http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/dining/nomas-new-pastry-chef-is-bronx-born-malcolm-livingston-ii.html 2014-10-10 18:50:47 Noma’s New Pastry Chef Is Bronx-Born Malcolm Livingston II Malcolm Livingston II, who has spent five years creating desserts at the chef Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50, will move to Denmark not long after WD-50 closes at the end of November. === Noma Malcolm Livingston II Noma’s previous pastry chef, “When we announced that we were hiring, we had over 50 applications, which is pleasantly surprising,” said Others who have passed through the WD-50 pastry department include Alex Stupak, Sam Mason and Ms. Sánchez herself. “I think it’s cool that one WD employee replaces another at the No. 1 restaurant in the world,” Mr. Dufresne said. “We’ve hopefully done something right in preparing them for the next level.” Mr. Redzepi pointed out that coming up with desserts at Noma, as at WD-50, hinges on a willingness to think differently. A sweets course at Noma may involve potatoes, onions, seaweed, mushrooms or a chocolate-coated slab of chicharrón. Mr. Livingston, who was born and raised in the Bronx and started cooking in New York restaurant kitchens as a teenager, is no stranger to unconventional approaches. But he acknowledged that Noma’s devotion to unusual products from the Scandinavian landscape would present a learning curve. “They’re using ingredients that I’ve never even heard of,” he said. “I’ve never foraged before. I’m from the Bronx.” The challenge will be compounded in January, when Mr. Redzepi and the entire Noma crew “I want to feel that excitement of looking at things for the first time,” he said.