When Stephanie Tucci, a former Sault resident who trained as a professional pastry chef, received an online invitation from Food Network to audition for the network's Summer Baking Championship television series, she thought the message was spam.
“A week went by and they sent me another message saying this is not spam. I asked them to call me and we had a really good conversation about my work in the industry and they felt I would be a good fit for the show,” Tucci said in a phone interview with SooToday.
She began the lengthy audition process in September and was informed in January that she had been accepted onto the show.
Episodes of Summer Baking Championship can be watched on Mondays at 9pm ET on Food Network Canada. Episode 5 will air soon. Summer Baking Championship will conclude by the Fourth of July.
“We taped the show in L.A. in February, and I can't tell you what happened because I'm under a strict non-disclosure agreement,” Tucci said with a laugh.
“All the desserts for the championship were themed around summer, summer memories, summer trips and summer colors. We made fake ice cream bars, underwater cheesecakes, mile high pies and more. It was a lot of fun. Baking for a contest is quite a challenge, but we wanted feedback from our esteemed judges and were prepared to embrace the good, the bad and the rollercoaster of an experience.”
Although it was quite a challenge, Tucci said she enjoyed the Summer Baking Championship.
“It was a lot of fun. This wasn't a show where contestants were trying to sabotage each other. The people I competed against were very high-level chefs, but they were also great people. They will be lifelong friends. It was a lot of fun to be around.”
Tucci has the impeccable credentials to appear and compete on the Food Network.
Born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area, she studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City and worked in fine cuisine for 10 years before transitioning to pastry cooking in 2019.
She went back to school and studied at the Italian Culinary Institute in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy.
“So I made the switch to pastry. It was like a light bulb went on. I felt like this is what I was meant to do all along. I knew right away when I was in Italy. I studied and worked under pastry chefs in amazing restaurants and never looked back. I've been in the pastry industry since 2019,” Tucci said.
“I grew up in an Italian family where food was very important, where food brought people together,” Tucci said, reflecting on her journey so far.
“Ever since I was a little girl, I realised that food has the power to bring people together. Even today, at family dinners and parties, people put their phones down and gather around the table to enjoy food and conversation. Food creates a very celebratory mood.”
“Even if you don't like dessert, when you have people gathered around dessert, you can literally make someone's day. One cookie can put a smile on someone's face. You can cheer up a little kid. There's a feeling of happiness when you're eating dessert and that's something I want to give to people on a regular basis,” Tucci said.
Tucci, who now lives in Barrie, owns and operates a home bakery called By Chefanie, which specialises in uniquely flavoured cakes and desserts.
After living in the Sault for a while, Tucci said he would like to return and live and work in the community.
“My fiancé got a job opportunity in Sault Ste. Marie. It was right after the pandemic started and we were a little tired of the GTA. We needed to take a pause and I said let's go. We went and it was absolutely amazing. It was fantastic. Sault Ste. Marie was an amazing adventure for my fiancé and I. It was truly an amazing experience.”
Tucci returned to southern Ontario for family reasons and wedding preparations, but reiterated her desire to return to Suite.
“We lived there for a year and really enjoyed the community aspect. That's what I miss most. I feel like I was able to create a community around my dessert business, but it was also the people in my East End neighborhood where I lived. I'd never lived in a neighborhood where the neighbors looked out for each other. It was an eye-opening experience to the goodness of people.”
