CHEFS OF THE KAWARTHAS
By Karen Irvine
CHEF LISA DIXON M eet Chef Lisa Dixon, owner of blackhoney bakery & Coffeehouse. Lisa has lived in Peterborough for 17 years, and has owned blackhoney bakery & Coffeehouse for 13 years. Lisa moved to Peterborough after her Mom, Linda Piers, and brother, Beau Dixon, came here. “That’s the main reason for coming to the Kawarthas”, she says. Another reason is “Per capita, this is better food than anywhere else”. Prior to Peterborough, Chef Lisa lived and went to school in Ottawa, where she studied for 7 years at Ottawa University, Algonquin College for Patisserie and then at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute. After finishing school, she stayed in Ottawa for 21 years. She is a big believer of formal education for Chefs. “It gives the fundamental skills to build a sustainable business. Running a business requires writing proposals and articulating what you plan for the client, so this is important”, Lisa says. “You don’t go to school to learn, you go to re-affirm talent.” To solidify this belief, Lisa has been teaching as a Culinary Arts professor at Fleming College for 5 years. Lisa says that the students bring a new eye to the dishes, which in turn, gives her discipline and inspiration. Lisa and her partner, Mark, met 30 years ago in London Ontario where they worked at the same restaurant. He obviously fell in love, because he followed Lisa to attend Ottawa University. Chef Lisa opened blackhoney because she loves Page 16
what she does. The three best restauranteurs she learned from were all women, and she says they were great teachers. Lisa feels it is helpful to have an artistic eye to be a good caterer. Having an Art Degree from University has helped her to understand the layout & design of a menu, table decor & event planning. We discussed the business side and Lisa feels that Chefs are not valued monetarily as much as they should be. Margins are weak and when the minimum wage went up, Lisa says
