An outstanding dessert is much like a goodnight kiss after a promising first date: the sweet memory of it lingers on the lips long after the confection is gone. That’s the caliber of transcendent ending executive pastry chef Maria Selas strives for in creating desserts for the four restaurants and catering company that comprise Campagna Hospitality Group. “Dessert should be as memorable as the first or second course,” Selas says.
Diners at The French Brasserie Rustique, Osteria Tulia, Bar Tulia on Fifth Avenue South, and Bar Tulia Mercato will find her fresh, often fruity confections on each menu. She constructs these creations with attention to all the senses.
“I love using tropical fruits and whatever is in season,” she says. “I try to create desserts guests won’t find everywhere.”
There’s the Club Tropicana, a mango yogurt mousse on coconut sponge cake, topped with raspberry glaze, roasted pineapple, and fresh lychee. The Chocolate Cherry Bomba is a dessert built upside down in a mold with layers of gianduja mousse (chocolate blended with hazelnut paste), Amarena cherries, and milk chocolate Rice Krispies forming the base. The concoction is frozen, then removed from the mold and topped with Nutella ganache, caramelized hazelnuts, cherry sorbet, and a cherry. While these treats sound wonderful—and they are—Selas challenges herself to come up with new indulgences at least seasonally for each of the restaurants.
How does one person produce enough desserts for four busy restaurants and a catering company? Selas says she views her job like that of “a conductor with a symphony—you’ve got brass, you’ve got strings, you’ve got percussion, and you have to keep everyone in tune.” She directs her three assistants while they produce the desserts in the mornings at The French, which has more kitchen space than the other spots.
The pace and pressure aren’t new to Selas, who was born in Greece, raised in Chicago, and found her calling while studying French literature and language at Sorbonne University. “I fell in love with bakeries and pastries,” she says. “The window displays of the patisseries are so beautiful.”
Selas brought the passion for food she experienced in France back to the United States and headed to the now-closed Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. She earned a professional certificate in baking and pastry and then studied hospitality management at Roosevelt University. She enjoyed a successful career as a pastry chef at several Chicago-area restaurants before running her own business as a private chef in Miami.
As she planned to head to Miami once more, Vincenzo Betulia of Campagna Hospitality Group spotted her creations online and convinced her to shift slightly west to Naples instead. Selas found kindred spirits here. “I like natural, approachable, honest food and that goes for dessert, too,” she says. “Vincenzo’s style matches mine.”
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