Meadow Lyn Ramsey

''My desserts are the final tastes and impressions that a diner will enjoy,'' begins Ms. Ramsey. ''Therefore, I challenge myself to bring new and interesting flavors to the table by substituting the traditional with the unexpected.''

Entering the professional kitchen at the young age of sixteen, Meadow soon discovered where her true talents lay, transferring into the pastry station by the age of eighteen. A life altering move to New York City, however, was the catalyst that encouraged her to pursue her life's passions. The rigors of daily life in the city created a momentary career diversion that spanned the next five years, finding Meadow employed with local non-profit agencies serving the homeless and HIV-affected communities of Manhattan. Following the events of 9/11, however, Meadow was determined to follow her heart, enrolling in the baking and pastry curriculum of the former Peter Kump's Culinary School. Graduating at the top of her class, she was offered an internship at Chef Tom Colicchio's ground breaking restaurant 'Craft.' Just before completing her internship, she was referred by Craft Pastry Chef Karen DeMasco to the award winning pastry team at New York's Grammercy Tavern. The invaluable mentoring of Grammercy's pioneering Pastry Chef Claudia Flemming opened wide not only her talents, but also her possibilities for employment. Following more than a decade in the city, Meadow succumbed to the eternal sunshine of California, immediately discovering a home, and a perfect fit, at West Hollywood's O-Bar Restaurant.

''Coming into this business later in life has provided a much wider palate of flavor,'' says Ramsey. &''There is now so much more at the disposal of a pastry chef than simply sugar and flour.'' An enormous fan of the wealth of ethnic cuisines available in California, Meadow finds herself borrowing the scarcely employed herbs and spices native to these more exotic cuisines, blending them with the familiar flavors that her diners crave at the end of the meal.

''Colorful, fresh, seasonal, and flavorful'' - apt descriptors this chef frequently employs to define the taste memories that constitute the perfect conclusion to O-Bar's theme of 'familiar with a twist.'