It was a chocolate croissant that changed Kelly Urbanoski’s life. A Vancouver-based accountant on a European vacation in 2005, she was at a café in Florence, Italy. While savouring a rich Italian coffee, she took one bite of that croissant and decided right then and there to become a pastry chef.
Urbanoski was 25 at the time. She had been working in an accounting position at a prestigious advertising agency back home but was hungry for a more satisfying career. On returning to Canada, she enrolled in the Pastry Arts program at the Pacific Culinary Institute on Granville Island, which offered a full-time six-month certificate program. Though she knew there was no guarantee she would find work in her chosen field despite intensive culinary training, she was self-confident and determined. “I was leaving a good career,” she says, “and taking a 50-per-cent pay cut was pretty big. The day before school started, my mom was saying, 'You can still get your money back from the school deposit'.”
Creative ways of finding work
Starting wages for pastry chefs can be low, $10 to $11 per hour, but raises can be substantial in a matter of months, depending on performance. “When you’re first interviewing for jobs they’re going to think you’re really green, and they’re not going to want to hire you,” says Urbanoski. Her first job was with Cupcakes, a small Kitsilano specialty bakery; she then decided to apply for a hotel position to gain experience working on a large scale. She was accepted by the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre, which, she recalls, initially "didn’t want to hire me, because I’d never worked in a hotel before. So I basically offered to work for free for a day. I said, ‘If it doesn’t work out, I’ll go home and you don’t pay me, and if it works out, you offer me a job'.”
For the last three years, Urbanoski has been at Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House in Vancouver. Before she arrived, Joe Fortes had been without a dedicated pastry chef for a month, relying on cheesecakes and desserts from outside suppliers. “I worked the original pastry program till I got my feet wet,” says Urbanoski, “and then started making changes — mainly doing all desserts in-house and by hand.” Now, her pavlova with banana pastry cream, fresh fruit and four kinds of berry has made a visible impact on business. “One pavlova goes out on the floor, and people see it, and next thing I’ve got four more orders,” she says.
Urbanoski's typical shift starts at 7:30 am with a review of business details. How many desserts moved last night? Which ones? What will today’s feature be? What ingredients will be required? Then she does her prep work, because at lunch she will be expected to get a dessert to a server within three minutes of ordering. When the lunch rush dwindles, she has more creative time to plan feature desserts. “There’s challenging days in all jobs,” she says, “and stress levels can be high for cooks and bakers. Plus, kitchens are tiny and they’re hot and you’re negotiating all the time for space, oven space and racks.
Learning to build a business
Urbanoski especially enjoys the off-site catering aspect of her work: “I love going into these beautiful penthouses and doing really individual stuff, chocolate sorbettos, cheese plates, and we do a lot of charity events, too." Joe Fortes meanwhile sponsored her to go back to school, this time to Vancouver Community College, to achieve her Red Seal Baker certification. “I was fortunate to take two months off in a row to go to school. I passed Red Seal Level 2 in February and did the Level 3 in March. It’s not a normal practice to go back-to-back, but my employer and teachers had confidence that I was ready. So I went for it. At the end of Level Three, you take your third-year exam and your Red Seal-interprovincial exam.” In March 2009, Urbanoski was rewarded with her Red Seal certification. Her employer has further encouraged her entrepreneurial spirit by allowing her to use its ovens and facilities during off hours. Having started her own wedding-cake company, named Kurby's, in January 2010, Urbanoski feels this may be where her future lies.
“You’re constantly problem solving, and when you get home you’re physically tired,” she says. “When I was accounting, I would get home and I wasn’t mentally or physically stimulated. Now I get home and go, 'That was a neat day, and I did this and this and this,' and I feel creative.”
For those seeking a career as a pastry chef, Urbanoski offers cautionary advice. “You don’t want to get discouraged. There is a career at the end. But when you’re starting out and you’re not making any money, just try to believe in yourself at all times because you will eventually get there. It’s a rewarding job, and I enjoy seeing people’s faces light up and hearing them say how much they enjoyed my creations.”
