Dominique’s Story

A South Philadelphia native, Dominique Piscitelli was born to bake. She first discovered her passion for Italian food and desserts during her Sunday family dinners, with her mother and grandmother serving as her first and most important influences.

Dominique decided early on to develop her culinary interests, and, with traditional South Philly determination, continued to pursue her passions. In 2009, she began attending The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College, Philadelphia’s most prestigious culinary school, where she earned an Associate of Sciences degree in Pastry Arts. While working on her education, she also began an internship at the Four Seasons Hotel, where she assisted in the preparation of the hotel’s cakes, cookies, pies, puddings, and other assorted desserts.

After graduating in 2011, Dominique took her talents to North Philadelphia to one of America's most acclaimed Northern Italian restaurants, Osteria. There she worked as a Pastry Sous Chef, learning from award-winning chefs Jeff Michaud and Marc Vetri and mastering the techniques and flavors that typify Northern Italian cooking. She also took on a role at the Vetri Restaurant in Center City, where she produced chocolates, candies, cookies, cakes, bars, and the daily giveaway pastries. In 2013, she was made the company’s first Pastry Chef at the Osteria in Moorestown, New Jersey, where she was part of the opening management team and responsible for all of the restaurant’s pastry needs.

In 2015, after several years working within the Vetri Family of Restaurants, Dominique wanted to broaden her knowledge of other cuisines, and so went on to work for one of Philadelphia’s most ubiquitous restaurateurs, Steven Starr. She did a stint at Pod in University City as a server. In the absence of a dedicated Pastry Chef, she assisted the restaurant’s Executive Chef in creating and developing a new dessert menu, redesigning the personalized cake menu and creating dessert specials for weekends during the busy season. After redeveloping the menu at Pod, she took the helm as Pastry Chef of The Dandelion, Starr’s British-themed gastropub. There, she oversaw the creation and development of seasonal dessert menu items, scones, and brunch pastries for all of the restaurant’s meal times, including its Afternoon Tea menu.

Never one to rest on her laurels, Dominique’s work ethic inspired her to go even further. While working full-time out of The Dandelion, she took over production of gelato and sorbet for Pizzeria Stella, and also created and implemented two more full dessert menu changes at Pod. From March 2019 to December 2019, she also worked two days a week at Starr’s Le Diplomate in Washington, DC, in the absence of their Pastry Chef, becoming a favorite of Starr and his executive team.

It was during her time with the Starr Company that Dominique discovered another passion, that of teaching. She began teaching Community Education classes at her alma mater. She gathered a small but loyal following of eager hobbyists and amateur bakers who fell in love with her South Philly charm and Italian attitude, not to mention her quality teaching and tell-it-like-it-is career stories. When the COVID-19 Pandemic sent the restaurant and hospitality business into upheaval, Dominique decided to do what she had always done: take life by the reins and plunge into her next endeavor head first, this time working for herself. Dominique is taking her years of experience in the kitchens of famous Philadelphia restaurants, combining them with her hands-on, in-your-face teaching style, and bringing both to people's homes. With each personal lesson, she shows how it's done in the big leagues with a touch of South Philly gumption and a lot of whisking by hand.