Culinary Grads Find Success and Satisfaction as Business Owners

Alex Moody and Kelsie Gardner are Assiniboine Culinary Arts grads with one thing in common—besides their Assiniboine diplomas—they are both carving paths to success, as business owners in their respective home towns.

Alex Moody, a 2011 grad, is the owner of the Boissevain Bakeshop in Boissevain. Kelsie Gardner, who graduated in 2016, is co-owner of the Aurora & Pine Bistro ion Flin Flon.

Upon entering the program in 2009, Alex quickly realized it was the right choice for them.

“It was pretty immediate that I knew”, he says. “I always enjoyed cooking. I made friends right away and it was just a blast. A really, really awesome two years.”

For Kelsie, Culinary Arts was also an easy choice.

“I kind of always wanted to ever since I can remember”, they said. “When I was in high school, I started working in a restaurant for high school credits. From right there, I fell in love and I immediately knew that was what I wanted to do.”

After he graduated, Alex worked at the Boissevain Hospital, followed by a couple of years at an oil sands camp near Fort McMurray and then spent seven years as a baker at an Edmonton café. In May of 2022, he became the owner of the Boissevain Bakeshop.

Kelsie’s experience was similar. “As soon as I graduated from Assiniboine, I went to Winnipeg, and I was there until 2020 or 2021,” they said. “I was at Bonfire Bistro, a locally-owned restaurant on Corydon. I apprenticed there, I got my Red Seal. . . As soon as Covid hit, I moved back to Flin Flon.”

After working at an autobody shop and not enjoying it, Kelsie and their fiancée devised a plan to return to the food industry.

“My fiancée suggested I start doing ‘pop-ups’”, they said. “So, I did one on Valentine’s Day... It sold out in about 20 minutes, and people really enjoyed it.”

After several more successful ‘pop up’ experiences, Kelsie, their fiancée and a friend with baking skills approached a local deli owner about renting space. To their surprise, the owner wanted to retire and was willing to sell the entire building to them.

“We weren’t searching for a restaurant or anything,” says Kelsie, “but it just kind of fell in our laps. So, we bought her building and had to totally re-do it.” Being up north, the process was “very, very hard. Everything had to be sourced from either Saskatoon or Winnipeg, the two closest hubs.”

Asking Alex what the favorite products are at the Bakeshop, he quickly replies: “Donuts. That’s probably our number one and, partway through our opening year, we started doing special donuts. We’ll find some way of making it kind of extravagant. One of our more popular ones is like a caramel buster. We take a jam buster donut, a round donut, cut it in half, put in caramel, whipped cream and then top it with chocolate ganache.”

For Kelsie: “I have a carrot and hummus dish on my appy menu right now that I’m really, really proud of. For a main, I have a really nice salmon dish that I’m pretty proud of as well. But, what we’re doing, it’s elevated classics – simple things done really well, with good quality and ingredients.”

As for the restaurant’s best seller, Kelsie says it’s “Definitely steaks. We sell steaks like crazy... We’re one of the few places in town that you can go and get a really good steak, a really good meal that’s done well.”

Looking to the future for the Bakeshop, Alex says “I never want things to be stagnant in there. I just want to keep expanding what we’re doing and having fun with it along the way.”

Asked about possible expansion plans for Aurora & Pine, Kelsie says “Stay tuned. As long as everything works out and all goes as planned, there could be potential for expansion and some serious upgrades here in the next couple of years.”

Given the high quality of their products and the success of their respective businesses, it is easy to forget how young these two entrepreneurs are. Alex is only 34 years of age, while Kelsie is just 27.

They have each achieved a great deal in a short period of time and, judging by their commitment and skill, they each have a very bright future ahead of them.