Michal Shelkowitz
Pastry Chef, Vetri Cucina
Michal Shelkowitz did not start out as a natural chef. As a young child, she was an extremely picky eater, notorious in the family for eating only the crusts of pizza slices. But baking became a hobby, and after watching Pastry Chef Richard Leach on an episode of PBS’s "Great Chefs, Great Cities," Shelkowitz fell in love with the concept of making dessert for a living. In 2005, after completing the baking and pastry arts program at The Institute of Culinary Education, Michal started an externship at wd~50 with Pastry Chef Sam Mason. She has worked at Cru, Jean Georges, Gramercy Tavern, and Dovetail. Michal then helmed the pastry program at Tom Colicchio’s NYC staple Craft restaurant, before moving to Philadelphia. She helped the Defined Hospitality group with the opening of Condesa then in early 2020, Michal joined chef Marc Vetri at Vetri Cucina, where she currently resides over the dessert and bread programs. Michal will also be overseeing the pastries at Chef Vetri’s newest venture, Fiore Rosso, an Italian steakhouse in Bryn Mawr set to open in summer 2022. She now happily eats the entire pizza slice.
