“You see a lot of sweet tamales on dessert menus," the pastry chef says. "I’ve just never seen anything like this before."
The dish starts with a tortilla from Tucson-based Alejandro’s Tortilla Factory that is made with nopales. The cactus imparts a subtle green hue. She then layers on the cremeux and apricot gel. As Kass builds each layer, standing at the bar of Valentine’s sibling Bar 1912, she tucks in her tattooed arms to keep each line smooth and straight. Kass keeps her brown hair pulled back with a claw clip, with her curtain bangs framing her face as she works.
Next, she carefully adds small dollops of a sweet salsa macha. She’s blunted the typical taco topper and given it a dessert twist with piloncillo, agave and cacao nibs. The plate is finished when she places fresh segments of apricot and tarragon leaves.
“It tastes sweet on the palate,” she says. “But then it’s also a little savory and smoky and spicy.”
It’s one of a slate of new summery desserts from the acclaimed pastry chef. Since arriving at Valentine in 2021, Kass has been named a James Beard Award semifinalist three times in the category of Outstanding Pastry Chef. This year and last, she advanced to the next round as a nominee in the prestigious culinary awards.
Though she went to the Beard Awards last year without much expectation, this year it’s hard not to feel some kind of anticipation.
“There is a part of me that feels, because this is my second time as a finalist and my third time being nominated, that there might be more of a chance of winning this year,” Kass says, her response measured. “I don’t want to get my hopes up.”
If she takes home the medal for Outstanding Pastry Chef on Monday night, she’ll be the first Arizona chef to do so.
“I actually didn’t think about that,” she says, smiling widely. “That’s pretty exciting.”
‘She’s constantly pushing herself’
Kass grew up in Chicago and trained at the French Pastry School there. While she left the blustery culinary mecca for a warmer climate, sometimes you can still hear a smidge of her midwestern accent.In the decade she’s been in the Valley, the chef has worked at JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn, the now-shuttered Phoenix Public Market Cafe, Sweet Dee’s Bakeshop and the high-end, local ingredient-driven restaurant Persepshen before she arrived at Valentine.
The thing that struck Valentine owner Blaise Faber about Kass is “from the beginning, she was devoted to perfection,” he says. “She was like, ‘I just want to make the best French pastries in the whole United States.’”
The pastry chef pairs her French technique with her heritage – her parents hail from Guerrero, Mexico.
Her dishes often nod to a childhood memory or desserts made by her mom or grandmother. She's riffed on a tres leches cake that was a staple of family gatherings and infused the cinnamon-sugar of a churro in the classic French pastry, Paris-Brest.
“I like to play sometimes off of nostalgia or what I know," Kass says. “Even the grocery store sometimes, honestly, can spark my brain."
She weaves all her experience and expertise through the Valentine filter of putting Arizona and Sonoran Desert ingredients at the center.
“Her creativity goes in all these different ways, so I never really know what to expect,” Faber says. “That’s so fun to see.”
Valentine's latest dessert menu also includes a vegan squash blossom upside down cake with a coconut whip.
Sara Crocker
Shiny and crisp layered pastries beckon from a case next to the restaurant's coffee bar. Those morning staples garnered attention for the use of local White Sonoran Wheat. Kass and her team add their stamp with a rotation of danishes and croissants filled and topped with sweet and savory combinations. The restaurant has featured renditions inspired by iconic dishes, such as a Sonoran hot dog. Currently, the case also includes conchas sandwiched with matcha whip and fresh cherries.
The pastry team deals in all things flour at Valentine, making breads, pasta and the pretzels that the New York Times dining team couldn't stop thinking about. And, of course, Kass and her team also manage the restaurant's rotation of plated desserts.
In between two of her James Beard award nods, Eater dubbed Kass one of five pastry chefs defining restaurant dessert.
It's simple for Kass; she and her team just keep on the same track, “cranking out products, still doing the same stuff.”
While she's remained focused on pastry, the restaurant has experienced some major changes recently. Its acclaimed chef, and fellow James Beard Award semifinalist, Donald Hawk, departed in May. He hung up his apron to dive into a new career in wildlife biology.
“I’m extremely happy for him but also really sad that he will no longer be here,” Kass says.
Kass likes to play with sweet and savory ingredients in her dessert. The dessert tostada uses a sweet, spicy salsa macha.
Sara Crocker
Next on Kass’s to-do list is testing a layered dessert that has been kicking around in her mind since she saw rainbow sherbet in the frozen aisle while at the grocery store. She wants to use tropical flavors of passionfruit, mango and cilantro-lime. In a nod to baked Alaska, she’s considering serving the frozen treat with a crispy meringue.
“My brain’s been working on that one,” she says.
Whatever Kass is making, it’s not guaranteed to stick around on a menu in perpetuity. It’s something Faber says that he warns guests while reminding them, “you’re going to love the next thing.”
“I think that’s a testament of her ability as well," he says. “She’s constantly pushing herself to be releasing things.”
On Monday night, chefs, restaurateurs and the food-obsessed will tune their attention to the James Beard Awards ceremony in Chicago. Kass and Faber will attend in person.
“We’ve all got our fingers crossed for her. She’s worked really hard for it,” Faber says. “We love her either way.”
She plans to take in some of the pre-events where chefs mingle, but says she'll be in bed early Sunday so that she's well-rested for the red carpet and ceremony.
“This year I feel more comfortable because now I know what it’s going to be like,” she says.
Regardless of the outcome, Kass plans to celebrate afterwards with a meal at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Smyth. Amid the excitement, she will also give herself plenty of time to see her family, relax and enjoy more the city’s restaurants and bakeries.
Kass isn’t the only Phoenix chef up for an award. Lom Wong’s Yotaka “Sunny” Martin is a nominee for Best Chef Southwest. Martin and her husband Alex cooked alongside the Valentine team for a local James Beard-hosted "Taste America" event in March. Because she was handling dessert, Kass got to watch some of the diner service in action.
"Seeing Sunny behind the line here was pretty incredible," she says.
This is the first time in five years that two Arizona women are finalists for the awards. In 2020, Barrio Cafe chef-owner Silvana Salcido Esparza and Rancho Pinot chef-owner Chrysa Robertson were nominees for Best Chef Southwest.
Now, Martin and Kass will represent the state on the national stage.
