The Hunger
The Hunger
Tatum Sinclair of Valhalla, Apolonia, and S.K.Y.
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Tatum Sinclair of Valhalla, Apolonia, and S.K.Y.

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A few times a year I enjoy a dish so much that it sort of eclipses everything else at the meal. I was recently at Valhalla when chef Tatum Sinclair rolled up with a bowl of liquid nitrogen and started throwing bombs.

What landed was sweet lemon on lemon on lemon violence in the form of a meringue stuffed with lemon Dippin’ Dots, lemon Slurpee, and lemon marmalade. What followed was the essence of breakfast including a hot fresh-from-the-oven center of a righteous Cinnabon. This was capped of by mignardises made with Sinclair’s own proprietary blend of chocolate made by Cacao Barry.

Sinclair with her custom Cacao Barry cocoa blend.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I experienced such a complete and exciting pastry portion of a meal.

My first thought was, if Sinclair wanted to open her own restaurant, what would that look like? Sinclair already knew and she is in the process of building out a dessert-focused restaurant called Haven with her chef partner Stephen Gillanders.

Sinclair and I talk a little about Haven, her goals to open a dairy farm, why the Valhalla group is such a dream team, and so much more. Enjoy the podcast.

Discussion about this podcast

The Hunger
The Hunger
Michael Nagrant, the last Chicago Sun-Times food critic, and a contributor to the James Beard Award-Winning Alinea restaurant cookbook broadcasts about life, cooking, food, and restaurants. This podcast will feature audio feeds of my essays for people who prefer to listen rather than read. Additionally I'll be producing audio interviews with chefs and food personalities.