Quick bites with
Wendy Becker, owner/Pastry Chef, Sweetie Pies Fine Pastry
PQ: What’s your food philosophy?
WB: A meal without dessert is like a day without sunshine.
PQ: What’s the most important principle in baking?
WB: Keep the flavours simple so you can understand what is going on in the dish.
PQ: One ingredient you can’t live without?
WB: Vanilla bean.
PQ: One food you avoided as a child and now you love?
WB: Roll mops (pickled herring with a pickle on the inside).
PQ: Weirdest thing you’ve eaten?
WB: Only as a kid: eating my mom’s African violets & mud pies (actual mud).
PQ: Most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten?
WB: Quattros staggioni in Cortina, Italy overlooking the Dolomite Range.
PQ: Exact moment you decided to become a pastry chef?
WB: Watching my dad making his traditional cherry cheesecake at Christmas.
PQ: What’s your solution for a last minute dessert?
WB: Chocolate Fondue (chocolate, liqueur, fruit).
PQ: Greatest professional moment?
WB: Opening my own business.
PQ: Do you dream of opening your own restaurant?
WB: Lots and I did. A friend said to me that "goals are dreams with deadlines."
PQ: How would you describe what it is to be a chef?
WB:
Be passionate and patient.PQ: Where would you go to eat, if you could go anywhere in the world?
WB: Right back to Italy for pizza.
PQ: What brought you to Whistler?
WB: My 1970’s VW bus for a ski season.
PQ: Has Whistler opened up any doors for you?
WB: Many: great friends, a career and lifestyle.
PQ: Where would you go for your last meal in Whistler?
WB: The Rimrock.
PQ: Who has been the most influential person on our cooking/career?
WB: My family
PQ: What would you advise anyone wanting to get into this industry?
WB: If you’re not having fun you’re not doing it right.
