Sweet Perspectives

The best part of Pastry Chef Megan Quick’s role at Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove is making delicious treats that delight the senses. “My favorite parts are the finishing touches—little details that make them look extra special,” says Quick, who has been with the company since 2017. “I see dessert as an important touchpoint of the [end of the] meal, our final opportunity to make an impression. I want to create a memorable experience for our guests and put in the extra effort to make them feel welcome.”

Quick says that she has always wanted to be an artist. “I had parents who were artistic, so I was brought up that way,” says the Wisconsin native. Despite originally thinking she would pursue a career in graphic design, Quick found that she connected more with baking: “I was selling little treats to friends and coworkers when I realized this could be the artistic career I had been looking for, so I went to culinary school in 2006.” She soon found work, first as a pastry chef at a fine-dining restaurant and then with a chocolatier. She also helped a local fine foods distributor start its own gluten-free bakery before joining Sub-Zero Group, Inc.

PHOTO BY ELLA WILLIAMS

Being able to utilize the brand’s appliances in her work is amazing, she notes. “I adore the Wolf Convection Oven for baking, but the Sub-Zero Freezer is my appliance of choice,” says Quick. “I love that I get a lot of things done ahead of time by having cakes, mousses, and other components of my desserts at the ready.” She takes pride in pulling everything together seamlessly and with high-quality results. “The freezer does such a great job, and my desserts come out looking and tasting so fantastic.”

Another aspect of her work that brings great satisfaction is taking care of people’s dietary needs while also surprising them with new tastes. “We are encouraged to go out of our way to give the guests the best experience that we can,” says Quick, who draws on her family’s farming background to incorporate seasonal local products as much as possible.

“Growing up in that environment, I learned the value of patience, waiting for the first taste of a sun-ripened strawberry,” she says, explaining that she also learned the necessity of preservation. “Our season is so short here in the Midwest that we want to enjoy our harvest for as long as possible. We have this wonderful garden here at Sub-Zero, [Harvest Haven Farm at Sub-Zero Group headquarters in Fitchburg, Wisconsin], and I like to take advantage of that in my cooking.”

Because of her previous experience, Quick loves creating chocolates and also relishes the challenge of more complex items like laminated dough, a preparation consisting of many thin layers of dough separated by butter. “It is not something I do all the time because it is a two-day process, but I love making it.”

Her artistic passions extend beyond pastry, however. “My mom taught me how to spin yarn when I was a little kid,” she says. “I remember going to the neighbor’s farm with her and picking up raw wool. We spun it and then dyed it on the stove with vegetable dye. Now I realize how special that was.”

With time on her hands during the COVID pandemic, Quick experimented with different art genres and styles, and rediscovered her love for fiber arts. She does various kinds of weaving and keeps busy creating tufted rugs that have proved very popular. “I started small with a little handheld punch tufting tool and then, as it grew, I invested in more equipment, such as an electric tufting gun and a large-scale frame.” She takes commissions, sometimes based on her own designs, and uses both transfers and a projector to project the design onto her frame. “It is nice to have the tools you need to do the job,” she says, something that is as true for her rugs as it is for her pastries.

Quick clearly has a busy life (she and her fiancé like to take walks near their home in Madison or go kayaking in the summer), but she enjoys fitting all her interests into it. “I’m lucky that my primary responsibility at work is pastry, so I love cooking dinner at home,” she says.

Her baking is also part of her art, and she takes great pleasure in that work. “I don’t have a million recipes, but I have a few that I really, really love, and I mix and match them to create new things.” She explains that much of her joy in pastry making comes from the colors and textures, and from how she styles and presents her creations. “I always draw pictures when I’m planning what I’m going to make,” she adds. “I like seeing the little sketch of each one. It just calms me down and satisfies my right brain. And then, of course, I know they will taste as great as they look.”