Clement Design® Featured Chef

Photo credit: Spencer Pernikoff @whiskeyandsoba Born and raised in the suburbs of Tokyo, Japan, food played a big roll in my life. Growing up, I was always in the kitchen making dinner with my father or baking with my mother. When I was in third grade, I received a cookbook and was constantly trying to recreate the recipes. Although the results varied, the science behind baking fascinated me. Coming home from school, I couldn’t wait to make bread for the next morning! Soon I began selling bagels to friends and neighbors, using my profits to buy cookbooks or pastry tools....

Growing up in a very small town in northern British Columbia, Canada, baking and cooking have always been a big part of my family`s life. I was determined to do something with my life but at the time, I wasn't sure in what direction that would take me. Eventually at university, I decided to study child development and art therapy where one of my professors suggested I work in developmental research at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. While in my fourth year of university I was scouted to become a model. It was then that I started my modeling career in...

Priyam grew up in the cultural capital of the British raj India: “I come from the household of exceptional cooks holding on to recipes dating back to the early 19th century, my grandmother’s uncle ruled the 24 province of Bengal and food from that time, especially sweets, hold a very big significance in our family. My mother comes from the province of “noakhali” from Bangladesh and her cooking style and ethos are completely different and unique than the taste of the Calcutta cuisine style. As a child I was raised eating two distinctive cuisines at home. My mother cooked traditional Bengali...

If there had been a Junior Master Chef Competition when James Aptakin was ten-years old, there is no question that he would have won the big prize. Baking shortbread and jam cookies at the age of eight and making complete dinners for family and friends by 5th grade, James was on his way to winning enough awards to last a lifetime, garnering his first Executive Chef position at 25 years of age. A small glimpse of his honors range from 1st Place as a local Iron Chef for the California tomato festival, 1st Place in the Food Network’s 2008 Big...

My name is Chong Ko Wai, I'm 34 years old this year and I've been in the pastry industry for about 15 years now. Back during high school I wouldn't consider myself the 'brightest student' and I wasn't the type of person who necessarily wanted to excel academically. Without surprise, my high school career resulted in terrible grades. Not having much of a choice, my parents decided to send me to baking school.  My parents sent me to baking school because they wanted me to have a skill set that would allow me to take care of myself financially. They...