17 January 2022
There was little time to rest for our patisserie graduate Julia Buri, launching her very own patisserie after returning home after working at a three-star Michelin restaurant in London.
After originally selling her products online, the 25-year-old opened Crumbs Patisserie in Applecross 12 weeks ago with her goods selling faster than she could make.
“This is something I have dreamt of since I was a little girl, to see my vision bought to life is amazing,” Julia said.
“A lot of people questioned me at the beginning, I had no doubt of what I was capable of, but being mid-pandemic probably did give people the right to question; you’re 25, you’re going to open your first business, you’re crazy, well yeah, call me crazy”.
It has been a whirlwind journey for Julia who returned to Perth last year after training for three years as a chef de partie at The Fat Duck in London, run by Heston Blumenthal.
Julia said her journey all started at NMTAFE; while completing her apprenticeship and study in patisserie she was selected as part of the Australian Culinary team, which saw her travel to Europe to compete.
After applying for a handful of jobs throughout Europe in-between competing she was called in for a trial at The Fat Duck and the rest is history.
“I turned 21, packed my bags and got on a plane all by myself and started a job at The Fat Duck,” she said.
“I was probably a nervous wreck on the first day but I knew I had been trained to be the best and to have high standards and that is still what I stand by to this day.”
Julia said she wouldn’t have got to where she was and be in a position to open her own patisserie without the training she got at NMTAFE.
“I started off in a different field, I was studying nursing at ECU in Joondalup and across the road was this amazing pastry school,” Julia said.
“As a young student no one really tells you to pursue a career as a chef, so I kind of listened to everyone else and went to university but found out very quickly it was not the lifestyle for me.
“I just love to be in the kitchen and love to be creative so I went with my gut and signed up to be a pastry chef.”
Julia said she would definitely recommend training in patisserie and had even employed one staff member and an apprentice from NMTAFE.
“I always say to all my apprentices and all my young staff to enjoy it, it’s so good [at TAFE], if I could go back and do it again I 100% would,” she said.
“All the lecturers are amazing and you can truly tell they enjoy what they do, they love being chefs, they love passing on that knowledge to other students, so I have only great things to say.”
“Pastry chefs are very rare to come by so I would say try it, just go for it!”
Crumbs Patisserie is located at Shop 6/32 Ardross Street, Applecross and is open 7.30am-4pm Tuesday to Saturday and 7.30am-2pm Sunday. The store is closed on Monday.
Find out more on our patisserie courses.