Episode 11 - Vanessa Bayma - Catering, Consultancy and Events !
Send us a textHaving both Brazilian and Sicilian roots, can only mean a lot of passion and fire!Vanessa describes herself as always enjoying food, growing up in her grandmothers kitchen, which allowed her to have an interest in cooking from a very early age.Her first taste in the professional world of all things culinary, would take place running a pasta station over a weekend, which at the time paid a serious amount money, to any 18 year old this was not just pocket money.This kept happening...
Having both Brazilian and Sicilian roots, can only mean a lot of passion and fire!
Vanessa describes herself as always enjoying food, growing up in her grandmothers kitchen, which allowed her to have an interest in cooking from a very early age.
Her first taste in the professional world of all things culinary, would take place running a pasta station over a weekend, which at the time paid a serious amount money, to any 18 year old this was not just pocket money.
This kept happening over several times throughout the year, which she enjoyed far more than current weekday duties.
Describing herself as a people pleaser, her other job was repossessing peoples house's for the bank, this was not the way she wanted to spend the rest of her life, it was this that kickstarted an illustrious career.
After a discussion with her dad, the decision was made to then study and master culinary arts.
Her first serious job would be for the large Catering firm Puff'N'Stuff Catering in Orlando, Florida.
https://puffnstuff.com
A move abroad was on the cards, it was toss up between Australia, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, the choice was made by going to study at the ICCA in Dubai.
https://iccadubai.ae
After spending some time in the region, Vanessa consults for large firms such as General Mills, Alto Sham, and Mastercard.
https://www.mastercard.ae/en-ae.html
https://www.generalmillsmiddleeast.com/ar-SA/Company/GlobalOverview
https://www.alto-shaam.com/en
This has led to becoming a chef presenter on camera, trade shows, and to meet like minded individuals, which has also allowed her to be a true showman, however even on camera this is not always easy.
Vanessa is now running her very own catering and consultancy company, that has merged with SoulTPHQ to run the event side of things.
https://www.chefbayma.com
With the wealth of knowledge the chef has under her belt, the discussion led talking about the hospitality industry changing in order to cultivate both male and female talents, nurturing instead of de-motivating them, however there is a bullish attitude towards how some kitchens are being run to this day.
Her kitchen heroes, of-course number one being her Sicilian grandmother which was the person who inspired her from the very beginning, followed by Wolfgang Puck, and the late great Anthony Bourdain.
An educated chef with bags of charisma, a rare breed amongst professional cooks, this is to be expected though, that's what happens when blending Brazilian passion and Sicilian fire!
You can see what chef Bayma is doing, by following her on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/chef_bayma/
Follow The Chef JKP Podcast on Instagram HERE