Meet Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Alumni

Every year, students from all over the world, representing more than 100 nationalities, attend our campus to share a common bond in their passion for pastry, baking and cuisine.

Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa is part of the Le Cordon Bleu International Network with more than 35 schools and over 20,000 students worldwide. Among our international alumni network are; Julia Child, Ming Tsai, Giada De Laurentiis, Eric and Bruce Bromberg plus many more! Meet some of our Ottawa alumni:

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Virgilio Martínez - Chef and Founder
Central in Peru & Lima in London
Program: Grand Diplôme
Central Restaurant, which has been on The Best Restaurant in Latin America three years in a row as well as two years on The Worlds 50 Best list. He also owns one-Michelin-starred restaurant Lima in London. He was also on Season 2 of Netflix Chefs Table Virgilio graduated from both Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa and London.

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Peggy Chan, Chef and Founder
Grassroots Pantry and Prune in China
Program: Grand Diplôme
Featured in Forbes Magazine, leading Hong Kong's meat-free and green-eating movement. Peggy built a career in the city's top Michelin star-studded establishments with her passion for serving the community.
Read her alumni interview here.

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Angel Betancourt - Executive Pastry Chef
One&Only Ocean Club in the Bahamas
Program: Grand Diplôme
Executive Pastry Chef Angel Betancourt is living and working on the tranquil shores of Paradise Island at the One&Only Ocean Club, Bahamas leading luxury resort. He was  recently selected to represent the Bahamian Culinary Team in 2017 (2 silver Medals).
Read his alumni interview here.

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Tina Su - Co-Owner and Pastry Chef
Butter Avenue in Toronto
Program: Diplôme de Pâtisserie
Tina Su is the co-owner and pastry chef behind Butter Avenue, Toronto’s trendy pâtisserie and café on Queen Street West, that are trending across Toronto. Butter Avenue has also been selected as one of the best bakeries in Toronto by Toronto Life’s “The Best of everything 2015” and “The Best of everything 2016”.
Read her alumni interview here.

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Neha Lakhani, Chef Contributor & Chef Pâtissier
India Food Network and Troublesome Duo in India
Program: Pastry Diploma
Chef Neha honed her skills in planning customised fine desserts with fresh and high quality ingredients in the pastry kitchen of ITC Maurya Sheraton, Delhi. She is now a Chef contributor for India Food Network, regularly judges contest and cook-offs globally and is the Chef Pâtissier and Co-founder of Troublesome Duo.

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Elina Olefirenko – Executive Pastry Chef & Owner
Elina Patisserie
Program: Diplôme de Pâtisserie
Elina Olefirenko is the Owner of Elina Patisserie, a pastry shop on Ottawa's Sussex Drive specializing in delicate and beautifully decorated French pastries.  Read her alumni interview here.

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Michelle Dahdah - Head Pastry Chef
Quelque Chose Pâtisserie in Ottawa
Program: Diplôme de Pâtisserie
Michelle Dahdah is the Head Pastry Chef at Quelque Chose Pâtisserie, Ottawa’s trendy macaron shop with locations in Westboro, Vanier, and soon to be the ByWard Market. The pâtisserie creates around 18 different flavours and bake around 1,000 macarons a day. Read her alumni interview here.

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Richard Singh, Head Chef
Graydon Hall Manor in Toronto
Program: Cuisine Diploma
Before joining Graydon Hall, Richard was Chef de Cuisine at the Shangri-La in Toronto and Chef de Partie at The Fat Duck Restaurant, under Heston Blumenthal, the awarded three Michelin stars, restaurant of the year, Best Restaurant in the World and Best Restaurant in the UK.

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Stef Scrivens, Pastry Chef
Marcus - The Berkeley in London
Program: Pastry Diploma
After graduation Stef worked abroad staging at Michelin-starred restaurants in England before returning home to work at two sister restaurants in Ottawa, Fauna and Bar Laurel, with Jon Svazas. She is now working at 2 Michelin starred Marcus the Berkeley in London under Marcus Wareing.

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Thomas Naylor, Executive Chef
Canadian Embassy in Washington – USA
Program: Cuisine Diploma
As Head Executive Chef, Naylor runs the kitchen, cooking for the Vice President and White House Chiefs of Staff, as well as special guests' Mark Messier and Michael J. Fox and one of the most memorable, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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Reem Seklawi, Pastry Chef/ Co-Owner
Maison.S créateur de Saveurs in Lebanon
Program: Pastry Diploma
Pursuing her pastry passion she opened an authentic French Pastry production kitchen located in Beirut. Prior to this she worked at Maison Christian Faure Pastry School in Montreal as a Chef de Partie before returning to Lebanon.

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Brian Voelzing, Head Chef
The Hide, Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts in Dubai - United Arab Emirates
Program: Cuisine Diploma
Brian recently won the Meat Specialty Chef of the Year by The Pro Chef Middle East award in 2016, for continuously raising the bar in the Middle East's F&B sector. His philosophy for food is, respect the ingredients you cook with.

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Jonathan Collins, Chef TV Personality
Chef & Producer, Collins Cuisine in London Ontario
Program: Cuisine Diploma
Jonathan was previously “Chef Expert” on CBC’s Steven and Chris. He has produced several of his own series including "Hungry for Family” and “Cuisinart Culinary School”. A passionate chef and father who loves to share his experiences, having cooked for presidents, prime ministers and celebrities.

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Matteo Verzi, Sous Chef
glass brasserie, Hilton Sydney Hotel in Australia
Program: Cuisine Diploma
Before heading to Australia, Matteo work in The Wolseley located on Piccadilly in London as well as Brasserie Zédel. He is now at upscale modern Australian glass brasserie in the Hilton Hotel Sydney, working under Chef Luke Mangan.

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Fernanda Baggio, Sous Chef
Development Sous Chef - USA
Program: Basic Cuisine
Fernanda is under Sous Chef Development at Acquerello and because of her extraordinary abilities with fresh pasta she spends part of her time collaborating with the Chef de Cuisine Mr. Seth Turiansky, and the Chef de Cuisine of Sorella, Ms. Denise St. Onge on pasta ideation, production and implementation in both restaurants. 

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Sanaz Homa, Chef Owner
Tartelette Bakery & Cafe - Ottawa
Program: Pastry Diploma
Sanaz graduated in 2020 and opened her own bakery and cafe, Tartelette, in Ottawa in 2023. She prides herself in making innovative and fresh parisian pastries with a Persian twist. Her talent and passion helped Tartelette become Ottawa's Best Bakery in 2024 by Faces Magazine. Watch her story here.

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Rochelle DeSouza, Owner
Pretty Little Layers - Toronto
Program: Pastry Diploma
Rochelle moved from India to attend Le Cordon Bleu in 2017. After graduating with a diploma in pastry she opened her own bakery Pretty Little Layers in Toronto specializing in French Entremets and competed on The Food Network's Spring Baking Championship in 2024. Read her story here.

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Kourtney Morin, Owner
Hello Dolly Pastries - Ottawa
Program: Cusine Diploma, Pastry Short Courses
Kourtney graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 2011 with a love for baking. When the pandemic hit they started Hello Dolly from a rental kitchen and then opened their location in 2022. Hello Dolly Pastries specializes in sugar and shortbread cookies decorated with pop-culture and creative designs.