corporate pastry chef, silver pig restaurant group

as a child growing up in chicago and erie, pennsylvania, pastry chef tanya fallon always had a notion of her future gastronomic ambitions. one of her earliest gourmet memories is of her family gathered around the thanksgiving dinner table, with a whole roasted duck and vichysoisse in place of a traditional turkey and mashed potatoes. her grandmother and culinary mentor ran a diner-style restaurant in rural pennsylvania, where tanya spent her summers watching her cook and assisting with the french fry press. she vividly recalls the first time her mother relented to her requests to cook her own dinner, and at the age of 12, she took great pride in her first meal of pasta, italian sausage, and canned sauce. in 1991, she solidified her future in food with a bachelor of applied science from chicago’s esteemed kendall college.

following culinary school, tanya launched her career in chicago as a pastry assistant at ambria, where she first met then-chef de cuisine takashi yagihashi. she then went on to grand café and the ritz carlton chicago’s in-house restaurant, where she participated in a world cup pastry party with sebastian cannone in 1994. soon after, tanya was approached by yagihashi to open his new detroit-area restaurant tribute in 1996. here, her patisserie talents blossomed as she assisted the chef with several james beard dinners, and she was nominated for the “rising star chef award” by the james beard foundation in 1999. she continued to hone her skills as pastry chef at michael mina’s bourbon steak in miami, and big rock chophouse and reserve and forte in birmingham before connecting with mindy lopus through her former tribute colleagues daniel campbell and antoine przekop. tanya joined tallulah dining group in august 2010, and the elevation of the restaurant’s breads and desserts was instantly noted.

tanya focuses on creating simple desserts that are at once intriguing and attainable. “even the most basic desserts can be made complex in your mouth with the right balance of acid and texture,” she says of her approach to recipe development. possessing a particular strength in chocolate—her creations were once featured in chocolatier magazine—tanya gives seemingly simple desserts such as profiteroles and chocolate cream pie an exceptional depth by subtly incorporating more unusual ingredients and techniques.

in her free time, tanya enjoys cooking and relaxing at home with her fiancé and son at their home in milford.