Nadège Nourian is a dynamic inspiration to female entrepreneurs with a remarkable story of success that many only dreams of.
In my interview with Nadège, confidence in her ability to create desserts that are exquisite and that have customer appeal never seemed to be in question. I admired her conviction in her craft.
When Nadège arrived in Canada, her ideas were bold, unconventional and unique. Acclaimed chefs of popular Toronto restaurants opined that there was no market for the desserts she had in mind to share with this city. These words only fueled her desire to have Canadians experience her pastries even more.
Let's back up the story to the beginning.
As a fourth-generation pastry chef, Nadège was surrounded by culinary influences as a child growing up in France. She reminisced, "I have wonderful memories of working in my parent's restaurant when I was 14. I loved it."
Nadège had already worked as a pastry chef from 1998 until 2000 when she attended Institut National de la Boulangerie Pâtisserie.
She began to travel a lot - learning from the best chefs in France. She then worked in Sweden and on to England, where Nadège would stay for eight years baking in some of the best restaurants in the world at the time.
Establishments that included London's Michelin Guide restaurants Yauatcha and Hakkasan, where she had 30 pastry chefs working under her at one time. Her experience took her to The Ivy, one of the finest restaurants in the world, also known as a popular gathering place for celebrities to dine.
Nadège fondly recollected serving her pastries to numerous notables and well-known personalities like George Michael, Tom Cruise, Michael Jordan, Penelope Cruise, Kevin Bacon, and Tony Blair, as well as catering for some of the Royal Family.
With a keen interest in spreading her wings once again, Nadège moved to Canada. She set roots down in Toronto, a foodie paradise since the 1960s.
As her reputation preceded her, notable chefs in the city wanted to meet Nadège. She pitched her ideas of what she'd like to bring to their restaurants, intentions deemed too new and outside of the norm. Many cited the impossibility of interest from fine diners in Toronto.
Intent on introducing her pastries to Canada, and with the support of her husband, she opened her first shop at 780 Queen Street West under her eponymous branding. Starting with nothing in 2009, she got together with NK Architects, a newly opened firm, to form a working relationship that proved to add the unique signature to her business that she had hoped for.
Principals Nelson Kwong and Neil Prabhu of Toronto-based practice NK Architects created award-winning modern and innovative spaces that have drawn the attention of numerous notable publications since the business' inception. Awards garnered from their work included Nadège pastry shops.
Nadège shares, "We took the risk, introduced my desserts, and people loved them, especially those who travelled and had food experiences in other countries."
"People came not only for my pastries but to see the shop for what became an iconic design, something that was never done before here. Since we have worked with NK for all of our locations, even the new one in Oakville."
"I attribute my success at the beginning, in part, to word-of-mouth as there weren't a lot of French pastry chefs in Toronto when we started."
Nadège was the first to introduce the macaron to England, and then she presented the French crisp meringue cookie to Canada. She revealed that up until the pandemic, the business was selling one million of these divine treats a year and believed before long that they would reach that number once again.
"We did a lot of home delivery business during COVID and survived it through the overwhelming support from Torontonians."
Recognition through awards commenced when in 2018, both Nadège and her shop won various accolades like Best Pastry, Best Dessert, Best Croissant, and Best Chef by NOW Magazine, and a nomination for Best Entrepreneur in Canada by the Globe & Mail in the same year.
She became an influencer, with invitations to contribute to publications and speak on the radio for entities like HELLO Magazine, the Globe & Mail, CBC Francophone Radio, and the Toronto Star, to share recipes and chat about desserts.
Being sought after as a dessert authority provided her with opportunities to work at the 2017 James Beard Awards as a pastry chef. She was given an honorary mention on stage, a highlight of her career.
At a tech industry dinner with 200 executives from the field hosted by Justin Trudeau in 2018, Nadège was privileged to be invited as the only pastry chef to create the event's final course.
Recently she reached out on social media to ask people where they'd like to see another location open and found many requests for a shop in Oakville.
The pastries are baked fresh every morning in a 1,600 square-foot business-owned kitchen in Etobicoke, centrally located for all five Nadège shops.
Nadège recognized that many of her clientele drove from Oakville to Toronto regularly. She is so happy to have made buying their favourite pastries easier for her loyal customers. The Oakville location opened on April 20 and is already quite busy.
Favourites include the Marie Antoinette Cake, croissants, macarons, and a decadent chocolate selection. The chocolate is ethically sourced from Valrhona, some of the best in the world. The company acquires ingredients locally when available (their butter is supplied by Stirling Creamery, from Stirling, Ontario.)
Though there are only 15 pastry chefs currently since COVID, the company continues to rebuild to meet demand. The foundation of the flavours and techniques are French, but the pastry chefs come from all over the globe to work with Nadège and introduce some influences from other countries.
Nadège finishes, "This location is unlike any other of our shops. You can also come in and sit down in any of the 16 seats, have a sandwich, coffee and nice pastry. I think that what we've done here at Nadège in Oakville will provide a wow factor when you see the shop and what we serve.
We look forward to your visit."