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Michael Mararian

@polyesterbakes

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Making desserts and wearing vintage threads
📺 catch me on Fox’s: “Next Level Baker Season 1” streaming on HULU ©️2021
📍Buffalo, NY

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Well, hello there…. #nextlevelbaker #nextlevelbakerseason2 by @polyesterbakes

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a day ago

Do kids still get the croup? I used to get it all the time. The croup is a respiratory infection that affects your vocal chords (ages 3 months to 5 years old) and is characterized by a harsh, barking cough- some comparing it to the sound a seal makes.

Well, this frigid weather reminds me of that every time I step into it and take a breath, because one common remedy was to go outside into the cold air and breathe. My poor father would have to stand outside with me in the middle of icy New England nights while my breathing slowly adjusted. This happened on more than one occasion.

I also used to have really bad hallucinations for some reason and to top everything off there was a bad ground in one of our bathrooms so every time there was a thunderstorm storm, a blue lightning bolt would zig zagging down from the ceiling light socket - almost like a Frankenstein tesla arc- the whole bathroom would glow and crackle. It was terrifying as a kid.

My parents never fixed it and then eventually the house was demolished when they sold the land so I never got the satisfaction of wondering if any new owners enjoyed their little electrical storm Easter egg at 205 Chandler Rd.

Today I made the popular pancakes found at New York City’s Golden Diner. They are made with yeast and they are thick and fluffy. It’s accompanied with honey butter and a honey syrup with a hint of soy sauce. They were delicious. I wasn’t able to get the appearance of the full smooth “dome” effect because my skillet wasn’t teflon and didn’t have deep curved sides that it required but they were still worth making. The recipe can be found via the New York Times.

All right everyone - well batten down the hatches. Stay warm. Enjoy the latest storm of the century. They just keep getting better and better, don’t they? taken in Buffalo, New York by @polyesterbakes

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9 months ago

I just got back from an art show I was part of in Los Angeles. The weather was lovely. It was a cool show. They sent all the artists vintage paint-by-numbers that we had to add our own little flair to. So I chose to make mine as a dig on Monsanto because, well, why not.

It’s called “Mt. Santo”- And it has the little radiation warning sign and caution tape and, well, you get it - it's a mountain of radioactive meat.

And speaking of mountains, today’s dessert is very much like a mountain- a mountain of phyllo dough. It’s called a Pastis Gascon and it has thinly cut apples soaked in brandy and brown sugar, baked in a phyllo dough encasing with a mountain of buttered phyllo dough on top. It’s a crunchy, messy, delectable dessert.

Today’s vintage sweater is from a company called “Meister” out of San Francisco. Popular in the 80s and 90s.

I’m going to keep it short today because it’s a big Buffalo Bills football game day today and I don’t want to exhaust people and make them read too much so they can save their energy for screaming at the television.

Until next week. Stay safe and go Bills!

#baking #bakersofinstagram #pastisgascon taken in Buffalo, New York by @polyesterbakes

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9 months ago

I made a Danish Christmas/ New Year dessert called a Dansk Smørkringle. It’s basically a danish with toasted pecans and walnuts and almond paste in the core.
It’s quite delicious.

I hope y’all had a great New Year’s Eve and happy new year. I like to spend the close of each year watching The Brady Bunch. I don’t know why, it’s become a traditional thing for me maybe because I’m an only child and I find the family interactions heartwarming, and comforting or maybe it’s just the groovy outfits I like. Or….maybe it’s all the ass slapping.

Yes, you read that right. “Ass Slapping”

Maybe it was a 70s thing, but I noticed this time around how much people slap each other’s ass on the show. Mostly Michael Brady being the culprit.

I guess it’s something we did back then. I’m pretty sure I witnessed it in the workforce once or twice

“Great job Claudette on that fiscal report!” Slap!

“Be a doll Joyce and get me a Sanka?!” Slap!

I remember once years ago when I was about twelve, I had to stay over my neighbor’s house (The Havalas’) while my parents took a trip to Bermuda.

Teddy Havalas was a lumbering Greek man with two daughters that I must’ve been teasing at the time because he came up from behind and kneed me in the ass. It lifted me up off the ground slightly and I know I was so stunned he did that, I remember thinking, “you kneed me in the ass?” You’re a grown ass man kicking kids?

Anyway, I found out years later during my first year of college that he had a heart attack in his kitchen and died.

Anyway, if you want to see a little bit of what I’m talking about in the Brady Bunch, there’s a video here

Otherwise, I’ll see you next time. I’m gonna be gone the next week and a half to Los Angeles for an art opening, hoping I’ll be able to visit a fellow cast member on Next Level Baker, my friend @pastrychefjeff who you should check out btw.

Until then, have a wonderful 2026.
Today’s velour ensemble is fashioned by Gwynn of Michigan

#bradybunch taken in Buffalo, New York by @polyesterbakes

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9 months ago

Well, it’s been quite a year! Not sure I could top this one, but let’s see what happens in 2026! I’m so grateful to have all of you here for the ride and thank you to all the new people that have joined me since the airing of Next Level Baker, I hope I can continue to keep everyone entertained and amused. And speaking of that obviously a big thank you to @gordongram @carlaphall & @candacenelson for opportunity of a lifetime.

I had a fun collaboration with @camilleprivatechef on on his premiere podcast- be sure to check that out (link in my bio)

And even though I lost a little Lamont this year, we were so happy to bring wonderful Darrin Stephens into our family.

So here’s to a fantastic new year and remember what Abraham Lincoln said before he was fatally shot in the head at Ford’s Theater - (well it wasn’t literally the last thing he said before he was shot, he probably said something like “My seat squeaks every time I move.” )

But here’s the quote… “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Although in hindsight, that’s a rather ironic, existential quote from him considering …

But anyway, have a great 2026!!! Love you all! taken in Buffalo, New York by @polyesterbakes

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10 months ago

Episode One. First guest.

Introducing Michael Mararian @polyesterbakes Buffalo based pastry chef and contestant on Next Level Baker (2025) on FOX, presented by @gordongram, @carlaphall , and @candacenelson .

We talk pressure, creativity, competition, how the audition and casting process really works, and what it’s like when the cameras turn on and when they turn off.

🎙️ Episode One of Behind the Pass is live.
Available now on Spotify.

#BehindThePass #PodcastLaunch #NextLevelBaker #PastryChef #BuffaloNY ChefLife by @polyesterbakes

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10 months ago

Well the baking show is over but I continue to relive the outer body experience I had during it all. Sort like walking away from a happy, once-in-a -lifetime car crash with the gods of baking in the back seat.

Will I ever find myself in this situation again at the age of 60? Probably not. But here’s the thing - and I hope it’s true for all of us - age does not define the opportunities that may arise in our lives.

Let’s start at the beginning…

I am so thankful to Anna at @culinarycasting a who messaged me that one day back in April posing what I thought was an impossible suggestion of putting me in for an upcoming baking show with Gordon Ramsay no doubt

Then came the welfare producer Wayo @wayoworld who interviewed me over the summer to fill me in (if I got on the show) of all the things to bring- European chargers- black pants and white t-shirts. He asked me if i had any questions and all I could think of was can I wear cologne on the set? I’m sure he thought
“of all the fucking things to ask he’s worried about cologne.” But again that goes to show you I thought my chances were virtually zero.

But as time went on and more interviews occurred. I had to do a Zoom call with a psychiatrist who did an amazing job keeping a straight face. (I appreciate you) and many producers as well along the way - the next thing I knew, I was having that outer body experience I was telling you about earlier sitting on a plane, headed to Dublin - in any event the whole experience was so incredibly fun and life-changing and of course, a huge thank you to @gordongram @candacenelson and @carlaphall who really make these shows what they are. Thank you so much.

I’m not sure what will happen in 2026 but it’s going to be hard to top this year

Today I made a lumberjack cake. I sort of wish the squares and lines were a little sharper, but I rushed it to get it done today, but I still think it looks kind of cool.

Merry Christmas to everyone and happy Hanukkah -happy Kwanzaa and all the amazing holidays that we get to celebrate as a society.

#baking #nextlevelbaker taken in Buffalo, New York by @polyesterbakes

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10 months ago

Hard to believe my wife Elizabeth has been gone 10 years as of today.

That’s one thing I’ll say about the “Next Level Baker” show having featured her for that brief moment - it was a fitting tribute to wrap up a 10 year anniversary- her debut on national television. 🙂

Sometimes I wonder what I would do if she just walked in the door one day and greeted me with an upbeat “Hey Pickle”, as if she were returning from a long, existential bike ride.

I wonder… could I just pick up where we left off? Continue being our silly selves? I honestly don’t think I could. Everything is so different now. We’re all so different now.

That was a time in my life that happened - and then ended along with childhood Christmasess and summers off as a teenager. Fearless. Chapters of my life with dog-eared pages, worn from revisiting.

And for those of you who follow my travels and for those you who don’t. Elizabeth had wanderlust - she wanted to be everywhere. So it has been a pet project of mine to bring her ashes to all the places she loved and all the places she never got to go to- so far in the last 10 years, I’ve managed to get her to 19 locations in 15 countries not including about 10 states here in the US.

I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to do it (not for lack of ashes the human body produces a lot of ashes 😳😂) but more the question SHOULD I keep doing it since it was never really a request of hers. I just took it upon myself.

Anyway, it’s probably strange to say “here’s to another 10 years” because salutations like that are for the living, but somehow it seems melancholically appropriate to do so. Instead however, I’ll choose to say nothing at all.

As a matter of fact, even better, I’ll let Theodor S. Geisel have the last quote because it’s so utterly, heartbreakingly, poignantly… perfect.

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss taken in Buffalo, New York by @polyesterbakes

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10 months ago

Of course now I’m obsessed with the whole concept of “Next Level Baker” and I’m trying to think of other occupations it could cover

For example, could you do “Next Level Comedian” where contestants have 30 minutes to come up with a one minute routine and whatever you get on the platform has to be part of your sketch. You want the premiere stage at the top where you get the rubber chickens & Whoopie cushions and not the crappy, 2 drink minimum, basement stage where you get stuck with tampons and a child’s coffin you have to make funny

Or maybe “Next Level Surgeon” where 12 of America’s top Fellows have a patient on each floor that needs an appendectomy and they’ll either get state of the art surgical tools or have to use a box cutter and dental floss to sew them up

Or how about “Next Level Mortician”? THAT could be interesting

I can see the mentors now, judging a line of cadavers

Gordon: “My God Jeff, you embalmed him with Gatorade! Well done mate!”

Jeff: “Thank you Chef”

Carla: “Chad, I thought grabbing the Twizzlers was a mistake, but using them as arterial tubes really paid off”

Candice: “I love that you used walnut shells for eye caps, I just think the aneurysm hooks could’ve be more festive”

In any event, I did in fact have the time of my life doing the show and I wish I could’ve stuck around longer but I understand why. My bake just didn’t make the grade. Although I’m sure telling telling Gordon Ramsay in a moment of utter exasperation, when asked what I was going to do with a can of whipped cream I grabbed off the platform “I dunno, stick it up my ass…?” might’ve had something to do with my early departure but who knows? It just seemed like the logical thing to say at the moment and if I had to do it all over again, I would probably suggest sticking that can of whip cream up my ass over and over and over. It’s THAT kind of pressure being on the show 😂😅

As far as today’s cake goes - this is an idea I had to make a “Naughty Children’s Lump of Coal Cake” with licorice layers & red chocolate ribbon but I never had a chance to do it on the show, but I thought I would do it today

Until next time

“Honey, Mike’s coming over hide the whip cream” taken in Buffalo, New York by @polyesterbakes

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10 months ago

Here are a few Next Level Baker inspiration sketches I drew in preparation for the show- in case I got lucky with ingredients. The Chocolate black licorice “lump of coal cake” was my favorite #nextlevelbaker #baking taken in Buffalo, New York by @polyesterbakes

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10 months ago

Please join me now in a moment of silence for Next Level Baker character @polyesterbakes . (PS this is meant to be funny) #nextlevelbaker# by @polyesterbakes

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10 months ago

One of many firsts for me… @hulu @foodclubfox #nextlevelbaker taken in Buffalo, New York by @polyesterbakes

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10 months ago