Pan Pan Vino Vino (120 Norman Ave.) is a bakery by day and wine bar by night from the team behind Nura (46 Norman Ave.). Pan Pan, the morning counterpart to Vino Vino, is helmed by Chef Samantha Short, who was part of the opening team at Nura and behind the restaurant’s coveted bread basket. Now, Chef Short splits her time between the two spots.
At Pan Pan, there is no short-age of decadent and often unique pastries. Chef Short leans into hers and Greenpoint’s Polish heritage with eastern-European inspired breads and pastries, putting a different spin on items that are in abundance in the neighborhood.
Greenpointers spoke with Chef Short about life before Nura, what to get at Pan Pan, her one true love (spoiler alert: it’s ice cream!), and her recent recognition by StarChefs.
Greenpointers: You work at Nura, one of the neighborhood’s most popular restaurants, and now also helm the kitchen at Pan Pan. How does it feel to be in charge?
Chef Sam Short: It’s a collaborative environment. I like kitchens to be that way. People have different experiences. Now, I’m the longest running employee at Nura, so I’m the default authority there too. At times I put my head down and get stuff done. I have the mindset that even when we are successful and we’re doing well, I always want to try to do things differently: whether it’s more efficiently or more sustainably.
Greenpointers: Have you always wanted to be a pastry chef?
Chef Short: No. I have been doing this for awhile, and food has always been a big part of my life, but I originally went to school for history. Then I realized I didn’t want to be teacher. I briefly contemplated library science, but I loved the environment in restaurants.
Greenpointers: Tell us about your path to Nura and Pan Pan.
Chef Short: I worked as a server and bartender in college. I liked the environment. It was fast-paced and real. It’s not sterile. So after college, I went to the Culinary Institute of America. In between my first and second years, I did my externship at WD 50. It was invaluable and an amazing experience. Everyone there was free with information. I could ask anyone questions and they would stop and give me the knowledge they had.
I finished school and worked at The Breslin for one year, but I realized that type of cooking was not for me. I like smaller, chef-driven restaurants. But I learned a lot there. Then, I was tapped to be sous chef at Roberta’s and Blanca. There were two other chefs who both quit, so I was 23 and took over both pastry programs. I did that for four years and learned so much. It was a lot of pressure, but it was an amazing experience.
Then, I moved to Nashville for a few years. I was at Rolf and Daughters and helped them open their new restaurant Folk. I did that for almost four years, and I knew I didn’t want to stay in the South. I moved back to the area in April 2020. I missed the diversity of New York and really everything about it. Then, Jackie Carnesi contacted me and said she needed help. They were building out Nura, and I signed on two months before opening.
Greenpointers: You are behind Nura’s coveted bread basket. How did you build it, and what makes it so good?
Chef Short: I didn’t have a lot of baking experience with bread. We weren’t going to have a bread basket originally.
Nura had a tandoor, and I said we could make naan. I watched lots of Indian restaurants use their tandoor. I did the Parker House rolls and naan, and we went with it. When Nura opened I realized we were going to make a lot of naan. Gradually, we hired people to help me. I learned a lot about tandoors and lost hair on my arms and even eyelashes.
We realized we had hit our capacity at Nura for bread. We were casually looking at other spaces, found a spot, and Pan Pan took off. There are a lot of good bakeries around, and it elevates everyone standards and it forces people to enjoy good food.
Greenpointers: You were nominated for an award from StarChefs. Tell us about it, and how it made you feel.
Chef Short: It’s always nice to be recognized. Last year, I was nominated for Nura, and this year for Pan Pan. It’s industry-driven and nice to know that people I respect have a good idea of me.
Greenpointers: Do you have a favorite pastry at Pan Pan?
Chef Short: Right now, we have a peach danish with Thai iced tea pastry cream. Those are some of my favorite flavors.
Greenpointers: What one menu item should guests try the first time they venture into Pan Pan?
Chef Short: The guava bun is a must. Everyone loves it. It started as a vehicle to not waste croissant trim. Now, we have to make dough for it because there is not enough croissant trim.
I love a lot of our focaccias, especially so I can tell people I ate a vegetable that day.
Greenpointers: You lean into your Polish heritage at Pan Pan, making Eastern-European breads. How has the neighborhood response been?
Chef Short: Being in this neighborhood, I thought it would behoove us to honor that. I grew up with my grandmother who lived in Poland during WWII. She taught me how to make pierogis, and caraway rye bread tastes like my childhood. We sell a lot of it. On the next corner down there is a flower shop owned by ladies who remind me of my grandmother. The fact that they keep coming back for the bread means it’s good.
The biggest emotion for pastries and desserts is nostalgia. It snaps you back. I love that I do that. In the end, it’s food, and it can’t be too serious. You should enjoy food and have fun with it.
Greenpointers: What else do you want to achieve in the food world?
Chef Short: My true and first love is ice cream. I love it. We had a collaboration with Caffè Panna, and I hope we can have other fun collabs going forward.
I’d love to have a seasonal ice cream shop with weird flavors. I like seasonality and not wasting things. So I’d like to do something like that.
Greenpointers: What are your favorite neighborhood restaurants to go to when you’re not working?
Chef Short: I love El Pingüino. My friend Mike is one of the owners. I like that it’s near Transmitter Park. We can be by the water and then go to happy hour. I will always go for oysters. If given the opportunity, I would always eat noodles. Korean food is my go-to.