Saison

I often think about how we live in a time where social media has exponentiated the appreciation of craft. In recent years we've seen aesthetics play a big role in our day to day, from fashion, interior design,  accessories and never the less food… I have been following Saison, a Brooklyn-based baking studio for almost 2 years. Saison bakes pastries with a touch of “nature” - flowers to be more precise, giving her creations a delicate and ephemeral touch. Sammy, who is behind it all, has been creating small batches of custom pastries that are not just tasty but delicate and beautiful, reminding us of how simplicity is always the most grounding and fulfilling. I interviewed her at her Brooklyn apartment, where we spoke over a fresh batch of lavender lemonade and a picturesque-delicious lemon curd pavlova she decorated while chatting about Saison and the inspiration behind her creations. 

Who would have known that her COVID picnic boxes would turn into the One of a kind, made to order, ephemeral bakery she is now running. We will dive into her process behind her creations, growing up in Brooklyn and her kitchen - where all the magic happens. 

O: Tell us a little bit about how you got into baking floral delicacies 

S: I’m a self taught baker and because of that I feel a certain freedom with baking. Flowers are my biggest inspiration in and out the kitchen so they naturally make their way into every order. Subtle floral flavors like rose, jasmine, and chamomile are infused into shortbread, cakes, and custards and almost everything I bake is topped with flowers and petals. 

O: I believe from a young age I have been attracted to craft and in some ways I guess that is what eventually led me to create Odissea, I see how many of the things I appreciated at a young age have a huge influence in what I do today - what is the story behind Saison. 

S: If you told a younger version of myself that this is what I’d be doing as my career, I probably would have never believed it. With reflection though, nothing makes more sense. I’ve always been drawn to the little touches and details that make an object or an experience special. From an early age, I was always trying to capture this in one way or another, often through picking flowers, baking sweets, and setting the dinner table. I noticed these simple gestures also brought joy to others, something that inspired me even more. I also absolutely adore sweets and always have, nothing brings a smile to my face more than the first bite into a delicious treat. 

O: Does the name have a specific meaning? And how did you come up with it

S: Deciding on a name was one of the most challenging parts for me. I could see the brand so clearly — my inspiration and the world surrounding it, and finding the right name to tell the story was important to me. I kept coming back to something transportive; I want someone to receive a box of sweets and be transported somewhere special, for me it’s a field of wildflowers on a beautiful afternoon. With the name Saison, I could see the wildflower field, afternoon sun and a picnic of sweets. 

O: I can imagine being the baker yourself, you’ve encountered challenges as you’ve scaled your business. How do you manage to adapt to each client's needs?

S: I started Saison 3 years ago as a passion project with no business plan or exact goal for it. Since then it’s organically grown into a real business, something that still amazes me everyday. In the past year, there has been a lot of growth and finding the right balance of scaling and remaining authentic to my goals can be challenging. I’m not a traditional bakery or caterer and every order is bespoke to each client. A tremendous amount of thought and care goes into each project from communicating with clients, creating custom menus and decks, sourcing specialty ingredients and of course the time in the kitchen. I wear many hats and creating a team that I can fully rely on and trust is something I’ve been working on in order to maintain beautiful results for each client. At the moment I have an incredible baking assistant and my mom working with me. My mom has been behind the scenes from the start helping with everything — I truly don’t think I could have done any of this without her. 

O: When working on a new project do you come up with an idea that aligns with the client, or is it a collaboration that is thought through together?

S: It varies from project to project, but it’s often a collaboration — client’s reach out wanting to celebrate a specific event or product and I try to bring their vision to life. 

“With the name Saison, I could see the wildflower field, afternoon sun and a picnic of sweets”

- SAMMY

O: What are your hobbies outside of the kitchen, I guess things that inspire you and push you to have little “aha” moments which can then be molded to fit the image and story behind the brand. 

S: I spend a lot of time upstate New York, which is a really special place for me. I find most of my aha moments happen there —  while driving on country roads, swimming in streams and hiking through meadows. Growing up in the city I didn’t spend much time in nature and now find I seek it out to recharge and be inspired. I also love antiquing, swimming in the ocean, wandering through new places and getting lost in a book. 

O: In a market that is so saturated, like all the rest, what do you do to stay authentic to yourself and the brand you envisioned creating yet also ensuring that you stand out?

S: Baking sweets that I actually want to eat and that come from a place of love. Simple, rustic baking is the core of everything I do, because that is simply what I enjoy eating the most. My recipes are unfussy and are elevated by a few beautiful ingredients like seasonal fruit or flowers. Nothing is overly sweet, and they are treats I want to eat anytime of day, over and over again. 

O: What has been your proudest moment for Saison?

S: I’m a self taught baker and have no business background, so I’ve been learning it all along the way. Without sounding cheesy, Saison as a whole makes me so proud. 

O: Do you sell individual pastries or do you work by order - if you do, where can we find you! 

S: At the moment, it’s all custom orders. I have some dreams of selling individual baked goods so stay tuned :) 

O: What is one thing that you have learnt while having your business. A piece of advise that you would give to someone who wants to become an entrepreneur 

S: Saying no to projects that don’t feel right, whatever the reason might be. I’ve been lucky that the majority of the brands I work with are ones I deeply admire and are reaching out because they love what I do. When a client says “just do your thing” or give me a brief that inspires me, I know it’s meant to be. However, I’ve had loads of inquiries I’ve declined because of creative briefs that aren’t aligned.  

O: Is every cake you bake different? Do you decorate it based on the client? or is there any other inspiration behind each. order being unique?

S: For most orders, I have a list of seasonal cake offerings that clients can select from and decoration is a reflection of what’s in season at the farmers market. While no two cakes are alike, I certainly take requests from clients if they have a particular color or inspiration for it. For larger orders and brand work, I often create a bespoke flavor and customize the decoration based on specific color palettes or inspiration decks. I absolutely love these orders because I can really delve deep creatively and try out new things. 

O: What is your favorite flower?

S: Oof, this is probably the hardest question of them all, but dahlias really make my heart swoon. 

O: What is your favorite thing to eat?

S: A chocolate croissant or cacio e pepe. 

O: What do you love most about New York?

S: Being able to walk (almost!) everywhere.  

O: Your three favorite things to do in New York

S: Mornings at the union square farmers market, a martini and fries at The Odeon and going for Chinese in Flushing. 

O: Any new projects that you are working on right now that you can share with us?

S: Summer is a quieter season which allows me to work on some more creative projects and plan for the next few months. I’ve just started brainstorming some holiday offerings that I’m very excited about! 

O: Do you cater to dietary needs (GF, Dairy free, Sugar free)? 

S: I have some gluten free offerings, but don’t do dairy free, sugar free or vegan. 

O: Do you own something that is very precious and that reminds you of something special in your life?

S: I have a few heirloom jewelry pieces from both my grandmothers that I’ll always cherish, along with my wedding rings which are made up of the stones from my husband’s late mother’s engagement ring. 

Thank you for sharing your insights! We are very excited to see what more lovely things you bake and all the projects you work on. Your creations are beautiful and Odissea is very excited to share them, as we have been following the brand and love to see everything you do!

Sammy is wearing our 14k Gold Chain Bracelet & Choker, Nekyia Baroque Pearl Earrings, Milano Green Amethyst Ring & Recto 14k Gold Vermeil Ring.

Carolina Jimenez, weaving memories...

The first time I saw a piece of Carolina Jimenez’ I felt an instant awe of appreciation. I remember this piece in particular because its whole composition had a beautiful sun-like palette. I would stare mesmerized at the huge 6ft x 6ft yellow toned weaved canvas -  it gave me a peaceful and warm feeling. It stood against a 12ft white wall in our bosses studio in Red Hook, right next to an East facing window, where every morning the sun would shine bright, intensifying its essence and electricity, yet evoking a sense of calmness.

Carolina and I are both Mexican and I found her work very interesting given that it uses textile techniques I grew up admiring. I wanted to interview as her work really made an impact on me, evoking memories of traveling around Mexico, seeing all these crafts that from a young age I appreciated. One of her first memories in Chiapas was seeing indigenous women in the park weaving and carrying their babies in rebozos,  walking around town in their vestidos chiapanecos, making you appreciate every single part of it.  The craftsmanship is extraordinarily detailed and beautiful, every single piece has different colors and shapes along with hours and hours of labor. 

Carolina’s work uses weaving techniques that along with memories as reference for her color palette create her art work. She will explain in more detail how she composes her pieces. 

O: So how did it all started?

CJ: While in college in Syracuse, I took a studio course outside of the Architecture program. I decided I wanted to do weaving since I had always been interested in fibers and textiles, and prior I had very much enjoyed knitting, so it just drew my attention. 

After my first class I felt “this is it, I should've been doing this the whole time.” 

I went back to school and I studied my MFA in textiles, mostly geared towards design, and towards that time I really wanted to explore using weaving as an art form. 

O: What is the inspiration for your color palettes, it seems like there's a lot of nature involved 

CJ: Yeah, there's a lot of nature. Everything I work on is based on a series of memories. I meditate on the small moments that I think make up our lives. We are an accumulation of the best strawberry we ever ate, or the best day with our parents, even the difficult things… we are all made up of these tiny little moments.  I then translate those moments into color or form. 

It could be from how I feel at 3:00 am on a sleepless night, or an interaction with a stranger on the street, talking about fruit you’re buying. 

O: Do you have different textile techniques, or only weaving? 

CJ: I just do the flowerloom and I am interested in learning the Chipainese and Oaxacan techniques along with dying the fabrics with natural dyes. For instance, for the fabrics I dye, I use cochineal = cochinilla, axiote seed, and more natural dyes that were used by Mayan’s to create pigment and paint the pyramids. 

I am also excited to explore pigments for different painting techniques I have been exploring with! 

O: What's the piece that you’ve seen yourself through

CJ: All my pieces are all little moments of myself, but I think the closest one are all these different panels I have been working on (pictured in the studio floor)

O: Do you have different textile techniques, or only weaving? 

CJ: I just do the floor loom and I am interested in learning the Chiapaneco and Oaxacan techniques along with dying the fabrics with natural dyes. For instance, for the fabrics I dye, I use cochineal = grana cochinilla, achiote seed, and more natural dyes that were used by Mayan’s to create pigment and paint the pyramids. 

I am also excited to explore pigments for different painting techniques I have been exploring with!

O: Do you use natural fibers?

CJ: Yes, I only use cotton, linen and silk. I want us to remember “we are here”, and natural fibers I think, have their own life mirroring our own life span. They might fade over the course of about 50 years.

O: do you think you’ll evolve into working in different craftsmanship styles?

CJ: I definitely think I will stick to weaving for the most part but I’d love to explore more techniques and crafts. Printmaking is something I have been very drawn to. I really love Chucho Reyes, the colors that he uses, and the craft techniques he used for making all these beautiful artworks. 

The choice to work with textiles and see it as art, i believe is so important.  Textiles deserve our respect. What people are doing all over the world with textiles is amazing, I think we should really value that. 

O: Who are your main inspirations

CJ: Helen Frankenthalen, although she is very gestural, I love how she created her own vocabulary and grammar within the painting, also exploring what her materials could do, I feel a lot of kinship with. 

O: I definitely see a lot of color use very similar to yours. 

CJ: I think that is my biggest tool. Color. The things color can translate to a viewer. 

Let's not forget about Joan Mitchel, Luis Baragan and Sheila Hicks, who actually lived in Mexico and married a Mexican man, although she eventually moved to France. 

O: So, I know you have a very exciting art residency coming up, can you tell us a little bit about it?

CJ: I have a 6 months fellowship at the MAD, NY (Museum of Art & Design). I'll  be working out of their space and people can come by Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays to see my process and how I work. This time I’m focusing mainly on one natural dye from Mexico and I will see what arises from working with that, which is a little different from what I usually do, since I will be letting that lead my way forward…

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