Natasha Pickowicz

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Natasha Pickowicz
Pickowicz works in 2017
Born1984 (age 41–42)
San Diego, California, US
EducationCornell University (B.A.)
Culinary career
Previous restaurant(s)
Awards won

Natasha Pickowicz (born 1984) is an American pastry chef, activist, and cookbook author. She served as Head Pastry Chef at Matter House, which ran three New York restaurants (Flora Bar, Altro Paradiso, and Estela) simultaneously, before being furloughed during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has written and published two cookbooks: More Than Cake, a New York Times Best Cookbook, in 2023, and Everyone Hot Pot in 2026. She is also widely recognized for her charity bake sales.

Biography

Pickowicz was raised in San Diego to a Chinese mother and an Irish-Ukrainian-American father,[1] both academics who taught at the University of California, San Diego.[2] She studied Scottish Literature at Cornell[1] and, after moving to Montreal, intended to go for a PhD in ethnomusicology but was rejected by all the local graduate schools. She worked under the table as a baker at a local restaurant called Dépanneur La Pick Up after claiming she had experience[3] while serving as a newspaper arts and entertainment editor, and soon pivoted to food writing and baking[2][4] at Lawrence Restaurant.[5]

She moved back to New York and worked at Marlow and Sons before becoming Head Pastry Chef at Matter House and their restaurants, Flora Bar, Altro Paradiso, and Estela.[6][7] She was furloughed during the COVID-19 pandemic and since then has run a baking pop-up series called Never Ending Taste.[4][8] She also ran a hot pot pop-up.[9]

She ran her first charity bake sale in 2017, after the first inauguration of Donald Trump, and fundraised for Planned Parenthood of New York.[10] She created a second in 2018, raising US$20,000 for Planned Parenthood, and a third in 2019.[11] She has since ran many bake sales, including one in June 2022 fundraising for abortion care[12] and one in October 2025 fundraising for food insecurity and systems and immigrants' rights.[13] These bake sales have raised over $200,000 for charities.[14]

She was a semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef in the James Beard Foundation Awards in 2018[15] and 2019[16] and a nominee for the same award in 2020.[17]

In 2023, she wrote her first cookbook, More Than Cake, which was baking-focused. It was named as one of the New York Times Best Cookbooks of the year in 2023[18] and was nominated for Best Book (Baking and Desserts) in the 2024 James Beard Awards.[19] Her second book, Everyone Hot Pot, which focuses on hot pot, was published in 2026.[20][21]

References

  1. Slaughter, Melissa (October 17, 2023). "Mixed Asian Media–Natasha Pickowicsz on Asian Ingredients, Cake, and Bake Sales". Mixed Asian Media. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  2. "Natasha Pickowicz". Gossamer. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  3. Ledgerwood, Angela (February 12, 2018). "The Sweet Life of Natasha Pickowicz". FW. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  4. "Lunching With Natasha Pickowicz". INKA. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  5. "Natasha Pickowicz's Career Path". Culinary Agents. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  6. Tishgart, Sierra (November 17, 2016). "How This Pastry Pro Made Herself Invaluable to a Demanding Chef". Grub Street. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  7. "Natasha Pickowicz Is the Queen of Sticky Buns". Great Jones. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  8. "Natasha Pickowicz's Never Ending Taste at Té". Té Company. July 13, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  9. "Chef, NATASHA PICKOWICZ". The Qi. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  10. "Behind Closed Doors: Natasha Pickowicz". CAP Beauty. December 27, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  11. Pickowicz, Natasha (May 13, 2019). "How I Protest With Pastries". Bon Appétit. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  12. Makhijani, Pooja (March 17, 2023). "Who Are You Feeding?: PW Talks with Natasha Pickowicz". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  13. Bombe, Cherry; Pickowicz, Natasha (October 16, 2025). "How to Throw a Bake Sale, by the Queen of the Bake Sale". Cherry Bombe. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  14. Carter, Morgan (October 9, 2025). "Over 100 of NYC's best bakers and pastry chefs are coming together for one big community bake sale". Time Out New York. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  15. "The 2018 James Beard Award Semifinalists". www.jamesbeard.org. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  16. "The 2019 James Beard Award Semifinalists". www.jamesbeard.org. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  17. "The 2020 James Beard Award Nominees". www.jamesbeard.org. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  18. Sichynsky, Tanya (December 12, 2023). "The Best Cookbooks of 2023". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  19. "Introducing the James Beard 2024 Book Award Nominees". Shelf Life. May 3, 2024. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  20. Lower, Claire. "For Natasha Pickowicz, Hot Pot is an At-Home Affair". Christopher Kimball's Milk Street: Recipes, TV and Cooking Tips. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  21. Goddu, Charlotte (February 23, 2026). "Natasha Pickowicz, Hot-Pot Alchemist". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved June 13, 2026.