Please Stop Calling Me a Pastry Chef
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Verveine Cafe & Bakery + JK Food Group Holiday Party at Little Donkey
It taunts me, it haunts me, it’s always lurking. I get it — once a pastry chef, always a pastry chef.
But here’s the thing: I haven’t been paid as a pastry chef in over six years. SIX YEARS. That’s long enough for a kid to go from kindergarten to knowing algebra (or at least pretending to). Or a high school senior getting through college and their first two subsequent years of their career path and then making a huge career change and new job title. Yet every time there’s an article about my newest venture, Verveine Cafe & Bakery, there it is: “Monica Glass, Pastry Chef Opens Cafe.”
I mean, technically true, but also wildly incomplete. And, please, don’t say it doesn’t matter or stop caring what people think. It does mean so much to me.
Little 22 year old pastry cook Moni at Le Bernardin
For all of my professional career, I’ve been linked to somebody else because I wanted to learn from the best and so I studied under the best. But since I’ve broken out on my own in 2019, over six years ago, the only thing people still attribute me to is being a pastry chef for somebody else.
It’s 2025 and sure, I still make pastries. Who doesn’t love a flaky, buttery danish or a dessert? And I can do it, so yes, I create pastries for you at my cafe. But these days, I’m not always the person making them — I have an AMAZING team who does make your pastries daily! I also have no definitive job every day except to make it all happen. I’m, the owner, the operator, the always-on-call handywoman, the bathroom cleaner, the part-time therapist (for both people and machines), and the occasional bouncer managing the line. In short: I wear so many hats, I’m basically a walking hat rack.
So, let’s set the record straight: I am not just a pastry chef. And I don’t mean this to come off as though pastry chefs are any less. BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT and I will scream it till I’m blue that all of the pastry chefs I am so lucky to know are some of the most multi-faceted, multi-talented, and all-round brilliant humans I know. BUT I also know that they do not receive the credit that they rightfully deserve. Too often thought of as having the “easy” job because they “bake cakes and cookies all day” and their stations mocked as “vacation station”, pastry chefs are so much more than they get credit for. They are quite literally the first and last bites and a huge part of the impressions a restaurant has to make. Yet they often get treated as less than so many other positions.
And so that is why it feels really defeating to be called just a pastry chef.
OK, so what am I?
I, first and foremost, am a person—a person with many passions, some talents, infinite to-do lists, lots of laughs and happy tears, and the deepest emotional connection to my dog that you’ve ever seen. Hours, we all have 24 in a day right? True but all bullshit. For everyone who doesn’t understand Verveine Café & Bakery hours right now, they are legit bakery hours. I would LOVE to be open for more hours and more days of the week. But I’m also a person who needs to learn to take some time for herself -- her physical, emotional, and mental health; her family; and her loved ones. As my team gets better and better and I can pull myself away a bit, then I would love us to open for more hours! But for now, I am pretty much always there and that is why the hours are as they are. I will never compromise quality, and, therefore, need to take any growth in a manner of time that feels right.
I, second, am a business owner – I now have written two in-tact and living business plans, built, own and operate two so-far-successful small and budding businesses – WLDFLR by Monica Glass and Verveine Café & Bakery (which I co-own with Ken Oringer).
I, third, am the chef and operator of both businesses daily.
Running Verveine is more than just recipes and pastries. Every day, I’m juggling roles. Creating menu items — both savory and sweet, R&D, training staff, prep work, inventory, scheduling, and maintaining the facilities are just some of the daily tasks. While I have amazing help with my team, the nitty gritty of the daily grind still comes down to me. If something breaks, it’s my problem. If someone calls in sick, it’s my problem. If someone forgets to to prep or order something, it’s my problem. If the bathroom is out of toilet paper and it hasn’t been changed yet, it’s my problem. If a customer wants to argue that their hot coffee isn’t hot enough? You guessed it—it’s my problem.
Besides passion, WLDFLR is the secret ingredient behind Verveine. And because it is a tiny business right now, I manage all of that, too. Inventory is easy to manage because it all comes in and out of my storage unit, and I personally unpack every delivery on my driveway from Raymond Hadley and transfer it to storage — holy frick the last order was 7500 lbs of flour! I also load up my car and drive weekly deliveries to the cafe, and I personally fulfill every website order. THANK YOU!!! Up until now I had been doing it myself, but I finally just hired an amazing friend to help with marketing and sales!
Let’s rewind a bit. A little over nine months ago, with the help of an incredible team, I opened Verveine Cafe & Bakery in Cambridge, MA. It’s my baby—except instead of diapers, this baby requires the perfect ambiance, beverages that you want to sip and savor, and an impeccable menu of breads, breakfast and lunch dishes, market items, and pastries, all gluten-free.
Why Verveine Cafe & Bakery? If you’re new here and know nothing about our backstory, I worked for Ken Oringer at his flagship Clio from 2012-2015 as his pastry chef. It was hard, like any job, but I loved every minute of it, I loved working for Ken and when I proposed leaving in 2015 because I wanted to return home to Philly, he said he’d love to work with me one day. And so sparked an idea that I continued to plan.
Why gluten-free? Because life has a sense of humor, and I have celiac disease. That’s right: when I was diagnosed 16 years ago, I was a pastry chef who suddenly couldn’t eat gluten. But instead of crying into a bag of flour, I made it my mission to create desserts and baked goods so good, gluten eaters wouldn’t even miss the wheat.
Spoiler alert: it has taken a lot of dedication, hard work, inedible errors, and scientific trials, but I believe it’s working. And I am forever grateful! Please, I’d like you to visit and be the judge!
Look, I loved my time being a pastry chef. But people grow, roles evolve, and I’ve learned that life outside the kitchen is just as fulfilling and messy and imperfect but also what I want to experience in order to truly live and experience life. These days, my “recipes” aren’t just for the café. They’re a mix of hard work, community love, family and friends, and sheer willpower. And I thank my guests at Verveine, all of our staff at Verveine (I CANNOT do this without you!!), you dear readers and subscribers, and all of my friends and family.
So, the next time visit or see something about Verveine Cafe & Bakery, just know it’s a lot more than a pastry chef’s side project. It’s a labor of love, a celebration of growth, and, many days, a caffeine-fueled miracle. And hey, if you really feel the need to add the pastry chef label, just maybe please make it former pastry chef or perhaps pastry magician (thanks Eater!).
Thanks for reading! I hope to see you and your appetite at Verveine soon!
Always,
Moni
Chef | Owner