Sylvia Weinstock
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| Sylvia Weinstock |
| When Sylvia married in 1949, she started to learn domestic skills while working full-time as an elementary school teacher. Sylvia loved the relief and relaxation that homemaking gave her from the daily grind of teaching and she quickly became a proficient chef and baker. After five years of marriage her first daughter, Ellen, arrived followed by Amy and then by Janet. Her husband Ben, who was an avid skier, taught the girls to ski, and most weekends were spent at their home on Hunter Mountain in upstate New York. Sylvia did not ski. Hunter was one of the best ski areas within a reasonable distance from New York City at that time, and was frequented by many ski enthusiasts. Among them were a substantial number of noteworthy chefs from some of the city’s best restaurants. Ben came to know many of these chefs on the slopes, and asked Chef Andre Saltner from Lutece to give Sylvia some tips and lessons. Chef Saltner had a busy schedule but recommended a pastry chef named George Keller who operated a guest house on the mountain with his wife, Lisa. Chef Keller did not want any pupils but after being persuaded by his wife decided to take Sylvia on as an apprentice. This became a true “romance” of professionals, who respected each other’s ability. Sylvia learned so quickly from George that it wasn’t long before she was supplying local restaurants with their dessert selections every weekend while her husband and daughter’s skied. Ultimately her daughter graduated collage and departed suburbia for New York City to pursue careers. This left Ben and Sylvia to rattle around in an empty five bedroom house. At that time, Sylvia was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have a mastectomy and a course of chemotherapy, necessitating a need to be in the City three times a week. Ben found it hard to watch his wife struggle with the travel back in forth while she was feeling so badly and suggested they sell the house and his law practice, and move into New York City, so they could be closer to their daughters and the medical attention she needed. Sylvia was then approached by her dear friend William Greenberg Jr. who operated four local bakeries in the City. He mentioned that he had been getting inquires for a romantic floral wedding cakes that he was not able to take orders for. He suggested since he knew Sylvia was already an accomplished baker that she learn to decorate such cakes and he would refer the customers to her. Sylvia learned to make the sugar paste flowers, and began decorating wedding cakes. Her breakthrough came as a result of cake she did for a friend of her daughter’s. She was so taken by the cake that, instead of placing the cake in her refrigerator, she put it in her shop’s window for display. As luck would have it, a premier caterer, Donald Bruce White, saw the cake and inquired as to where it came from. Sylvia started to get orders for each weekend from the caterer. She would deliver her cakes to some of the finest hotels in the city, when the banquet managers saw the cakes they started placing orders from Sylvia directly. Sylvia’s business blossomed. The secret ingredient for Sylvia Weinstock’s success is that she takes no shortcuts. Her cakes are made using only the best ingredients available. While the flowers for a large cake may be made weeks in advance, the cakes are baked, filled, and iced no more than one or two days prior to the delivery date to assure that the client receives a fresh, tender, and delicious cake. Upon request, her cakes can even be baked in a kosher environment under supervision. Her designs have expanded over the years to include beautiful, fun, funky artistic cakes as well. She creates outrageous designs for all types of celebrations and is grateful to her team for their cooperation and dedication. Sylvia looks upon her career as a creator of beautiful, romantic, and fabulous cakes, as reward for her diligence in fighting breast cancer. She feels that conquering her illness brought about a change for the better in her life, and she devotes a substantial portion of her free time to bolstering the spirits of women who find themselves threatened and facing the same challenges Sylvia faced. She is a generous contributor to organizations that support medical research seeking cures for cancer, AIDS, and other plagues of humanity. |