The Icon
CHRISTINA TOSI
Milk Bar Founder and CEO | New York, New York
milkbarstore.com
Follow on Instagram: @christinatosi & @milkbarstore
Christina Tosi is like the all-American pop star of the baking industry, except she’s
more warrior than princess. A two-time James Beard Award winner, Christina is the
mastermind behind Milk Bar, the sister bakery to the Momofuku restaurant group
and what’s been called a pop culture phenomenon. With its chalkboard menus,
neon pink logo, and late closing time, Milk Bar defi es all preconceived notions of
what a conventional bakery should be.
You may have spotted Christina in one of Milk Bar’s 16 locations, teaching a baking
class or dreaming up her next dessert in the innovation lab. Rocking red Chuck
Taylor All Stars, a colorful scarf her grandmother sewed for her tying back her
strawberry blonde hair, she’s hard to miss. You’ve probably read about her in the
pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or Forbes. Maybe you’ve watched her
talk sweets on NBC’s TODAY!, as a judge on Fox’s MasterChef and MasterChef Junior,
or on Netfl ix’s Emmy-nominated docu-series Chef’s Table: Pastry, in which she was
profi led as one of the top pastry chefs in the world.
Don’t let the star power or Christina’s sunny disposition fool you. She is just as
much grit as she is glitter, a sugar-whispering force of nature. Before Christina, no
one left their cakes unfrosted or put potato chips in cookie dough. She glamorized
grocery store staples, making her baked goods nostalgic and groundbreaking all at
once. With an online mail-order service that ships desserts internationally and a
retail line of baking mixes, Milk Bar’s reach is enormous and still growing. Discover
the story behind three of Christina’s most iconic desserts.