Decadent & Notorious | Mindy Crosato

Decadent & Notorious pretty much sums up Mindy Crosato. She's the force behind Decadent Creations and the creator of Notorious B.A.G.E.L., two very different expressions of the same obsession: making food interesting. On 50 Tastes Of Gray, Matthew Gray sits down with Mindy for a wide-ranging conversation about macarons, champagne, unconventional bagels, food waste, culinary creativity, French food, family and building food businesses. Mindy talks about the precision behind her macarons, including her memorable “happy elf” meringue test, and why she personally still makes roughly 1,000 macarons a week. Then there's Notorious B.A.G.E.L. Mindy explains why she created a separate business around her bagels and why she deliberately went in an unconventional direction. Chicken soup bagels, Frito pie bagels, furikake, kimchi egg and inventive cream cheeses are part of the mix. The conversation also gets into champagne and sparkling wine, including Mindy's love of Spanish traditional-method sparkling wine, her reputation as a food snob, and the memorable story of her “divorce bottle” of Dom Pérignon. One of the most fascinating parts of the conversation is Mindy's approach to food waste. Her bakery has developed what she calls “carryover pathways” and “utilization pathways,” finding new uses for products that might otherwise be discarded. Brioche and croissants become bread pudding. Cookies become crumble. Whole leftover pies can become filling for cinnamon rolls. Mindy also talks about: Decadent Creations Collective Market Portland food and baking Macarons and meringue technique Champagne and sparkling wine Notorious B.A.G.E.L. Unconventional bagel flavors Brisket and “salt beef” French culinary culture Cooking for family Her cookbook Food photography and creative direction A French-Pacific Northwest supper club Farmers markets and building a food business Culinary classes Food waste and creative reuse And then Mindy takes over the interview. She turns the questions on Matthew, getting into what he cooks at home, his spice pantry, roasting coffee, Hawaii and the years he spent building Hawaii Food Tours. It's a conversation about food, but it's really a conversation about how people think, create, build businesses, and decide what makes life worth tasting. This is 50 Tastes Of Gray. 00:00 — Decadent & Notorious 00:39 — The early-morning baker 02:09 — Champagne, dosage & Spanish sparkling wine 05:01 — What does “decadent” really mean? 06:02 — The divorce bottle 09:03 — Working with your husband 10:00 — When the dishwasher catches fire 14:47 — French food culture & being a food snob 18:15 — The art of making macarons 19:37 — Mindy's “happy elf” meringue test 21:24 — Why macarons cost so much 22:44 — The fight against food waste 23:05 — Mindy's utilization pathways 26:16 — The Raccoon Baker 28:14 — Mindy's first food memory 29:36 — Burgers, fries & beef suet 32:31 — What do you do with peach skins? 33:15 — Collective Market 36:03 — Mindy's secret smashed-potato seasoning 38:05 — Cooking for people you want to impress 41:32 — The ultimate dessert for her husband 43:09 — The French-Pacific Northwest supper club 46:03 — Speaking French 47:28 — The blended family 49:30 — The next generation of cooks 51:06 — What's Mindy eating today? 53:07 — What makes a great bagel? 54:51 — Notorious B.A.G.E.L. 56:29 — Brisket and salt beef 57:36 — The cookbook & creative life 01:00:19 — Squab, binchotan & French tomatoes 01:02:19 — Mindy takes over the interview 01:02:42 — What does Matthew cook at home? 01:03:13 — The spice pantry 01:04:05 — Roasting coffee the homemade way 01:06:14 — Hawaii Food Tours 01:10:40 — Mindy's cooking classes 01:12:39 — What will Aurelien think? 01:16:10 — Mindy's final pitch 01:16:45 — Aloha