by Ebony L. Morman

300 East pastry chef Lex Druhan. Photo: Lauren Hage

Alexa “Lex” Druhan is adamant about giving credit where it’s due. Without hesitation, Druhan will admit that while she’s worked diligently to attain her new role as 300 East’s pastry chef, the journey has been that much sweeter thanks to her culinary mentors.

Prior to joining the 300 East team, she spent one year as a pastry assistant to Molly Coen — currently the pastry chef at Four Seasons/Denver — then at The Fig Tree. Before that, she worked at Pine Island Country Club under Joy Turner, who is currently the chef at North Corner Haven.

Druhan was recently promoted to pastry chef at 300 East after serving as pastry production manager for the past year.

Unpretentious Palate: What inspired you to become a pastry chef?
Alexa “Lex” Druhan: I kind of fell into it. I love composing a beautiful plate. What really gets me excited is bringing flavors, textures, and colors all together, and composing this really beautiful plate. Not that savory can’t do that but pastry brings out this whole different side of me.

UP: What moment confirmed that being a pastry chef was the right move for you?
LD: When I was offered the role of pastry production manager at 300 East, it was a crossroads moment for me — am I going to go more savory or am I going to go into more pastry? I’m not sure there was an exact moment for this epiphany because my journey has been so non-linear. I just know I love what I’m doing and I’m still learning. A lot of pastry chefs have gone to pastry school and grew up with a mixing bowl in their hand, but that wasn’t my journey at all.

Peanut butter and banana chocolate torte with Bananas Foster ice cream. Photo courtesy

UP: How have you applied your pastry experience to the desserts you create?
LD: A lot of what I learned, I learned from my mentors. I bring so many of them onto each plate. Joy taught me to really trust my instincts. When I come to a plate and taste it, I might realize something is missing. She taught me how to develop my taste buds. Molly is insanely creative. So when I start plating, I visualize how it’s going to look and I see what she taught me. It’s just a lot of mentors who have poured into me but my own instincts come into play, too.

UP: What’s unique about the pastries you make?
LD: I’m still building my voice and style. I’m learning who Lex is. In the kitchen, they tease me because I have like 1,000 touches to a plate. I want texture. I want some acid. I want the bite to be perfect.

UP: What’s your creative process?
LD: 300 East is known for seasonal and local ingredients. Often, I will pick a fruit or vegetable that’s in season in North Carolina. I’ll build from there and pick flavors and textures that will work with that fruit or vegetable. At the same time, I start visualizing the plate and how I want it to look.

Strawberry goat cheese cheesecake with strawberry balsamic jam, and dulcey crumb. Photo courtesy

UP: What’s the most interesting dessert you make? Why?
LD: Our strawberry and goat cheese cheesecake is excellent. My dessert features are always something new, playful, and delicious. We recently had a beetroot custard that was delicious but was also a very hard sell. It was honey-whipped goat cheese, pistachio crumb, and mandarin sorbet. I had fun coming up with it and I knew it’d be a hard sell at 300 East because beets are divisive, not everyone is going to say ‘yay, beets.’ I love beets, so I was determined to make it delicious. A lot of servers said it was good.

UP: What’s one of the most important things you’ve learned from Ashley Boyd and the 300 East team?
LD: The most important thing I’ve learned from Ashely is how to be a good leader. I’ve obviously learned a ton of pastry-related things from her. She’s amazing at pastry, but the thing that I want to take away from her is how she leads a team. She’s an active listener and super generous with their knowledge. She would never ask anyone to do anything that she wouldn’t do herself. I’m also learning to be a leader in this position and I think that’s really important.

UP: What is an upcoming dessert feature you’re looking forward to creating?
LD: Lemon tart with berries and marshmallow fluff.

UP: What’s the most rewarding part of what you do?
LD: I have had a lot of great mentors. Becoming a mentor to someone else — because I’ve been super lucky in that aspect — and paying that forward is truly the most rewarding part of this whole thing.