Above: Sketch of the KOVAL logo by Anna Posey
We first stumbled upon Anna Posey's beautiful photographs through Star Chefs, who featured her as a "Rising Star Pastry Chef" earlier this summer. But one look at Anna's website or Instagram account will tell you that she's a pastry chef with an especially artful eye—her relationship to food is heavily influenced by her degree in painting and drawing from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
Anna's culinary career began at the Le Bec Fin in Philadelphia, where she discovered a passion for the creative challenges posed by pastry that led her to Chicago and the French Pastry school. After internships at Blackbird and The Publican, Anna now oversees the pastry departments at The Publican and Publican Quality Meats.
"What attracted me to The Publican was the people," said Anna. "It is, and always has been, such an amazing environment, and it attracted amazing people. The cooks are excited to learn, and eager to show. We try to discourage judgement and the cliche, harsh working atmosphere you see [in restaurants] on tv." As a creative person, Anna says that this kind of nonjudgmental environment is what makes her excited to try new things.
We were thrilled when Anna agreed to take over our Instagram account for a day, visually giving us a taste of her culinary visions and incorporating some KOVAL flavors along the way.
Above: Apple with roasted Klug Farm apples, KOVAL Rose Hip Liqueur, and vanilla bean. Topped with a burnt milk ice cream and a bit more liqueur.
"The intersection of food, art and design has happened very naturally for me. I sort of cut out art after getting very involved in the restaurant industry. I felt like I didn't have enough time to give to oil painting, so I just made up my mind that food was my new art. Sometimes you put yourself into this box, and for whatever reason you feel like you can't cross those lines."
"When my pastry department moved into our new space, everything slowly became more like art in my eyes. We are in this beautiful white, clean space with unbelievable natural lighting. All the food I have worked with for years in poorly lit kitchens, now looks like a piece of art. Food became art, and I felt like my idea of art changed. I don't have to do large scale, thought provoking paintings. For now, a watercolored backdrop to showcase a lovely apple is enough. Everything snowballed from that space. I'm lucky to work in such a great environment with the best food the Midwest has to offer."
Above: Monkey bread topped with oat caramel made with KOVAL Oat Whiskey, Baker Miller oats, and Klug Farms cream.
