Joni-Ann Lawson

It’s almost two years since Joni-Ann Lawson has been with Susie’s Bakery and Bar. In that short time, she has switched positions (from baker to kitchen supervisor), been promoted (to storeroom manager), and sums up her tenure thus far as being “very fulfilling”. Armed with an associate degree in food and beverage management from the Excelsior Community College and a certificate in baking technology gained at the University of Technology, the 24-year-old feels as though it was her destiny to work in the food industry. “I was in the 4-H Club at Balmagie Primary and when I went to Ardenne High, I loved food and nutrition and did it in CXC,” Joni-Ann said. Like most of our chefs on the rise, she credits the matriarchal presence in her life as her motivating source to venture into the culinary profession. “My real inspiration came from my mother,” she notes. “I was always in love with her cooking and baking.” On her road to Susie’s, Joni-Ann was exposed to overseas training at the Grand View Lodge in Minnesota, did an internship at Couples Ocho Rios and had her first full-time job at Pastry Passions.

Gary Burt

“It’s a tough challenge,” assesses Susie’s Range Chef Gary Burt of his daily job. “But having worked here for so long and studying customers’ eating habits, I’m much better at it.” A native of Westmoreland, Gary shares that after graduating from Grange Hill Comprehensive High, his first paycheque came from working as a sanitation worker at Coyaba Beach Resort in Negril. A year later, he moved on to Couples Negril where he trained for six months and eventually joined the hotel as a range chef. Under the tutelage of Executive Chef Stephan Spath, Gary learnt how to prepare Italian, American and Jamaican cuisine. The knowledge acquired held him in good stead for his future job at Susie’s. Of the culinary field, the range chef (whose oven-crisp chicken is a personal creation and sometimes featured on the menu) tells Thursday Food: “Food is an art… I’m constantly learning and I enjoy meeting and interacting with customers.” In his downtime, Gary loves to play pool and reveals his family makes full use of his skills on days off. “Yes, I cook for them when I’m not working,” he laughs.

Winsome Green

Making sweet treats is the assigned task of Winsome Green, a self-described “baker and decorator of cakes” at Susie’s. Not one to speak much unless prodded, the reserved Winsome is a 10-year veteran staffer at The Southdale Plaza-situated eatery. The Spanish Town resident says her love for pastry is grounded in her love for her mother’s home-made pastries like toto and potato puddings. “I loved her baking,” she shares, “and as a little girl, I used to look forward to helping her when she would bake.” She followed her passion to seek training at Saunder’s Catering School in downtown, Kingston but didn’t manage to complete studies there. Winsome, who also worked for seven years at Simply Delicious, says her time at Susie’s has been a rewarding experience. Baking such staples as the Chocolate Deluxe, Black Forest and Ice-box cakes and her new personal; favourite, the Fudge Ripple cake, the mother of two teenaged boys reveals: “It’s a good atmosphere here, Miss Hanna is pleasant and a good boss and my coworkers are very friendly and cooperative.”