Three adjectives to describe yourself.
Kind, persistent, imaginative.
Tell us your experiences after the graduation, until the idea to create your own business.
After graduation from ALMA IMPP, I returned to my home country, Taiwan. After a while of searching for a job in pastry shop, I found that there wasn’t any dedicated to Italian style product. Moreover,I was not satisfied to work in a typical pastry shop like I used to do: I wanted something more “Italian,” something that is new to the market here in Taiwan. Because there wasn’t any, I was motivated to start my own, and bring my Italian experience into reality.
In Italy I learned the skills in pastry, but I also observed and learned the business style and culture of Italy. Those experiences together motivated me to start something different from the typical pastry shops in Taiwan immediatly.
According to you, what are the new trends in the pastry world?
From what I observe, in the pastry world today, many “new” products come from modernizing traditional recipes, and there is a trend of using local ingredients to express regional culture.
IMPP let us explore ways to reconstruct traditional product into a modern-style one, and I think that is a very important concept chefs need to learn today .
What did the experience in ALMA represent to you? What is your best memory?
I’m proud to say that ALMA inserted Italian spirit in me. My experience in this School taught me how to be a careful yet innovative chef, and it also influenced me to want to share with people how interesting and tasty Italian pastry can be.
The training helped me to become more flexible in dealing with different situations in the kitchen. And as for the pastry part, IMPP really taught me to become more imaginative about making pastry, such as recreating traditional Italian pastry into modern forms, for example.
My best memory at ALMA would be the times I got to learn many traditional products at school and working as stagista. The times I travelled around Italy to try local pastry also opened my perspective to embrace more of the Italian culture, and I really loved it.
What do you suggest to a fresh ALMA graduate? What experience shouldn’t be missed?
The courses at ALMA really train you well, not only skills but also the mindset. Make the most out of every practical lessons, and study the theories as well, because they will definitely make you more skilled in terms of working as a chef.
If you have not worked as a pastry chef before, start with something small, find a job where you think you can learn and sharpen your skills more. Work for a year or two and become more familiar with the job as a chef, so that you can be more prepared in the future, whether it be ranking up as a higher chef in the kitchen, or starting your own business.
Always be open-minded to learn and embrace new materials if you want to become a better chef.
Lastly, in the fast-changing pastry market, being sensitive to the trends is what helps you survive. Stay imaginative and innovative.