Meet Claire Ptak

Chef | London, UK

A California native, Claire Ptak worked as a pastry chef for Alice Waters at Chez Panisse before moving to London. Claire worked at The Anchor and Hope in Southwark and staged at St. John and Moro before starting her cake stall Violet on Broadway Market. In 2010 she opened Violet, the bakery and cafe in Hackney, East London. She was most recently appointed to create the royal wedding cake for the nuptials of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which she chose to be a lemon elderflower creation.   Alongside baking, Claire works extensively as a food stylist and writer. Her forth cookbook, 'The Violet Bakery Cookbook' was shortlisted for the Fortnum and Mason Best Cookery Book 2016. Claire regularly contributes to The Guardian and The Observer and her work has also been featured in Vogue, Bon Appetit, Observer Food Monthly, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Tasting Table, Food52 and beyond.   Claire is also the host of Violet Sessions, a podcast of inspiring interviews with creative female pioneers. Guests have included Penny Martin, editor of The Gentlewoman; Chef and restaurateur Thomasina Miers; Chef Ruth Rogers of The River Café; Home cook and cookery writer Nadine Redzepi; and star of podcast sensation My Dad Wrote Porno, Alice Levine.