Robert Wemischner

Pastry chef and culinary educator, Robert Wemischner has always been intrigued by the flavor potential of ingredients, from turmeric to tea and from cumin to coffee. Author of four books, most recently, 'The Dessert Architect,' Wemischner began his career to great media acclaim in the food business in the early 70’s as the owner of a pioneering gourmet-to-go shop in Beverly Hills. He then went on to open a similar operation in Baltimore and in the early 90’s returned to Los Angeles and began teaching the pastry and culinary arts in earnest. Drawing upon his exposure to classical cooking at a young age during informal apprenticeships to chefs in France, he has been imparting his knowledge to a diverse audience of students as a teacher of baking and pastry for the past 16 years at Los Angeles Trade Technical College. He has also vigorously pursued freelance food writing and has been a valued and regular contributor to 'Sante,' 'Food Arts,' 'Angeleno,' 'Pastry Art and Design,' and 'Robb Report' magazines, among others, writing on a wide variety of food and food business-related subjects. He is also the author of 'The Vivid Flavors Cookbook,' a groundbreaking book about fusion cuisine, 'Gourmet to Go' on the business of specialty food retailing, and 'Cooking with Tea,' an exploration of the culinary potential of the leaf. Over the past 25 years, Robert has presented on baking, pastry, and other food-related topics to professional organizations, including the International Association of Food Professionals, Retailers Bakery Association, and Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, and continues to consult and present to food service professionals and media for companies such as Lipton Tea/Unilever and independent operations. including start-ups in the baking, food service, and restaurant fields. He has also been guest chef on board Silversea Cruise lines to Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand, where he presented on tea, cooking with tea, and tea and food pairings and also escorted tours to tea manufacturing plants as part of the shore excursion programs. Most recently, he was the guest chef aboard Crystal Cruise lines' luxury trip through the Baltic; on board he lectured on desserts and cooking with tea and worked side by side with the ship's chefs to create a menu of his signature desserts with appropriate beverage pairings. In addition, he presented on cooking with tea at the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas in June 2010. This year, Robert participated in the first annual Los Angeles International Tea Festival and was the only mainland chef to participate in the Taste of the Hawaiian Range locavore event on the Big Island, where he cooked with Hawaiian-grown tea. He will also be presenting a cooking with tea workshop at Siptea in Santa Monica.

Posts

Life is a bowl of cherries … and sencha	14 May 2013
Creamy, green, and delicious	12 Apr 2013
Not always a matter of black or white	14 Mar 2013
Enjoying tea on the high seas	13 Feb 2013
Tea-ing up for the new year	04 Jan 2013
You don’t need to mull it over	06 Dec 2012
Tea with cheese or chocolate, anyone?	06 Nov 2012
Tea (and fruit) all the way from China	09 Oct 2012
Comparing notes on tea	11 Sep 2012
Tea is hot on the grill!	07 Aug 2012
Not your southern Grandma’s iced tea	09 Jul 2012
Roast tea for an iced summer drink – going from hot to cold	11 Jun 2012
Life is a bowl of Darjeeling … and cherries	14 May 2012
Enlarging the audience for tea	14 Apr 2012
Lots brewing in San Francisco at the inaugural International Tea Festival	15 Mar 2012
Yes, tea can be served properly in restaurants!	17 Feb 2012
DIY cocoa chai	08 Dec 2011
An exotic distant memory	03 Nov 2011
Lovely lemons and tea	05 Oct 2011
A tea festival and a smoky delight	05 Sep 2011
A fruitful summer tea drink with some punch	02 Aug 2011
Cold summer supper, hot tea, and more	05 Jul 2011
Pink meets green in a dessert glass	07 Jun 2011
Loquats and Apricots: A celebration of spring in a bowl of tea	09 May 2011
Sweetness and light in a cuppa	11 Apr 2011
Braising and praising tea	07 Mar 2011
Chinese tea and Sicilian oranges	07 Feb 2011
A bowl of tea, broth, rice, and memories	06 Jan 2011
Tea with milk…and eggs and sugar	03 Dec 2010
Tea in your shortbread, anyone?	02 Nov 2010
Chai a little tenderness…	05 Oct 2010
Romancing the scone – and the tea too	07 Sep 2010
Putting real fruit flavor into tea	10 Aug 2010
Everything’s peachy: Darjeeling Tea Peach Pie	13 Jul 2010
Frosty contentment in a glass	15 Jun 2010
Turning fresh leaf into tea – an experiment	04 May 2010
Who says tea cannot be grown in America?	06 Apr 2010
A bit of tea alchemy	09 Mar 2010
Taking tea to another dimension	09 Feb 2010
Zen and the art of brewing tea and baking	12 Jan 2010
Tea tidings of the season	15 Dec 2009
My journey with tea	17 Nov 2009
The other Asian tea	20 Oct 2009
Smoke without the fire: Cooking with Lapsang Souchong	16 Sep 2009
Towards a more substantial tea sandwich	19 Aug 2009
Chill out with tea	22 Jul 2009
Tea and chocolate: Some marriages are made in heaven	24 Jun 2009
Tea and cheese, anyone?	21 May 2009
Cooking with tea is pleasure beyond the cup	20 Apr 2009