How I Protest With Pastries
The day after Trump was elected to office, I received an email calling an emergency meeting at Flora Bar, one of the three Matter House hospitality group restaurants where I cook. That morning I had a hard time getting out of bed. I was woozy with fear, anger, shame, and guilt. But I pulled on some pants, made the hour-long commute into the city, and huddled up with my colleagues. We asked each other how we could use our restaurant as a platform for change and resistance. I wanted to find a way to express my passion for pastry as a form of activism.
When I threw out the idea of hosting a charity bake sale for Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC), I didn’t quite know what I’d be getting into. I had zero experience fund-raising or producing an event for hundreds of people, and though our team was well-meaning, the learning curve over the next four months was immense. We crucially underestimated turnout and sold out of our sticky buns in less than 45 minutes. The room at Café Altro Paradiso, another of Matter House’s spots, was so tightly packed with guests that many couldn’t even visit all of the tables, let alone sit down and actually enjoy their treats. Honestly, the overall vibe was one of merry but undeniable chaos.
The more I reflected on my mistakes, the more I was able to troubleshoot the myriad ways the bake sale could be more streamlined, efficient, and impactful within our industry. At our second bake sale last year, we raised over $22,000 in $5 pastries—almost triple the donations from the first. On May 19 we will host our third annual event—our biggest and most ambitious yet. We’re moving the sale outdoors to help with overcrowding; we recruited over 50 guest chefs and bakers (including a dazzling array of out-of-town talent); and we even built our own bake sale website. And our goal? To raise $40,000 for PPNYC. Here’s what I’ve learned and how you can host a charity bake sale in your restaurant, bar, or wherever you work.
Choose an organization that’s personal, and think local. In its ongoing quest to provide safe and accessible reproductive and sexual health care to women and families, Planned Parenthood has been in my life for over 15 years. For the bake sale, I reached out to our local chapter, which serves Manhattan and the four other boroughs. In keeping with our grassroots spirit, I wanted our guests to know that the money they donated would go directly to programming in their own neighborhoods.
Producing a fund-raiser is a two-way street. Develop a meaningful dialogue with your charitable organization at least three to four months before your event. I recruited my production team first, then we got Planned Parenthood on board. They were with us every step of the way: The organization’s development team helped us promote in advance, and organized cool behind-the-scenes tours of its NYC headquarters for our staff. The day of the bake sale, Planned Parenthood donated gifts for our guest chefs, set up an info table, and had a huge team of volunteers on hand. They were able to explain to our guests in person exactly how their donations would be utilized (the expansion of hormone therapy programs, mobile health centers in the city’s boroughs, and more). PPNYC’s active presence at the bake sale reminded everyone why we were even doing this and definitely boosted donations.
Pick your participants wisely. Fine dining doesn’t have to mean unapproachable. When I was brainstorming the guest chef lineup the first year, the thought of cold-calling a bunch of big-name NYC restaurants felt super intimidating. But I was amazed by the encouraging chorus of support—not just from friends I knew would say yes, but the fancier prestige set too. So if you’re planning a bake sale in your town, set your sights higher than you think—you might be surprised who says yes.
And they don’t have to be chefs either. Pastry pros and bread bakers like Le Coucou’s Daniel Skurnick, Ovenly cofounders Erin Patinkin and Agatha Kulaga, and pastry guru Dorie Greenspan formed the bulk of our all-star lineup, but there were photographers, visual artists, celebrated writers, and quite a few savory-side chefs too. From Brooks Headley’s signature paper boat desserts to Brooklyn artist Fanny Gentle’s sweet painting of our poster, all the participants reflected the people in my world that I most admire. This year I reached out to my favorite food stylists and authors who have gigantic online followings (like BA contributors Alison Roman and Claire Saffitz!) but aren’t actually based in bakeries or restaurants. The mash-up of talent is a huge part of what makes the bake sale such an intimate, personal expression of my world.
Divvy up the assignments—and call dibs on your favorite sweet. In an effort to mitigate pastry redundancies, I gave the guest chefs a deadline to let me know what they would be bringing and tracked their responses in a spreadsheet. I knew there would be some overlap—don’t make me choose between Poppy’s and Alison Roman’s chocolate chip cookies—but I wanted the offerings to be as diverse and eclectic as possible. Obviously I called dibs on bringing sticky buns.
Set your par. In restaurant parlance, the par is the estimated quantity of product you think will get you through an entire service. The first year I set our bake-sale par at 50 pastries per chef—I was afraid of looking greedy and asking for too much. Much to my shock, everyone sold out within an hour or so. I was mortified. Friends were still streaming in hours later, but there was almost nothing for them to purchase. (That was when we started shucking emergency oysters and opening bottles of wine.) The following year we upped the par to 200 pastries…and still almost sold out after an hour.
Make it affordable for all. After working way too many $1,000-per-head silent-auction galas, I wanted to create a fund-raising experience in which everybody could participate. It was really important to me that the event would be inclusive for all guests, and $5 per pastry was our wallet-friendly magic number. I also loved that guests could afford to buy creations from some of the most expensive restaurants in the city, like Le Bernardin and Le Coucou. All of a sudden these places become accessible to even your most cash-strapped friends. Some will spend $5, some will spend $500—either way the bake sale will feel (and be priced!) just like the ones you went to as a kid.
Swap cash for raffle tickets. I didn’t want our guest chefs to have to deal with handling cash, so we created a simple raffle-ticket system to streamline all exchanges. Guests bought tickets in $5 increments at the door and exchanged them for baked goods.
Pay your staff. As tempting as it may be to recruit volunteers, schedule your staff and pay them an event rate—or a higher hourly wage that accounts for a lack of gratuity (in many NYC restaurants, that’s between $25 to $35 per hour). A bustling bake sale is no place for no-shows or flakes. Event pay is a solid incentive for staff to provide all the behind-the-scenes support you need—setting up the floor, moving around furniture, stamping pastry boxes, controlling crowds, and assisting the featured chefs—for the five or six hours of run-time.
Provide family meal. In the chaos of planning the first bake sale, I completely forgot to schedule some crucial moments—like a time slot for a healthy, sustaining breakfast over which the guest chefs could meet and socialize. The second year we invited our friends at Cervo’s to contribute family meal. This year, Hanoi House is treating everyone to Vietnamese breakfast. There’s nothing like an abundant feast to really let your guest chefs know how much you appreciate them, their time, and their contributions.
Have a floor plan—and share it with guests too. Weeks before the bake sale, we plotted a detailed floor plan inside the restaurant, removing all the chairs and rearranging the tables to create a clear, wide pathway for our guests to move around. We gave smaller teams a two-top and larger restaurants a four-top. We staggered “bigger name” industry professionals with non-service folks. Despite our planning, people still had a hard time climbing through the crowds and finding their favorite bakers. So for our second year, we also printed simple quarter cards with a bird’s-eye view of the dining room and a detailed key of the tables so guests could strategize their shopping route and not miss a thing.
Consider booze—or just create more ways to donate. For our second bake sale, we commissioned a limited-edition tote bag and stuffed it with a crazy assortment of donated goodies that sold for a cool $75. The day of the event, we poured fizzy wine, mezcal cocktails, and locally made meads, all available to purchase for a few raffle tickets. Thanks to expanding our offerings, we nearly tripled donations.
Document everything. If I ever get married, I imagine it’ll feel like our first bake sale: I had crazy jitters the night before; the entire day passed in a blur; I was so stressed out that I forgot to eat anything; and I wished that I had taken more photos. Reach out to a photographer at your local newspaper. They can capture the best and most candid moments. Don’t forget a group photo of all participants and volunteers before everything starts! It’s one of my most cherished mementos from the bake sale.
Don’t forget music. If you’re like me, the music playing in a restaurant can really make or break your dining experience. The week of the bake sale, I culled five hours’ worth of my favorite bouncy, all-female, disco-heavy jams. Not trying to brag here, but Altro managers love to throw on my bake-sale mixes during an energetic weekend service.
Or the after-party. After the dust settled, no one was ready to call it a night. Considering how miraculous it was to get a few dozen of NYC’s most talented pastry chefs and bakers in one room at the same time, I took advantage of the moment for continued bonding. Make it as easy as possible for your guest bakers and pick a mellow easy space within walking distance. Nothing like capping off a successful fund-raiser with speeches and shots!
Be swift with the follow-up. As soon as the bake sale is over, don’t drag on the administrative aftermath. Format images from photographers to share on social media, finalize the certificate of donation (Google is your friend for easy templates to copy) and thank-you notes for all participants, and more importantly, prepare the check to present to your charity of choice. After that, get ready to start planning the next one.
Natasha Pickowicz is hosting her Third Annual Bake Sale benefiting Planned Parenthood of New York City at the plaza next to Café Altro Paradiso in Manhattan on Sunday, May 19. The event is open to the public and begins at 11 a.m. Can’t make it? You can still participate by donating here.
Originally Appeared on Bon Appétit
