Lena Sareini

Coming Up

The baking and pastry program at Schoolcraft College gave Lena Sareini the base that pastry asks for: disciplined technique, repetition, and the kind of slow refinement that shows up in the finished plate. From that framework came a style shaped by control, curiosity, and close attention to texture and finish. At Selden Standard in Detroit, Michigan, pastry chef Lena Sareini brought that training into the pace of a working kitchen. There, the work had to hold together under service, with each dessert carrying the precision of practice and the room to keep testing what a plate can do.

Where They Are Now

“I want to see empty plates come back.” That line sets the measure. For Lena Sareini, a dessert has done its job when it is finished cleanly, not just admired. The aim is a plate that lands with enough clarity to pull focus at first glance and enough balance to keep the last bite worth taking.

Signature

Lena's signature dishes include peach pavlova, Brown-Butter Banana Bread, Banana-Caramel Sauce, and Labneh Panna Cotta with Orange Blossom Granita. Taken together, these dishes show a pastry hand working through contrast: crisp against creamy, bright against rich, familiar against sharpened. The peach pavlova is the clearest example, built from meringue, brandy cream, lemon shortbread crumble, fresh peaches, and caramelized peaches in a sequence that moves cleanly from one texture and flavor to the next. Brown-Butter Banana Bread and Banana-Caramel Sauce sit in a more grounded register, while Labneh Panna Cotta with Orange Blossom Granita points to a lighter, more aromatic finish without losing control.

In Their Words “I am always working on new things, that’s my favorite part of the craft.” “I want to see empty plates come back.” Read together, those lines describe the practice plainly: make, refine, repeat, and build desserts that people finish.

Honors

Lena's honors include James Beard Award nomination, Food & Wine Best New Chef (2020), and Eater Young Guns semifinalist. These honors sit alongside the work rather than above it. They mark recognition for a pastry chef whose training, execution, and ongoing experimentation have already drawn notice while the craft continues to move forward.