Ramin Talaie for The New York Times Principal Laura Scott, back left, looks on as the incoming schools chancellor, Dennis M. Walcott, prepared waffles for the students of P.S. 10 in Brooklyn.Dennis M. Walcott, the incoming city schools chancellor, was so excited on Thursday night that he had trouble sleeping. He woke up at 3:30 a.m., then again at 5:20, and went out for a two-mile run. By 7:30, he was at Public School 10 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, waffle batter and electric waffle press in hand.
Lily Potter, 8, couldn’t sleep either. She went to bed at 9 p.m. but kept thinking about the challenge she had issued Mr. Walcott four months ago, when he visited the school and told the children that he loved to cook, particularly waffles. “Prove it,” she had told him — and he agreed.
Since then, Mr. Walcott has gone from a behind-the-scenes deputy mayor to schools chancellor, one of the most closely watched public officials in the city. But he assured the P.S. 10 children — 16 of whom were herded to the news conference announcing his appointment last week — that he would keep his promise.
So there he was in a tan apron and plastic gloves in the P.S. 10 library, flipping lightly browned, sugar-free waffles onto a stream of waiting plates. The waffles were spongy in the center but crispy around the edges, a touch of banana the only hint of sweetness.
The children, who doused their waffles in sugar-free syrup, were impressed. “On a scale of one to infinity, these are infinity,” Lily said.
Making his waffles, Mr. Walcott was laid-back and improvisational. He ignored the green light that showed when the waffles were ready, and instead watched the steam rise from the edges of the press. “It’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that,” he explained. “Science, art and luck.”
But under the flow was a frame of discipline. The recipe conformed to his stringent dietary standards, which he adopted because of a history of diabetes on his father’s side. He used Aunt Jemima mix, but substituted soy milk for regular milk, egg whites for whole eggs, and extra virgin olive oil for canola. The banana was his only indulgence.
Mr. Walcott, 59, who is tall and lithe, doesn’t drink soda, eat red meat, fried food or white sugar. He is allergic to wheat, and tries to keep things gluten free. He goes to the gym and is training for a marathon, at least “in my head,” he said.
“I try to be very strict with my health regimen and my diet, and I also try to model that for the kids,” he said. “I haven’t heard any complaints about this being sugar-free syrup. It’s not bad. It’s just one less type of sugar you have in your system.”
From the back of the room, the familiar greasy odor of a breakfast buffet brought for the adults mixed with the wholesome scent of the waffles. Eggs, sausage, French toast, coffee. After a while, Lily, in her ponytail and silver sequined shoes, decided to sneak over.
“They’re making me hungry,” she said of the waffles. “I’m going to go get bacon.”