On Becoming Pastry Chef

Being Pastry Chef at the Prince George is very rewarding and has turned out to be a great career opportunity for me.  I've been able to travel to New York and Chicago and all over Canada, competing, sampling and learning how to make the best food around.  I'm often asked how I came to be Pastry Chef, and here's the story . . .

Back in 1997, I was a graduate of the NSCC Bell Road - a campus of the Nova Scotia Community College that no longer exists.  I then took my Apprenticeship at the Park Place Ramada and then went right into the Baking & Pastry Arts Program at NSCC Akerley Campus.  That year, I went on to work at the Delta Barrington and at Maple Restaurant.  In '99 I joined the Prince George kitchen team as First Cook.  On my very first day of work here, I got the news that I was selected to as part of Team Canada and would be travelling with the team to Germany! - it was very hard to concentrate on my first day in training at my new job!

I stayed with the Prince George that first time around for about 2 years, and then went to Australia for two months.  When I returned, I learned that the PG was looking for a Pastry Chef.  Something told me when I left Australia that I was coming home at just the right time!  I always wanted to be Pastry Chef, but there were no jobs in that field when I had looked - so, at first on a trial basis, the PG gave me my first chance to work in Pastry, and I have been there ever since!  I also worked at Fox Harbour Resort for a season around this time, and in that year I was also in Calgary, and at Edmonton at the Shaw Conference Center.  Then I learned that the launch of Gio was in the planning.   I was really missing home and decided I needed to be a part of the excitement, so I came home with my future husband, and we both became part of the new Gio kitchen team.  I'm enjoying my career greatly!