How one local baker went from St. John's to Le Cordon Bleu and back

In a home in the heart of St. John's, Liz Drover regularly gets up before sunriseandheads to the kitchen. This is the headquarters for Butter Bakery.

The business itself is new Drover started it in 2017, a few months after she returned from living in Paris for two and a half years. But it was a goal years in the making.

She'd once joked to her husband that if she could do anything she wanted, she'd run a bakery. At the time is was said in jest. After all, she was an engineer but the field didn't satisfy her.

"I wasn't quite sure at the time what I wanted to do," she said, so she enrolled in an education degree. Just as she was finishing her program, her husband was offered a position in Paris in the fall of 2014. That move made Drover's dream a reality.

"If I'm ever going to work in baking, this is like the opportunity to take it from hobby to something a little more real," she said of the location change.

"So we moved, and I decided to switch."

A different city

When the couplearrived in Paris, it was apparent how different the city was from St. John's.

"All the neighbourhoods, they're like little communities in and of themselves. Every little arrondissement has their several boulangeries, several butchers, little cheese shops; there's no end to all the delicious things that you can find," she said.

"Every pastry shop window is just like this beautiful case full of beautiful things."

In Paris, Drover started working for another Newfoundlander who happened to own a bakery called Bertie's CupCakery. The jobgave her hands-on experience in a bakery as well as a grasp of running a business.

It also meant she could pursue classes at Le Cordon Bleu and other private cooking schools in the city. She enrolled in courses that covered specific skills, like making macarons, bread andchocolate, and even a wine course.

"If there's anywhere to learn," she said of her food education, "it's definitely in Paris."

French desserts with a local touch

When the two-and-half-years were over, Drover and her husband bid adieu to Paris and moved back to St. John's in the spring of 2017. A few months later, Drover opened Butter Bakery.

Her menu covers French staples, includingtartlettes, macarons, eclairs, croissants and custom cakes.

Local, in-season berries in the desserts add a Newfoundland and Labrador touch, and the berriesare particularly special to her because her 90-year-old grandmother helps her pick them.

"I think using local where possible is awesome, and Newfoundland has so many amazing berries that I think deserve to be featured whenever possible," Drover said.

Initially, Drover wanted to open asmallboutique bakery but couldn't find the right space. She decided instead to work from home doing custom orders, which would allow her to get a feel for the local market.

She hopes to get an independent space in the future, so she can allow customers to pick up their orders instead of delivering them herself. Her own bakery location would also allow her to hire help, for administrative tasks or the baking itself.

But in the meantime business has been going well. People are learning about Butter Bakery through social media and word of mouth and the very French macarons are one of her best sellers so far which doesn't surprise Drover.

"French desserts are kind oflike the pinnacle of desserts."

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