Christina Tosi is the chef, founder and owner of milk bar, called “one of the most exciting bakeries in the country” by bon appétit magazine, with multiple locations in new york, one in toronto and one in washington, dc, near christina’s hometown. christina founded the dessert programs at momofuku and went on to build a culinary empire of her own. well known for “stoking apostolic fervor,” she opened milk bar’s doors in 2008 and has changed the face of baking with her innovative creations like cereal milk™ ice cream, compost cookies® and crack pie®.

the culinary trendsetter and sugar genius described by the new york times as a “border crossing pastry chef” is a two-time james beard award winner, crain’s new york 40 under 40 honoree and the author of two highly acclaimed cookbooks, momofuku milk bar and milk bar life. momofuku milk bar highlights the cult favorites from the milk bar kitchen, and milk bar life captures milk bar’s fun-loving culture and off-the-clock recipes that are easy to make at home. christina is a role model to her team of over 200 and is also a big believer in giving back. the highly motivated lady boss serves on the board of directors for hot bread kitchen and cookies for kids’ cancer and is an adviser and investor in a handful of food startups, including the museum of food and drink (mofad), journee and maple. christina is also a judge on the hit cooking competition series masterchef and masterchef junior (on fox), playing an integral role in mentoring and making home cooks’ dreams come true.

“Sometimes, brown-butter Rice Krispie Treats sneak in and try to start trying to pull me out of quiet ‘me time,’ it’s not the worst thing in the world, but it happens. I believe that there’s plenty of time for any and every relationship that I might need or want to feed in a day, as long as I set realistic expectations, communicate and forgive myself when I fall short.”

“I thought, ‘Girl, you need to get a system. Like, you need find a way to organize how you’re gonna get all of this done in your head,’ you can’t have this many relationships, this many bonds with people, you can’t really value it unless you have a system.”

“How you recover from failure defines who you are.”

“We always try to remember that at the end of the day, it’s just cookies. Don’t stress that hard, because it’s a terrible thing to bring home with you.”

“When you’re in New York and you work in the food scene, sometimes you think the expectation that as you make your way up, your tastes are supposed to elevate and elevate. And they do, but there’s also nothing wrong with celebrating the ordinary, because inevitably, that’s what anchors a lot of our taste buds.”

“It’s hard to remember who you are in a kitchen environment where you’re being stripped down to be built back up.”