Other
Dana Cree
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Dana Cree’s work tracks the move from restaurant pastry to a dedicated Ice Cream business, with The Art Institute of Seattle at one end and Pretty Cool Ice Cream in Chicago, Illinois, at the other. The line runs through Blackbird, Avec, and the other kitchens that shaped her pace and standards. In those rooms, dessert had to hold at the close of service; in her own business, Ice Cream carries that same discipline into a format built for takeout, sharing, and repeat eating. The result is a practice that extends pastry technique into a different register without loosening the demands of craft.
Coming Up
Training at The Art Institute of Seattle gave Dana Cree an early technical base, and the first kitchen years pushed that training into service. She worked as cook at Lampreia in Seattle (2000–2003), then as pastry chef at The Fat Duck in Bray, England (2005). Back in Seattle, she served as pastry chef at Eva in Seattle (2005–2008) and at Veil in Seattle (2008), before moving to Chicago for pastry work at Avec in Chicago (until 2012), Blackbird in Chicago (from 2012), and The Publican in Chicago (until 2018). That sequence shows the usual demands of restaurant pastry: speed, control, and consistency under pressure. Today, Dana is owner of Pretty Cool Ice Cream (since 2018), where those habits are applied to a different kind of service.
Where They Are Now
Pretty Cool Ice Cream in Chicago, Illinois is the current center of Dana Cree’s work, and Ice Cream is the form that organizes the rest. In restaurant pastry, dessert lands as the last course; here, the product is built for carrying, freezing, thawing, and coming back to texture over time. Cree talks about that work through specifics of structure and flavor, describing one item as “basically a tiny, crunchy, peanut buttery base with milk chocolate in it.” She has also described another element as “The top is a burnt sugar white chocolate ganache.” The language she uses suggests a craft concerned with recognition as much as novelty. “It’s one of those things that we grew up with, squeezing it out of a bottle, and we figured out how to make it,” she has said, which places her work in the middle of familiarity and adjustment rather than reinvention for its own sake. Even the snack she reaches for after service stays in that practical, ingredient-driven register: “My go-to snack when I get home from work is thawed frozen green peas with a little feta or a sesame tahini vinaigrette with some diced onions.”
Signature
Dana's signature dishes include Nutter Butter and Roasted Vanilla Ice Cream.
In Their Words “The top is a burnt sugar white chocolate ganache.”
Honors
Dana's honors include International Association of Culinary Professionals Award, Single Subject category, for Hello, My Name is Ice Cream.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Dana
Where did Dana Cree train or study?
Dana Cree trained at The Art Institute of Seattle.
What recognition has Dana Cree received?
International Association of Culinary Professionals Award, Single Subject category, for Hello, My Name is Ice Cream (2018).
