Nevadan at Work: Pastry chef aims for sweet impressions

Jaret Blinn is doing what any gracious host would do. As executive pastry chef at Red Rock Resort, Blinn's is preparing his staff to please some of the world's top chefs, all while making thousands of chocolate-covered treats, cheesecake pops and other delicious pastries.

Blinn and his staff of 26 people are getting ready to host the World Pastry Forum and Championship at Red Rock Resort from July 4-9.

Some two-dozen pastry chefs representing eight countries will compete to be named the world's best. Japan won the last competition in 2010.

It's also an opportunity to showcase the hotel-casino's pastry department, which Blinn and his team made from scratch six years ago.

"It's an honor to host this event," Blinn said. "It's also very stressful, because people I've admired for a long time are coming here to Red Rock. We are not in the competition, but we know that everyone walking through that door will be looking at every little thing we do."

The stress of producing under a bright spotlight is nothing new for Blinn, who has worked at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco and Le Cirque/Circo at the Bellagio.

But Blinn said the industry has changed since he graduated from culinary school in 1997. Today, the business of pastries and desserts has evolved into a profit center.

Ten years ago, he said, what mattered was what a pastry chef could create; most people didn't care about the cost. Today, Blinn said management monitors the bottom line a lot more closely and wants to see what you can do with a budget.

Blinn said the key to his business is creating memories.

"People remember desserts, because they are the last impression," Blinn said. "If you had a great meal, but the dessert isn't any good, forget it. But if the dessert is good, then it's a memorable experience."

Question: How did you become a pastry chef?

Answer: I actually trained to be a chef, just because my mother and grandmother always cooked and I enjoyed (cooking) with them. I went to the California Culinary Academy and from there went to restaurants in San Francisco. I was doing banquets at the Ritz-Carlton where they had a pastry chef named Michiel Lugt, who was always in competitions. I'd also go see what he was up to because I was curious and the next thing you know he asked me if I wanted to come into pastry. I started at the bottom, with my first task being to scrub the freezer floor. I just saw it as a new challenge.

Question: What was your favorite cooking show on television?

Answer: It was "Yan Can Cook" with Martin Yan. I actually got to do a show with him. I was in the back doing his prep when I was in culinary school. That was the greatest honor because I just idolized the guy.

Question: What is it like to be the executive pastry chef at Red Rock Resort?

Answer: When you work in restaurants, you are basically going through Groundhog Day. It continues every single night. When you are on the Strip it's all about the tourists. They are here today and you'll probably never see them again. It's always that way. But here at Red Rock, you get to build relationships with people. For the last six years I've been here, we've really grown having so many restaurants, catering, and having locals whose kids have birthday parties. It always changes.

Question: What was it like when Red Rock opened in 2006?

Answer: When we first opened, we were the new kid on the block. We came to Summerlin. We had to grow. We had to feel out the locals (and learn) what exactly do they like and what exactly don't they like and go from there. ... The local customer knows what they like and we have to deliver it to them. But we also want to grow and bring in new things, so we are always changing.

Question: How do you make those changes, so a dessert or pastry is appealing in 100-degree heat?

Answer: It's not about what the weather is here; it's about what's in season. I think people can't get a lot of things in Vegas, but as a large property we are able to bring in fresh products ... to offer our guests something different. We change more with the seasons than with the weather. In the summer time you use fresh fruits, lighter soups, dishes that are a lot more refreshing. In the fall, it's the puddings, the warmer foods. You're offering them comfort foods.

Question: What's a typical day like?

Answer: I have to say a lot of the credit goes to my team. On any given day, I come in about 7 a.m. say hello to everybody. I'm one of those who believe that if you get in early, you'll get ahead and you'll stay ahead. If you come in late and fall behind, you'll never catch up. We have a number of teams, because we are a 24-hour operation. We haven't stopped our shop since three weeks prior to opening Red Rock. For me, it's about checking on the operations, walking around and making sure everything looks and tastes great.

Question: Is pastry a profitable business at Red Rock?

Answer: Yes. It goes back to if you want to save money you do it at home. Instead of going out to dinner, you make it at home. That's what we've all been taught. We've taken that concept here. I know how much labor is going to cost, I know how much my supplies cost and I know my food costs. Now we are going to deliver top product to our guests.

Question: How difficult does that become with prices changing regularly?

Answer: (Gasoline) prices go up, so my suppliers may change their minimum order. We've had to fluctuate with everything else also. We are not going to pass that on to our guests. We'll absorb that cost. It's not fair to them. They are already getting nickeled and dimed from everything else.

Question: How did you become involved with Project Pink?

Answer: How that all came about was unfortunately I lost my mother (Diane Neri) to cancer. When she was dying, we had hospice care, and she cared more about showing them a magazine with an article about me doing pastry than she did about having less than a month to live. When I lost my mom, I wanted to give it all up. I didn't want to do anything anymore. My mom loved how much I loved pastry. So from that moment on I decided I had to make it worth something. Then I lost an aunt to breast cancer. So, from then on, it was all about Project Pink. I went to a manager and said I wanted to do a promotion, so 50 percent of all the profits from the Grand Cafe sales at Red Rock during (October) went to breast cancer awareness.

Question: Has it been as successful as you hoped it would be?

Answer: We had a good first year where we raised $15,000. It was a very good. I felt I was finally giving back, especially to the local community. So this past year, management wanted Station Casinos to participate also. So we were able to take blackjack tables and donate part of the proceeds from certain night and all the properties sold pink desserts. This year we raised almost $50,000 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and next year, it will keep growing and keep getting better.

Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.