Nicole Krasinski never planned to become a pastry chef. As a teenager, she studied art at De Anza College in Cupertino, California—baking challah in the mornings, developing photographs in the afternoons. When she transferred to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she took a job at Red Hen Bread in Wicker Park to help cover tuition. But three weeks in, everything changed.
“Three weeks into my time there, I realized that getting paid to do something I loved beat paying to learn something I wasn't even sure I liked,” she says.
Inspired by the bakery’s founder—a former fine artist who found her path in flour and fermentation—Krasinski dropped out of school and dove into pastry. She joined Stuart Brioza in the kitchen at Tapawingo, where she taught herself by working through cookbooks, making mistakes, and learning from them. That early autonomy allowed her to explore ideas freely, shaping a pastry philosophy grounded in curiosity, flavor, and constant evolution.
When she and Brioza later joined San Francisco’s Rubicon, she honed her technical skills and developed a love-hate relationship with precision—especially during her trials mastering French macarons. That challenge would go on to inspire one of her most iconic desserts: the macaron ice cream sandwiches at State Bird Provisions.
When the couple opened their first restaurant in 2012, Krasinski embraced a new kind of freedom. The dessert menu became a space for spontaneity, built less on rigid formulas and more on whatever felt awesome in the moment. That guiding principle still shapes her work across The Progress and The Anchovy Bar, where she leads the pastry teams with a focus on individuality and creative voice.
“In the early years we were in it working heads down,” Krasinski says. “Now that we’re managing big teams, we still work together, but it’s more of a business collaboration.”
Her desserts reflect that same evolution—playful, structured, seasonal, and grounded in intuition. Whether it’s a roasted squash custard, a savory panna cotta, or a fresh fruit tart finished with wild herbs, her work balances refinement with joy.
Outside the kitchen, Krasinski shares her life with Brioza and their young son. She spends time in the garden, on mountain trails, or camping under the stars—bringing back a sense of groundedness and wonder that feeds her pastry, and her palate, every single day.
