INSTRUCTOR FOCUS
Reeni Aragon-Espino
Pastry instructor Reeni Aragon split her childhood between the United States and the Philippines, and her career and her signature baking style show the influences of both countries. Born in the Washington, DC, suburb of Silver Springs (her mother was a banker at The World Bank), she cites cracking crabs on the edge of the Chesapeake Bay as her earliest food memory. "It introduced me to the idea of having fun with your food — it could be as much about the doing as the actual eating."
By the time she started school, her family had returned to their home town of Manila and Reeni was already captivated with baking. Consulting her mother's extensive cookbook collection, Reeni baked for fun (and sometimes profit), often adapting American and European recipes to the ingredients available locally. Reeni studied restaurant administration at the University of the Philippines and then worked culinary stations in the kitchen of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, one of Manila's top hotels. But, deciding that her career lay in pastry, she enrolled as a work-study student at ICE and moved to New York. After graduating from the pastry program in 1997, she externed at Le Cirque under Jacques Torres, then moved to Osteria del Circo before being lured back to Le Cirque two years later.
Returning to the Philippines for a month-long vacation to introduce her parents to her new fiancé, Reeni came to realize her true calling was Asian-influenced pastry. A job as pastry sous-chef at Hawaiian restaurateur Roy Yamaguchi's Roy's New York fit the bill for Reeni, offering a tropical fusion cuisine that she was completely comfortable with. Located just two blocks from the World Trade Center, Roy's was forced to close after September 11. Serendipitously, Reeni ran into her former instructor, Assistant Pastry Director Andrea Tutunjian, and was soon offered a position as an instructor in the career pastry program. As a working chef who herself returned to school to strengthen her foundation in baking, Reeni emphasizes the need for technical proficiency, but also urges students to explore the art and creativity open to them, something that has served her well in her own career.
August, 2003
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