TenPenh and Ceiba Pastry Chef Norm Messer wasn’t thinking about a culinary career when he started working at a restaurant in his Indiana hometown.  At 16, it was just meant as a part-time job, washing dishes and preparing salads.  The atmosphere captivated him though – he was hooked.  So Norm continued working in restaurants after high school, working his way up in the kitchen, learning from the other chefs.  He soon saw the future he wanted and enrolled in culinary school. 

Norm’s intention was to study and work on the savory side of things. After a few pastry classes, that changed.  He so enjoyed them that Norm changed course to attend the French Pastry School in Chicago, from which he graduated with honors. 

Norm experimented with his new skills as Pastry Cook at Tabor Hill Restaurant & Winery.  There he cultivated his style, adapting and transforming traditional desserts, focusing on fusing flavors.  His restraint is impressive: Norm delivers simply plated, rustic desserts and is careful not to combine too many flavors or to add an element simply because it is trendy. 

In the fall of 2004, Norm moved east to Washington and a position as Assistant Pastry Chef at TenPenh.  His talent, experience, and creativity in the kitchen led to a promotion to Pastry Chef less than a year later.  In 2007, his pastries duties expanded to the kitchen of Ceiba as well.  There, he is a master at The Churros Press, making an Old World favorite from an Old World machine.  Norm spends a lot of time reading and experimenting in the kitchen to develop and update his menu of sweet treats.  He draws on flavors and spices from the Asian Pacific countries and islands as well as Latin America, working them into his desserts – often heading to TenPenh and Ceiba’s savory kitchens for flavorings they use in preparing lunch and dinner.  Norm’s menu also reflects some of his favorite ingredients: fresh fruits and fruit zests, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, and fresh ginger. 

Among other desserts, guests at TenPenh can enjoy the Kalamansi Lime Meringue Pie with Ginger Cherries and Salted Sicilian Pistachios, Lemongrass & Honey Creme Brulée with Apricot Coffee Cake and Fresh Blueberry Lemon Compote, or perhaps the Sweet Coconut Cake with Caramelized Pineapple and Pineapple Ice Cream.  And at Ceiba, guest will delight in the Coconut Très Leches Cake with Honey and Chili Grilled Pineapple Skewers and Coconut Cajeta Sorbet, Traditional Flan with Smoked Apricots and Fresh Blueberry Compote and Alfajore Cookies, or Mexican Chocolate Cake with Banana and Plantain Ice Cream and Fried Plantain Chips.  It seems that Norm has achieved sweet success, in record time.