At The Pass with Olga Spivak
đź•’ 4.5 min read
Currently
Co-Founder & Pastry Chef, Le Beau
Formerly
Trained at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Pâtisserie by Alain Ducasse, and graduated from masterclasses of world-renowned pastry chefs like Melissa Coppel, Jordi Bordas, François Brunet, Daniel Alvarez, Alexandre Bourdeaux. I worked at one of the best pastry shops in Paris, owned by Meilleur Ouvrier de France. I am very new in the industry. I discovered my passion for pastry only four years ago.
Favourite item to make right now
Croissants!!! Hands down! :) And I must add, this is the most rewarding process too!
Last cookbook purchase
Have you read it/tried any recipes
Yes! Radix in Latin, means root, base, foundation. This book is not about fashion. It is about tradition, simplicity and essential things in pastry - everything that lately we tend to forget, unfortunately.
Name one dish or ingredient you’d like to see gone from menus
Artificial flavourings.
And one dish or ingredient that you’re excited about right now and would like to see on more menus
Vanilla beans! You can take away all the spices from my cupboard, but just leave these guys with me. :)
Your biggest influences
Pierre Hermé - the king of modern patisserie! It is enough to look at his work just once to understand that it’s not just a pastry - it’s art!
If you could eat at any restaurant in the world
Mirazur, France.
Last thing you ate
My newly developed apple danish :))) Yes! As a pastry chef, I get to eat A LOT of sweets, LOL.
Three must-have ingredients in your fridge
Butter, cream, and eggs.
Guilty pleasure
Caramelized white chocolate. It has notes of cookies and caramel, with a touch of salt.
Top 3 favourite Toronto restaurants
Antler Kitchen & Bar, Alo, and Edulis.
Top 3 favourite Toronto bars
I am boring and don’t go to bars.
Go-to drink
Gewürztraminer: White wine with prominent notes of lychee.
One habit you have in the kitchen that you should lose, but can’t seem to shake
Leaving lights on in the storage! LOL. But, hey, I am working on it. :)
One habit you have in the kitchen that will inspire young chefs
Attention to details - Trust me, this one will help you big time and maybe save you one day!
Hidden talent
Writing.
Best career advice you ever received
“Learn from your mistakes.” - my Chef during my internship in Paris. And I sure did make a lot of them back then! Whether it was an over-filled piping bag that covered me in sponge batter, or rushing into the kitchen and accidentally breaking Chef’s sugar sculpture! The idea here is that it is okay to make mistakes. We all do! But we must learn and improve after.
Worst career advice you ever received
“You have to work for someone first, and then… maybe... open on your own.” Obviously, I didn’t listen and now I have my Le Beau! :)
Your advice for a young cook starting out in the business
The quote that I put on the wall in my kitchen and look at every single day: “It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be.” - Paul Arden. It helps me a lot! Work hard, improve every second, move forward and remember: nothing BIG in this life comes easy!
———
At The Pass is a monthly series showcasing Toronto/GTA’s best chefs. You won’t find any celebrity chefs featured here. Perhaps you already know these fine cooks, but maybe not. They’re not famous - yet. But it’s time these talented, passionate, hard-working chefs got a bit of the spotlight.
Know someone in Toronto or GTA who should be featured? Submit their name for consideration.