publication, where she served as a senior editor and was dubbed the website's "pastry wizard," though she has continued to be based in Lexington. After contributing to ''Serious Eats'' from 2011 to 2019, with three years as its pastry editor, Parks became editor
emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...
at the site. Parks's work combines baking, history, and science. She is known for developing precise, complex recipes that often elevate American childhood favorite desserts through copycat recipes. In 2017, Parks published her debut cookbook, ''BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts''. She spent six years working on the book, which involved archival research as well as recipe testing. The cookbook celebrates iconic American desserts and explores the history of the commercial food industry's influence on home baking. The ''BraveTart'' cookbook became a ''New York Times'' bestseller and was well received by critics. It was described as "the most groundbreaking book on baking in years" by ''
Saveur ''Saveur'' is an online gourmet, food, wine, and travel magazine that publishes essays about various world cuisines. The publication was co-founded by Dorothy Kalins, Michael Grossman, Christopher Hirsheimer, and Colman Andrews. It was started ...
'' and "one of the greatest dessert books of our time" by ''
Bon Appétit ''Bon Appétit'' is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center ...
''. In 2018, Parks's ''BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts'' won a
James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...
for Best Baking and Dessert Book. After stepping back from ''Serious Eats'' in 2019, Parks entered what she dubbed her "hermit era," focusing on a less deadline-driven life balance.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parks, Stella Living people American women chefs Culinary Institute of America alumni Pastry chefs Chefs from Kentucky James Beard Foundation Award winners People from Versailles, Kentucky Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women