Kate Siegel

Kate Siegel’s career is a story about a passion for the pastry arts. Today, she’s the
Executive Pastry Chef for Fairmont Pacific Rim and oversees the pastry program for the
hotel’s restaurants, banquets, and in-room dining.

As a graduate of George Brown College, Toronto born Siegel set off with a Culinary
Management diploma to follow her dreams and joined the hospitality industry with a start
in local restaurants. From 2004 until 2010, she worked for Four Seasons Hotels and
Resorts and honed her skills with the pastry teams in Toronto and Whistler. Following this
time, Siegel was recruited by Vancouver’s Metropolitan Hotel as the Executive Pastry
Chef, where she was able to call the pastry program her very own. It was here that Siegel
met Executive Chef, Hamid Salimian who became one of her greatest mentors and
inspired her to harness her creativity in the pastry arts.

Toronto called her back in 2012 to accept an Executive Pastry Chef position with the
Shangri-La Hotel and brought her to work with then Executive Chef, Damon Campbell. An
invitation to attend classes at the prestigious L’ecole Du Grand Chocolate Valrhona in
2014 inevitably planted the seed for Siegel’s next culinary move. In 2016, Siegel followed
her love of chocolate and became the Production Manager for SOMA Chocolatemaker,
where she gained an astute appreciation for chocolate. During this time, Siegel learnt the
principles of ethically sourced chocolate that to this day is a cornerstone to her culinary
philosophy.

Her love for the west coast brought her back to Pemberton, British Columbia to join the
idyllic North Arm Farm. This organic vegetable and berry farm with a bakery, restaurant,
and full service wedding venue, ultimately changed her perspective about sourcing local
ingredients. Seasonality and utilizing fresh picked produce essentially drove her to rethink
dessert concepts from this moment forward.

The iconic Fairmont Chateau Whistler next came calling and eventually led Siegel to be
reunited with Executive Chef Damon Campbell of Fairmont Pacific Rim. Today, the two
culinary stalwarts bring their craft together to manage one of the leading culinary programs
across the brand.

“I’ve crisscrossed this country a couple of times now to work with and learn from some
amazing chefs,” says Siegel. “It’s due to the generosity of these culinary professionals
sharing their vast knowledge with me that I have this opportunity to work alongside
Executive Chef Damon Campbell and bring my vision for pastry to Fairmont Pacific Rim.”
When Siegel isn’t in the pastry kitchen creating stunning desserts for the finale to any
dining experience at Fairmont Pacific Rim, she’s out with her rescue dog, Baxter seeking
inspiration from just picked produce at local markets, hiking in Pemberton, and of course,
working with chocolate.