Working as a young pastry chef at Gordon in Chicago was a proving ground for Mary McMahon. With its high profile environment, limited space and feverish pace, it taught her the skills necessary for success. Now that she heads up the pastry menu at the more laid-back Trio, does she miss baking in the fast lane? Not a bit. In recent years she has learned the importance of making time for herself while putting her experience—which also includes a stint at the Washburne Culinary Institute and twelve years at Vivere in Chicago—to good use. In the kitchen, she prefers ingredients in season, and autumn sees her using apples and cider, most notably in an apple cider milkshake. While she's always trying something new, there are standards that take on lives of their own. Fashioned from chocolate brownies, peanut butter sorbet and caramelized bananas, her CPB has defined itself. Certainly the same can be said of McMahon.