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Colleen prepares pastries to bake in the oven at her restaurant Sfoglia.
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Chef Colleen Marnell Suhanosky, owner of the Sfoglia with her husband Ron. Photo by Jordi Cabre
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Colleen's famous bread. A work in progress that she is still perfecting. Absolutely delicious!
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Chef Colleen Suhanosky of Sfoglia
Name: Colleen Marnell-Suhanosky
Age: 32
Born & Raised: Tucson, Arizona
Restaurant Name: Sfoglia
Reservations: 508.325.4500
Location: 130 Pleasant Street, Nantucket, MA 02554
Web Address: sfogliarestaurant.com
When did you first become interested in food?
I first became interested in food when I was a teenager. My family was always food oriented and grew a lot of vegetables in the summer. They loved gardening, and we always ate lots of vegetables from the garden. My grandfather owned an Italian American restaurant in Minneapolis. We moved to Minneapolis from Arizona when I was 12.
What inspired you to become a chef?
In my second year of college I was frustrated with my classes and decided to make a change. I dropped out school and went to the Culinary Institute of America to train to be a chef. I studied Savoy food in school. After I graduated from CIA, I worked as a line chef for 3 years in Boston at Biba.
When did you decide to become pastry chef?
When I was job searching after I left Biba, I was looking for a less stressful job besides a line chef. I was applying for a job at a new restaurant, but they were only looking for a pastry chef; they suggested I take it. As time went on, I became fascinated by pastry and it kept my attention.
How is pastry work different for line work?
You see the transformation of ingredients such as butter, flour, and sugar when you bake it in the oven and it becomes a cookie. You just never know what’s going to come out of the oven or how it’s going to look. You have more time, it’s a lot less stressful, and you can be more meticulous.
Where did you go to school/train?
I went to Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, about 1 hour outside the city for 2 years.
Years in cooking business:
I’ve been cooking for 9 years.
Where you have worked?
I have worked at Biba and La Bettola in Boston; I had my own catering company in Boston called Caterers On The Hill. I also worked at Il Cibreo in Florence, Italy for 3 months, and also at Lacrota in Alba, Italy. When I got back to the states, I worked at Gramercy Tavern in NYC for a year.
You and Ron are partners in this restaurant, where did you meet?
We met at Biba in Boston. He has enamored with me from the start, but it wasn’t reciprocal. He really pursued me. After 5-6 months, we started spending time together, and I realized we had the same dreams. We lived together 5 years before we were married in 1998 on Nantucket.
How did you end up moving to Nantucket and starting Sfoglia?
We had been searching for a location for a restaurant in NYC and Boston, and nothing was working for us. We were vacationing on Cape Cod and reading the Sunday Globe, and there was an ad for our current space. It was the only Sunday it ran, and we were the only ones who called. We came out, looked at it, and knew right away it was going to work. That was in October, and we moved here in December.
What style/culture influences and inspires you?
Italian and simple, understated elegant style.
Who are your mentors?
There is a food writer Lauri Cowlin who wrote for Gourmet Magazine in the '70s and '80s; she has a very practical philosophy of food. Also Lindsey Shere--she was a pastry chef at Chez Panisse in Berkley California and co-authored a pastry cookbook called Chez Panisse Deserts.
How would you describe the restaurant to someone who’s never been?
Sfoglia is a comfortable and heartwarming place. It's like eating in someone’s house and sitting down with the cook--authentic Italian style cooking.
How do you come up with ideas for the desert menu?
I come up with desert ideas from fruit that is in season, and try to get inspiration from other people and chefs. I also get inspiration from traditional old cookbooks, the older the better.
The bread at Sfoglia is so amazing, do you make it, and what's your secret?
Laughs, yes I make it. It's a very high water ratio to flour, so it makes a very light and airy crumb. I got the recipe from Balthazar in NYC, and I worked it until I got an end product that was delicous. It turned out very different from the original recipe. I never expected so much praise for the bread. It's a work in progress, and I still havent perfected it.
What do you do that is different from anyone else?
We run this restaurant like it is our home. We live above the restaurant, and it really does feel like our home. My pastries are really simple and honest, and I don’t try to upscale them.
Do you travel for inspiration? Where have you gone?
Defiantly, we try to go to Italy at least once a year. We love to go to the "mom and pop" places. We love going to NYC; it's exhilarating for us. We’re like kids in a candy store when we go down there.
What are your favorite dishes?
I love making tarts, because the variations are endless. I love the fact that I can bake something and serve the customer something hot out of the oven and still bubbling.
Any tips for the cooking at home when making deserts?
Keep it simple. Perfectly ripe fruit and a glass of Moscato can be a perfect dessert.
Thanks for talking with Nantucket Food & Wine. Do you have any final words?
Its been a long 3 years, but I'm glad where we are with the restaurant.
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