Welcome to the Emirates Woman weekly series ‘How I got my job as…’ where we speak to some incredible entrepreneurs and businesswomen both based in the UAE and globally to find out about their career paths that led them to where they are now; what their daily routines look like; the advice they’d give to those starting out; and the hurdles they’ve had to overcome.
This week, we speak to Chef Carmen Rueda, who’s regarded as one of the most innovative pastry chefs in the UAE. As a renowned chocolatier and two-time runner-up at the prestigious World Chocolate Masters. She has studied culinary science and worked with some of the best dessert chefs in the world.
Chef Rueda first moved in 2019 to Dubai as an Executive Pastry chef for Five Hotels, where she continued creating new items, combining innovation and with traditional baking styles. With a stint at Nobu Hotels in June 2020 teaching and creating new desserts concepts, she’s now settled in at BRIX dessert bar in Jumeirah Fishing Harbour.
To delve into her journey, Emirates Woman spoke to this renowned chef to see how her journey in the F&B industry began.
What was your favourite subject at school?
Math and history were always my two favorite subjects, I love learning about the past and how we move forward. We often don’t realize math is part of our everyday lives, in everything we do – however, as kids the complicated equations feel unnecessary.
What was your first job?
My first job ever was a nice small restaurant near in the beach in Spain where I had the chance to cook in their kitchen and start my culinary journey and drive my passion for food.
What brought you to Dubai?
My journey In Dubai started with Brix Café, after being presented with the opportunity it seemed like such a great journey I wanted to embark on and experience a new territory in the F&B scene.
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What inspired you to enter the F&B space and work at BRIX dessert bar?
I always loved creating with my hands, I used to play with chocolate as a kid and with any other ingredients around me. It’s another form of art where you can express yourself and your emotions through food and desserts.
Talk us through the concept of Brix Desserts?
BRIX Desserts provides a diverse dessert experience for anyone seeking something extra special. At BRIX Cafe, guests can savor fresh pastries and an all-day breakfast menu. For a truly memorable experience, they can embark on a BRIX Journey, where they’ll be transported back in time, to another place, enabling them to taste flavours never tasted before with a unique menu that tells a captivating story by myself and my BRIX team.
What are the key elements of your role?
My main role at Brix Journey is to create new experiences including at the BRIX journey. One of my key roles as well to lead my team and help them improve their skills every day. One of the main stand out points at Brix Journey is the unique experience, so I am always looking for new ideas and resources – how to improve the overall experience.
Talk us through your daily routine
First thing I head to the bakery, plan out the day for me and the team. I am often testing new items and experimenting in the kitchen. After that i go through the stack and finances, then when i finish around midnight (hospitality hours) i go to the gym – I try to have some sort of balance and get my body moving after a long day at the bakery.
What advice do you have for anyone looking to follow in the same footsteps?
My advice is simple yet highly effective – learn, travel and eat as much as you can, take in all the experience, the income will come but you need to learn first. Traveling allows you to explore diverse ingredients, flavors, and techniques, inspiring you to create innovative and unique desserts/ pastries/ etc.
Tell us more about the pastries offered?
BRIX is a place where you can enjoy a large variety of fine desserts, from the exclusive story-driven set menu experience at BRIX journey – which is one of 10 only in the world – to the simple yet memorable pastries at BRIX Cafe, where you can enjoy a slow morning or day, soak in the natural light that hugs the space, the greenery the wholesome set up by the water. We’re always innovating our pastry offering, we just launched the flat croissant which has been going viral however, we made sure we add our own Brix touch to it.
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
We often find ourselves in rush to get to places, whether in your career or personal life and we can’t help but compare ourselves to people around us. My best advice is one step at a time, we don’t have the same journey as the others’ and everything happen for a reason… enjoy the journey that comes with each step
And what is the worst?
This might sound odd by constant getting compliments such as ‘you are great’ or ‘you are the best’ could limit your mind set. We always need that push to be better, a motive to out-do ourselves and get better. Once we believe we’re the absolute best, we get comfortable which is the worst enemy.
What’s the biggest challenge you have had to overcome?
Once you decide to go global, you need to act local in order to appeal to the demographics of that country you’re working & living in. So, I would say finding new flavors and implementing it in my creations as I traveled throughout my career.
What’s your future for the brand?
Growing and spreading the concept of BRIX around, both BRIX Cafe and BRIX Journey, ensuring everyone can enjoy our experiences and leave with a memorable and elevate dessert experience. The concept of a dessert-only set course menu still seems unorthodox as diners immediately associate it with an overload of sweetness when it fact it’s quite the opposite and it’s part of our journey is to educate people on our concept and slowly integrate it to become a as popular as a regular dining experience.
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