Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2012 | Page 118

FOOD

Emily takes on
new role at Royal
The highly talented Emily Harris has
returned to the Island to take over the
role of head pastry chef at the Royal
Hotel, Ventnor.
Although still only 25, Emily
(pictured below) gained a wealth of
experience during her five years on the
mainland where she worked alongside
and prepared some of her delicacies for
many of the world’s most renowned

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chefs, and even Royalty.
Now she has decided to demonstrate
her skills back on the Island where
she first arrived from Ipswich with
her parents some 17 years ago. Emily
attended Ryde High School, but
left at 16, and within a week found
employment as an apprentice chef
at what was then the Snooty Fox in
Brading, and also at the Windmill Inn

at Bembridge.
She said: “It was always what I
wanted to do. I remember at primary
school telling everyone I wanted to
own a cake shop, and decided the best
way to go about it was to become a
chef, then a pastry chef, and specialise
in more intricate work like cake
decoration.”
Emily later worked for seven months
at Gracie’s Bakery in Ryde, making
the cakes, and often spent from
2.0am until 3.0pm six days a week
carrying out her duties, but gaining
valuable experience along the way.
The Seaview Hotel was her next
destination, specialising in pastry,
before she decided it was perhaps
time to move to the mainland. Emily
recalls: “I went on the internet, and
sent my CV to every restaurant and
patisserie I thought sounded good.
“I sent out about 30, and didn’t
mind where I went, and the first
to call me back was Daylesford
Organics in Gloucestershire,
which interested me because they
were staunch advocates of organic
farming. I was working there within
days, after packing all my belongings
into my car and just driving off.”
After two years of specialist
training, learning how to utilise all
the base products, Emily joined the
staff at the Michelin Star Yauatcha
in Soho – a contemporary dim sum
tea house and restaurant. She recalls:
“I was amazed by some of the cakes
and pastries that were made there
– I remember thinking ‘I just don’t
know how they do it’. It certainly
opened up my imagination that you
could actually make things look like