Pastry Chef Tracy Kamperdyk-Assue

Tracy Kamperdyk Assue, executive pastry chef for Livanos Restaurant Group’s City Limits restaurants and now Moderne Barn, can’t say she dreamed of working with food for a living. She liked cooking just fine, but saw it more as “something for fun” rather than a permanent fixture. She studied marketing in college, where she realized-earlier than most- that she could not see herself working a typical nine-to-five job. Instead of making elaborate plans to climb the corporate ladder, she found herself in the school library reading food magazines.

Not surprisingly, Kamperdyk Assue ended up a 1988 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. Before gracing the Livanos Group with her sweet masterpieces, Tracy began her career as a cook on the hot line of some of New York City’s best restaurants before she found her specialty: the pastry department. Her experience includes working with some of the finest chefs in New York:
• Cooking under Charlie Palmer’s direction at Periyali
• Cooking with Rick Moonen at the Water Club
• Studying the art of bread baking at Amy’s Breads & Ecce Panis
• Assistant Pastry Chef to Eric Gouteyron at River Café
• Assistant Pastry Chef, for Richard Leach, at Lespinasse during Gray Kunz’s tenure.

So how did Kamperdyk Assue end up at City Limits?

Her first venture into a Livanos’ kitchen took place in 1985. As part of CIA’s curriculum, students must complete an externship in a working establishment. Tracy chose Livanos Restaurant, the family’s first Westchester location in White Plains, NY. Following that experience, Tracy and her husband, fellow chef Peter Assue kept in touch with the family. When the decision was made to transform Livanos Restaurant into City Limits Diner, Peter was hired as the Executive Chef. Next, the family had to coax Tracy to join the team as well. And they did so with this promise: that she could bring her Valrhona chocolate (which she uses in all her chocolate desserts, including the City Limits favorite, Valrhona chocolate pudding and Moderne Barn’s Valrhona Chocolate Torte) and Tahitian Vanilla Beans (found in many desserts including the housemade vanilla ice cream, cheesecake and crème brulee).

As pastry chef for all City Limits and Moderne Barn, Tracy and her staff prepare everything on premise from scratch from the finest ingredients available. Kamperdyk Assue brings years of experience, dedication, and a passion to her craft, and it shows in a variety of items-including freshly churned ice creams and sorbets. With the addition of the state-of-the-art, custom built European bread oven to the bakery department in Stamford in 2002, Kamperdyk Assue now displays hers talents with savory, artisan breads such as Raisin Walnut and Herb Focaccia.



The Livanos family and staff of Moderne Barn are proud to have Tracy as the Pastry Chef as her efforts always succeed in bringing the guests quality and excellence