Danielle Garonce '02

Danielle Garonce '02 wants you to know that she actually liked the food
at Bialik, in particular Rami's souvlaki. While the culinary creations
of her alma mater did not fully influence her decision to become a
personal chef and caterer, she was inspired by food at an early age. "I
cooked at home as a child, for my whole family, and I took great
pleasure in doing it!" Her old photo donning a chef's hat tells the
story. Danielle attended cooking classes both in Montreal and as far
away as Essex, Vermont when she was quite young. While other kids were
playing imaginary kitchen in their playrooms, Danielle was experimenting
with sauces, drizzles and a coulis or two.

After Danielle graduated from Bialik in 2002, she attended CEGEP and
decided to take her cooking training seriously. She enrolled at the
Institut de Tourisme et d'Hôtellerie Québec (ITHQ). But Danielle
considered cooking to be such a pleasure that she couldn't envision it
as a "vocation". Luckily, Danielle continued to cook both for herself,
her family and her friends. She prepared a delicious meal as a "thank
you" to one friend in particular, and this set the ball rolling to what
would become her life's passion. Her friend was so delighted by
Danielle's skills that she hired her to cook for her every Thursday.
Word of Danielle's culinary expertise got around and she was faced with
an overwhelming demand for her cooking. As if by delicious divine
intervention, the decision was made: Danielle was destined for food
greatness, and her own business was born!

So how do the years spent at Bialik resonate with Danielle? "Bialik was a
very colourful place, and I had an extremely positive experience there.
It was all about the teachers, who were inspirational, motivational
and supportive". And the food? "Believe it or not, Bialik's cafeteria
was pretty good. I would add a few more colorful fruits and veggies
to the menu but otherwise, we were lucky." In particular, Danielle
describes the Grade 9 Israel trip as a voyage through history but also a
food and taste journey. Visiting and "living" in Israel forced the
grade to try new foods and expand their food choices. This was an
amazing experience for Danielle's palate and it made a permanent impact.
Danielle travels annually to international locations, including
Europe, where she scouts the globe for menu inspirations. She is
equally inspired by the Montreal restaurant scene and, as she puts it,
"…anyone who approaches cooking with joy and curiosity." You can read
all about her food-inspired journeys on her blog: http://daniellegaronce.blogspot.com/

Danielle spends most of her working hours as a chef for small and larger
parties and dinatoires; she prepares wonderful dinners for intimate
gatherings, and she recently prepared the food for a Super Bowl party
hosted by the Montreal Canadiens ("very nice guys"). In the summer of
2010 she cooked for some Hollywood royalty who were working on a film
set in Montreal, but Danielle treats every project with the same
passion, creativity and diligence, with an emphasis on market fresh food
and flavor. "I love the freedom to create what others like and to see
them enjoying the food I prepare." Danielle was proudly featured in The Gazette on April 13, 2011 (http://www.daniellegaronce.com/Press_files/All%20in%20two%20days'%20work.pdf).
Fame, however, has not altered Danielle's humility and sense of humor
when speaking with her. This is accompanied by the sense of how
connected she is to Montreal and to the community in particular. She
has given back to the Jewish community by providing a cooking series for
Federation CJA and donating a dinner party to one of the Jewish Day
Schools. Speaking of schools, Danielle is still in close touch with her
Bialik classmates and is in fact married to another Bialik alumnus!
So while she may not think of Bialik as a hotbed of culinary creativity,
she certainly looks back on her high school years in a delectable and
scrumptious way!

For more on Danielle, please visit her website at: http://www.daniellegaronce.com