Camari Mick
Executive Pastry Chef
About Camari Mick, Executive Pastry Chef
A dynamic rising star pastry talent and skilled baker, Executive Pastry Chef Camari Mick joined the Musket Room team in November of 2020 after owner Jennifer Vitagliano discovered her doughnuts for sale on Instagram. Quickly melding her refined-yet-playful style with the restaurant’s reliably indulgent menus, Camari onboarded in the thick of the pandemic and spearheaded the launch of “MR All-Day,” The Musket Room’s all-day cafe that operated out of a vintage 1962 Harvester truck parked out front on Elizabeth Street. With indoor dining shut down and the industry struggling, Camari’s coveted sweets (including a much lauded miso toffee chocolate chip cookie and guava cream cheese doughnut) and freshly-baked breads drew lines down the block and helped keep the restaurant afloat.
By her own account, Mick pursued pastry out of necessity. Her dad is Jamaican and her Mom is from Brooklyn, and while they’re both great cooks, their talents did not include baking. Since she always craved something sweet after dinner when growing up, she begged her mom to start baking with her and subsequently became hooked. Baking became a weekend hobby that lasted through high school, where she started selling cupcakes and pies to teachers. She then studied pastry arts at college in Philadelphia, solidifying her commitment to the field. Mick’s signature dishes tend to begin with humble ingredients and elevate them to become extraordinary. Take her vegan pavlova, for example. It varies in composition, but always sees the incorporation of inspired additions like whipped pink peppercorn cremeux, quince puree, fresh citrus and passionfruit granita, with circles of dehydrated Aquafaba Meringue standing in for the conventional egg white. Or her “Parsnip,” which features caramelized parsnip mousse in a white chocolate shell with rum cake, gooseberry, and whipped vanilla creme fraiche. Her more casual treats trigger waitlists, like her famous rotating ice cream sandos (chocolate chip cookie with miso Ice cream, and hazelnut macaron with blackberry ice cream have both been flavors) as well as her sweet and savory bao buns.
Chef Mick is keenly aware that her creations can be a vehicle for change. Having cut her teeth in world-renowned fine-dining kitchens, she recognizes the industry’s long-standing diversity problems and is intent on working towards solutions. Where she didn’t have the benefit of a mentor that looked like her, she has vowed to become that mentor for the next generation of BIPOC pastry talent.
Punctuating her meteoric ascent, Chef Mick will be a partner at The Musket Room team’s exciting new all day bakery, cafe and restaurant coming Holiday, 2022.