Chef starts barter with Pâtisserie Còrner
Afive-star resort pastry chef Krishneel Nair is using his trade to assist those who cannot afford a decent birthday cake.
Barter with Pâtisserie Còrner – is an initiative to help the unfortunate celebrate with a nice birthday cake.
Mr Nair was among thousands of Fijians affected since March last year when Fiji confirmed its first case of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tourism industry was impacted badly and business suffered; a few staff members worked on reduced hours. He boldly started his own business to keep things flowing smoothly.
From the liberty of his home – he established Pâtisserie Còrner on Facebook to reach out to all potential customers.
“It’s a small home-based business that has helped do my payments and pay utility bills, etc,” he said.
How it all started
It was during his primary school days when he developed a passion for baking.
“At the age of nine, I baked my first cake using firewood because at that time we didn’t have an oven for baking,” he said.
He baked cakes and pies when there was a function at his school. Mr Nair attended Naidovi Primary School and Cuvu College. While in Year 10 (2009) his aunt Ms Nair, a retired secondary school teacher told him that she had paid for his short course which was held at the school during the two weeks break.
After school, it was difficult getting a job. For almost a year he was home looking for possible opportunities that suited his interest. A few months after leaving school he joined a well-known cake shop in Sigatoka Town to keep occupied even without a pay cheque.
“My focus was to learn and get basic knowledge before entering the tourism industry,” he said.
He secured employment at the Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and worked under Sampath Balapatabendi from Sri Lanka. He also worked at the Denarau Marina, Radisson Blu Resort then Grand Pacific Hotel (GPH) in Suva before he landed at the Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay in early 2019.
His advice: “Every effort you put in today will shine one day. Have patience and keep moving. Be productive.”