Kitchen Evolution: How Le Cordon Bleu Took One Chef from Restaurant to Tech
Stef Scrivens is the Chief Director of Account Management at Transparent Kitchen. Before that, she was a Le Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef.
Scrivens is no stranger to career changes. While studying mathematics and environmental science at the University of Ottawa she would walk by Le Cordon Bleu and dream about trading places. Illness brought about a culinary epiphany when baking became her creative refuge between hospital visits. Once her health improved, she decided to jump in. Training with world-renowned chefs and having Yannick Anton, Executive Chef at Signatures, as a mentor was empowering. Having support systems like being able to study at any of the 35 locations around the world after Ottawa, access to Le Cordon Bleu’s alumni network plus grad recruitment from top-notch restaurants gave her the confidence to push herself in a challenging industry.
She stayed at Le Cordon Bleu for 4 years, working both in the school and at their restaurant Signatures as a pastry chef. She then moved to London, England to work at Marcus Wareing’s Michelin—starred restaurant Marcus as Chef de Partie. When the opportunity at Transparent Kitchen arose, she realized that Le Cordon Bleu had given her the ability to flourish in the food business without having to be in a kitchen.
The new role feels like a natural evolution. Transparent Kitchen is an intelligent platform and digital ecosystem that makes the farm to table, fish to fork, or scratch kitchen movement – whatever you call it – accessible. Their goal is to provide a customized dining experience that helps consumers find the food they want to eat. She works directly with suppliers, chefs and restaurants to tell their stories through meaningful content and innovative technology – without taking anything away from the romance of the dining experience.
With a rapidly growing community of restaurant partners (three of which are on the Canada’s 100 Best List: Fairouz, Les Fougeres and DaiLo) this accessible and easy-to-digest platform seems set for success.
According to Scrivens “Training at Le Cordon Bleu gave me the discipline and knowledge to see this industry in an entirely new light.” And yes, she still loves making pastries.
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