Hailing from Rochester, NY, Pastry chef Brian Mercury grew up surrounded by a big family that placed importance on getting together and sharing good food. As a kid, he developed a sweet tooth by helping his grandmother make cookies and desserts, and spent most of his allowance on candy. A suggestion from his father lead him to pursue a culinary education, and he received his Associates in baking and pastry arts from the Culinary Institute of America, along with a Bachelors in food management from Rochester Institute of Technology.
Mercury arrived in Boston in 2004 and landed a job working for Peter Davis, Executive Chef of The Charles Hotel and Henrietta’s Table, where he worked under the guidance of Executive Pastry Chef Dan Angelopolus and closely with Rialto’s Executive Pastry Chef Susan Abbott.
He joined the team at Himmel Hospitality’s acclaimed restaurant, Harvest, in Cambridge, where he garnered local and national recognition, including Food & Wine‘s “People’s Choice Best New Pastry Chef, East Region 2013,” Boston Magazine‘s “Boston’s Best Pastry Chef 2014,” and Improper Bostonian‘s “Boston’s Best Desserts 2013.” After that he settled in as the Executive Pastry Chef of the Caswell Restaurant Group’s third restaurant, Oak + Rowan. He now oversees all things sweet at Inman Square’s Puritan & Company as well as its Cambridge Crossing sister restaurants The Lexington, Cafe Beatrice and Geppetto.
When he’s not concocting new desserts, he enjoys spending as much time as possible with his daughter Mia and son Mason.
