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Dominique Stoller’s kitchen career began one fateful Valentine’s Day.
While Stoller was working in a front-of-house position at Tavolino, a line cook passed out. She jumped in and began working a few kitchen shifts a week.
Further down the line (not that line), Stoller’s brother, Chad, who’s a chef, helped guide and trained her when she helped open Contigo in 2010 as the executive chef. There, she met her soon-to-be husband Morgan and stepped away from the kitchen to have her son Maxamillion.
After, Stoller returned to the kitchen with her own catering company, Doma’s Delights. She eventually received a phone call that ended up landing her the position as executive pastry chef and general manager at HUB Ice Cream Factory. She is now also the event and catering chef for Playground Bar & Lounge.
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(Photo by Jackie Tran)
“When producing frozen items like Popsicles, chaco tacos, ice cream cakes, & making candy like honey comb toffee, silicone pads and silicon molds allow us to remove and pack things with ease.”
“Being a pastry chef and a catering-and-events chef, there is no telling what I will be getting into each day. Weather it is breaking down veggies or fresh fruit for sorbets or Popsicles I need a sharp, quality knife.”
“Each day at the factory we blow through dozens of fresh baked cookies. I make batches of chocolate chip cookies two to three times a week and my mixer makes the job go nice and easy. I also use my KitchenAid for all doughs, like pie dough and donuts.”
“The rubber spatula is so wonderful for many things, like getting every last drop of your product out of the bowl with ease, folding egg whites into cake batter, and folding whip cream into chocolate custard.”
“I love to use this to perfectly lift delicate items like fresh baked cookies.”
“Day-to-day in the kitchen, at home, or at work, metal tongs make me happy. I will use them to stir, flip, grab anything. They are like a heat-resistant extension of my own hand.”
“I have two Microplanes — one shaves deeper than the other. I use the deep-shaving Microplane for things like hard Parmesan and whole nutmeg. The light-shaving Microplane I use for things like citrus zest since it allows me to get all the oil and flavor of the citrus with out any bitter pith. ”
“This is another tool that I use on the daily at work and at home. At home, I use this to make salad dressing in the same container that I will store it in, blend it with the immersion blender and pop the blade off give it a quick wash and done. Less dishes. At work, it is great for blending hot liquids in the pot on the stove without having to wait to cool or transfer hot liquid to a blender. Also less dishes. I have a five-year-old son and it’s also great for making a single serving smoothie on the go.”
“For a long time we messed around with a Vitamix, but ultimately decided on this system. This helps us make anything and everything you can think of: nut flours, rice flour, crushing ice, making pie dough, and making mass amounts of chocolate pot de creme.”
“My life revolves around the Emory Thompson. I feel a deep emotional connection to this machine. It allows us to produce up to 50 gallons of fluffy, yummy, perfect texture ice cream a day. We use it everyday. Once you learn how to assemble, wash, clean, and drive the Emery Thompson through a full churn list, which is sometimes 10 or more flavors, with this monster freezing engine, you feel like you have accomplished something great.”
Jackie Tran is a Tucson-based food writer, photographer, culinary educator, and owner-chef of the food truck Tran’s Fats. Although he is best known locally for his work for Tucson Foodie, his work has also appeared in publications such as Bon...
