I came with a concept that they have never seen here… and the comments were that everything is so beautiful it is not to eat – so I said what do you want me to do, like all the others?
Even one day a lady came to me and said ‘I want a cake but I want to say that I did it’ – so I said ‘take a cake and throw it against the wall…’ and she started to laugh her head off!…
Slowly caterers came to purchase their desserts, I ended up having about 14 caterers on the list purchasing from me – from the small ones up to the big ones…
My training started with a passion for the trade. I discovered a passion for the food trade. At the beginning I wanted to go into cooking, and I don’t know how I got into the sweet side… I went to the South of France and then to the North, and going around and saw just a beautiful place. I entered and offered my services. The gentleman said its very hard work and you need such discipline. I replied that when you see how I work, you will put two of your employees out… He told me how come you are so sure of yourself – I said, I know myself… So he looked at me and said step in…
I got all the rubbish jobs to do – with a lot of love – and when I finished them, I was looking for other things to do. I did not wait for them to tell me anything. When they saw how ambitious I was, working over the hours. The boos used to get some jobs outside of the place and I would go with him there. I did not take any money, I just wanted to learn everything properly. I moved to a Chocolatier and other places. After a couple of months I said to myself that everything I had done was with sweet and I wanted to do food.
One day I was sitting down with someone and we got talking. He asked what I could do, and without qualifications I told him I could make things. He told me to come to this place tomorrow. I stepped in and he said please show me what you can do. So I did all these things… And he was do impressed – but he was a restaurant. He wanted to give me the position so I agreed as long as he would teach me everything. He said on condition that I would take all the sweet on my responsibility – all the preparation. As long as I could learn the menu because the plated dessert is a little different. So from 6pm to 10.30pm I was doing the sweet and during the day I was with them learning how to make the dishes. I spent there about 4 months – and when I finished I knew I was ready to open a business. And funnily enough with the whole lot I don’t have any qualifications.
Prosper Bitton
