Sunday, January 17, 2021

Guest Speaker: Baker Entrepreneur Giselle Courteau - February 18, 2021

Co-owner of the hugely popular Duchess Bake Shop and Duchess Atelier in Edmonton, Canada, and author of award-winning cookbooks.

How do you open a successful bake shop? Write an award-winning cookbook?

At 30 years old, Giselle decided to take her love of baking and convert it into a business -- a business that started with 3 employees and rose to 75, pre-COVID. It is the bakery with the most Instagram followers in all of Canada, and the only Canadian patisserie to make it on the BuzzFeed list of “23 Bakeries Around the World You Need to Eat at Before You Die.” In 2018 hers was the only Canadian team chosen for a French reality cooking show for professionals.

Giselle admits that they did not play by the normal business rules. She will talk about what went right and what went wrong along the way, and what she has learned from her 11 years of experience in growing the bake shop into a successful business and in writing two award-winning cookbooks, Duchess Bake Shop and Duchess At Home.

Giselle is a self-taught baker who has been cooking and baking her whole life. She is passionate about real food made from scratch with no mixes, preservatives, or shortcuts. Her cooking is inspired by her French and Quebecois heritage and her Franco-Albertan upbringing.

For those of us with a sweet tooth, Giselle will share one of her favourite recipes with us.

When: Thursday, February 18, 2021
Time: 6 to 7:30 p.m. Rome time 
Meeting Place: wherever you are -- remote interactive talk on Zoom.
Cost: free
RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Marielle.