Published October 10, 2018
This week, I sat down with Gourmet Gorilla’s lead baker, Daisy Lopez, to discuss everything from blueberry bread to tarantulas. As Gourmet Gorilla’s lead baker, Daisy is the creator of all those delicious breads, brownies, and muffins that have become kid favorites. Read on to find out more about Daisy!
Anna: What is your official title?
Daisy: I am the lead baker
A: And how long have you been at GG?
D: I have been here for about a year and a half
A : What were you doing before GG, and what led you to this position?
D: So I went to school for baking and pastry, and I was a pastry chef for a few years. I used to do wedding cakes, and then I switched over to being a regular pastry chef, and it wasn’t really rewarding. I always wanted to do something where I could feel like I was helping someone, and I didn’t really feel like I was making a difference at all and was very over worked. I just thought, you know I need to find something where either I’m helping someone, or at least I’m helping myself because I wasn’t really happy. So I started looking at jobs and found this position at Gourmet Gorilla and starting reading what the company was about and thought, hey that’s pretty cool! I have always thought that helping kids learn about food at a young age will definitely help them regarding nutrition in the future. so applied and thought, ok let’s see what happens.
A: How has your background as a pastry chef helped you in this role?
D: I did a lot of work with substitutions, both for myself at home and at work, so I had a lot of practice with making recipes healthier. One thing I took on here was tweaking the brownie recipe. It used to have oil, so I removed that and added applesauce, and reduced the sugar to make it healthier, and the texture really improved!
A: What do you find is the most rewarding part of working for Gourmet Gorilla?
D: For me it is the fact that sometimes I get to help my other co-workers. A lot of them don’t know English very well, and since I have been getting to know them better and am learning what they are able to understand it allows me to assist them when they are having a hard time understanding something. Because I am bilingual, and I came from a household where my mom also didn’t really know English very well, I learned to be a little more patient and try to translate for her. With my teammates, I am always trying to listen to them and whatever needs they have to try and help communicate that out to the rest of the kitchen. I have found that over time this has also helped a lot of my team members become more confident, because it gives them the opportunity to also practice and be heard.
A: Do you have any experience with the menu development?
D: My main task has been taking past or current menu items and making them a little bit healthier!
A: What are your favorite current menu items
D: The cornbread is really good! I ended up changing that recipe a little bit too. We changed the flour to whole wheat and added applesauce. I like this one to make as well, because even though it is tough to mix sometimes, I don’t have to spread it! Overall though, I think the blueberry bread is my favorite.
A: So tells us more about you! What do you like to do outside of work?
D: Me and my husband like going on picnics, going to the park, I love patios – if we are going out to eat I always have to find a patio! I also love to explore and try new foods, I have to try everything once. On our Honeymoon we went to Cambodia and we had bugs – tarantulas and scorpions – and you know what the tarantulas weren’t that bad!
This Blog Post was Written by Anna Crofts – Client Account Reprsentative
