Kelly Mencin

The Philosophy Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Mencin traces the beginning of the work to a household where cooking and baking were part of daily life. "I loved being in the kitchen with them, but, most importantly, I loved to eat." Before their role at Radio Bakery, Mencin worked as Pastry Chef at Rolo's and as a tournant at Gramercy Tavern, both in New York City. Those positions sit behind the exactness of the pastry case now: the discipline of service, the timing of a professional kitchen, and the ability to move between tasks without losing attention to detail. In 2025, Mencin was named a StarChefs New York City Rising Stars Award Winner. The honor fits a body of work built around desserts that balance precision with heart, nostalgia with surprise — a description that feels especially apt for pastry, where measurement and feeling have to share the same table.

In Practice At the Brooklyn, New York City address, the work includes seasonal and craveable pastries, sandwiches, and breads. Filled croissants and focaccia sandwiches are core specialties, giving the bakery a rhythm that moves from laminated dough to savory structure without treating either side as secondary. The bacon, egg & cheese focaccia is one named example of that approach: familiar, direct, and built on bread rather than merely accompanied by it. The Passionfruit Tart shows the other side of the range, a 9-inch tart layered with silky curd, softly whipped crème fraîche, and fresh seeds for crunch; it is noted for balancing bright passionfruit with rich chocolate and espresso flavors. That balance is not accidental. "Whenever we revisit a flavor or recipe, we always test and test and test." The line reveals a method that values return: a recipe is not fixed because it has been made once, and a flavor is not finished because it is recognizable.

In Their Words "It was and still is a LOT." There is no romance in that sentence, only the weight of doing the work repeatedly and still choosing it. The childhood memory is equally plain: parents cooking, a young person nearby, the pull of the kitchen, and the stronger pull of eating. In that arc, pastry becomes less like ornament and more like a way of thinking through pleasure with structure: curd and crunch, nostalgia and surprise, bread and filling, a remembered craving sharpened by testing.

Signature

Kelly's signature dishes include Passionfruit Tart and bacon and egg & cheese focaccia.