In this last edition of The Uniform Project, photographer Sarah Blais steps into bakeries all over town to check out what pastry chefs wear to work everyday.
Nadege Nourian from Lyon, France is a fourth-generation pastry chef who has worked and studied all over France, landing in Toronto to open her two shops over the past 3 years. Nadege Patisserie (at the edge of Trinity Bellwoods park), is where Sarah met with Nadege, a smiling hard-working woman who is into techno music and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Her daily uniform is a traditional french pastry chef outfit consisting of black pants and a Clement white chef jacket with white apron. The apron is always tied around the waist. Like butchers, pastry chefs pride themselves in keeping their apron very clean.
Nadege’s favourite pastry to make is the little cakes. They are small, and the layering and combining of flavours is extremely technical. Front-of-house staff uniforms at this patisserie changes seasonally. In the summer, the girls wore white dress shirts with a grey high-waisted skirts, but in the winter they’re switching to grey pants and a white dress shirt. Nadege likes their outfits to look sexy- but in a way that is slightly masculine. She jokes that she hopes to get Jean Paul Gaultier to design the next uniforms.
“Tori” Vaccher is a 27-year-old baker who opened Tori’s Bakeshop in the beaches 10 months ago. After studying Theatre at Ryerson University, she became a vegan and decided to pursue her love for baking either in NYC at school, or in Toronto with her own shop… and here we are. So what’s her uniform? Tori is always wearing dresses and aprons. She gets her 1940s looks from vintage shops, Urban Outfitters, and Anthropology. The shoes she rocks are sometimes a bit uncomfortable, but she’s down to tough it out for a better looking outfit. Her hair is always pulled back, which means a variety of scarves and headbands is key. In these photos she’s rocking a Betsey Johnson dress!
The fresh design of Tori’s shop was lead by her, and the cool egg-beater light fixtures she has were built by her electrician brothers (they might even start selling them soon!). Theatre school gave her a few skills for drafting sets, and in this case a shop of her own. In that shop, the front of staff wear a grey shirt, with organic cotton aprons and green bowties. What’s Tori’s favourite thing to bake? Cookies.
The last shop Sarah went to was Andrea’s Gerrard St. Bakery in East Chinatown. Andrea Mut has been working in the industry for 20 years now, including her last job as lead pastry chef for the Evergreen Brickworks. Her first job was baking with her Grandma for her grandparents’ restaurant, and aftering attending culinary school, she realized that she wanted to pursue the pastry route. The vibes she got from her baking teachers were more of a style she could agree with then the fast paced, “testosterone” environment of the chef. Some people can thrive in that, but her personality was best suited for what she does now. What’s her favourite thing to bake? A rustic, pastry, fruity thing – but she really just loves to have a big pile of dough that needs to be rolled out. She could sit for hours cutting and rolling it while listening to Spanish music, or her ‘Hits of the 70s’ internet radio station.
Andrea’s uniform consists of jeans, a t-shirt, and Blundstones. Her spot to shop is Winners for more tees. Her hair is always tied back, and so are her staffs’. She also dons very minimal jewelry, and a cool headband from Peru. She wants her staff to be comfortable, but never sloppy. This photographer highly recommends Andrea’s apple pie.
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Sarah Blais shoots Toronto Standard’s Uniform Project. Follow her on Twitter at @sarahblais_.
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