Every summer, New York City’s culinary calendar reaches one of its most anticipated moments with The Great Nosh Picnic, where acclaimed restaurants, bakeries, and chefs come together to present exclusive collaborations that celebrate craftsmanship and creativity. The event has become a showcase for culinary talent, placing equal emphasis on technical precision and innovative flavours.
At the 2025 edition, Chef Rahil Mehta, who was then a pastry chef at the three-Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park, played a pivotal role in Hani’s collaboration with Breads Bakery. Together, the two bakeries presented a chocolate babka finished with Hani’s signature malted cinnamon glaze, with Mehta leading the preparation and execution of the glaze across hundreds of pastries served during the event.
Hani’s partnered with Breads Bakery to create a dessert that combined the latter’s signature chocolate babka with Hani’s distinctive glaze. Executing the collaboration required precision and consistency at scale, highlighting the operational demands of large-format culinary events where quality must be maintained across hundreds of servings.
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Mehta specialised in pastry production, flavour development, laminated doughs, breads, cakes, custards, and confections. His experience at Eleven Madison Park equipped him to manage high-volume production while maintaining consistency, skills that proved valuable during the event.
Mehta joined Hani’s in April 2025 during the bakery’s formative months, where he worked alongside Miro Uskokovic and Shilpa Uskokovic to develop recipes and strengthen its pastry programme. His work focused on recipe development and batch consistency, contributing to the bakery’s early operations before returning to Eleven Madison Park.
The Great Nosh Picnic continues to highlight the growing role of collaborative dining experiences in New York’s hospitality landscape. For chefs and bakeries alike, the event provides an opportunity to experiment with new ideas while demonstrating the technical expertise required to deliver exceptional pastry on a large scale.
