Learn how to make mouth-watering blueberry pancakes during #ACDay1!
Posted on Friday, January 8th, 2021
2021 is the perfect time to pick up some new skills. And we can’t think of a better way to start than learning how to whip up some crazy tasty pancakes, all part of ACDAY1!
On Monday, as part of Virtual AC Day 1, Celebrated chef and Algonquin Alumna of Distinction, Donna Dooher, will be sharing some of her brunch secrets by demonstrating how to make her famous blueberry buttermilk pancakes, while also discussing her decades of experience in the hospitality industry. You can register for the day’s activities here.
Dooher studied in Algonquin College’s culinary program in the 1980s, where she was one of only a few women—“I think there was only three of us,” she says. After graduating, she had a stint as chef at the Ritz Restaurant in Ottawa, then went on to open Mildred Pierce Restaurant in Toronto, and then Mildred’s Temple Kitchen, which is still thriving today. She has also operated a cooking school, hosted a cooking show on the Food Network, authored an award-winning cookbook, and has acted as Chair and CEO of Restaurants Canada, as well as National Chair of Taste Canada.
Dooher says she started in Algonquin’s culinary program almost on a whim. She’d been working front of house in the hospitality industry in Ottawa for years, but had no experience in kitchens, although she’d always been fascinated by them, and was always interested in the culinary arts.
“Back in those days, people that were accepted into the program [at Algonquin] were generally apprentices or had been working in professional kitchens. You couldn’t just apply without any type of background, but they always kept a small window open for students to apply who had no skills whatsoever, so I took a chance.”
She got in, of course, and she found herself back at school at 28, with a young son, surrounded by a lot of 18 and 19-year-olds. She has vivid memories of her time there, especially cooking for well-known Ottawa chefs in her second year, who were invited to sample and judge the students’ food. She recalls insisting on serving her food on her own plates instead of the ones provided by the college, thinking it would make it stand out. Her chef instructor teased her about it, but ultimately accepted the decision. “So I pushed boundaries at the college,” she says, “and they allowed me to push boundaries. It was a wonderful experience.”
“I’m very proud of the fact that I graduated from Algonquin College,” she adds.
When she graduated, however, it was a struggle to get a job in a kitchen as a woman. In the end, she landed that job as chef at the Ritz restaurant in Ottawa, which she says was a great experience. When her husband, who was also in the restaurant business, got the opportunity to take over a restaurant in Toronto, she jumped at the chance.
“I was jumping all over saying, yes, this is great, we can go to Toronto and work with all the big guys, you know, and regrettably, when I got here I realized that was not going to happen,” she recalls.” I was flat out told ‘we don’t hire women to work in our kitchen.’”
She realized then she was going to have to make her own way, so she first started a catering business, and then Mildred Pierce Restaurant. The restaurant was full-service, but when she and her husband realized nothing was happening in Toronto on Sundays—that people didn’t go out, they decided to give brunch a shot. “Brunch was something that just happened along the side,” Dooher says, “but it definitely morphed into something bigger than that.”
“Ironically, the inspiration [for doing brunch] came from working in the Ottawa hospitality scene,” she explains. “My husband Kevin and I both came from Ottawa, and there was a restaurant in the market area called Daphne & Victor’s and they were really ahead of themselves and they introduced Ottawa to what I would call the Continental Breakfast. You could go in and have a croissant, you would have a really good café au lait that they poured at the table, fresh-squeezed orange juice –this was mind-blowing back then, and it was a huge success…the place was packed all the time.”
Today, Dooher is excited about the change she sees women making in the restaurant industry, and the confidence she sees in young women coming up in the industry now. Her advice to women graduating from culinary programs like Algonquin is to never let that confidence go.
“My advice for young women today is you absolutely must dig down deep and expose that self-confidence that we all tend to smother as women. But I think young women today are so remarkable because they have that self-confidence and embrace it, where as women of my generation had to fight for that.”
“Confidence is one thing that stops women from doing so many things,” she says. “We’ve been told for so long that we can’t, we can’t, we shouldn’t, we can’t. It’s not your role. It’s not your job. Of course, you’re going to carry all that as you walk through life. But if you can just shake that off and walk tall amongst that nonsense. I personally believe the strength of young women is what’s giving me hope moving forward in the world, because I see the power that’s there, and that’s being unleashed, and it’s very exciting right now.”
She also says that women should be very selective of the teams they work in, and people they work for: do their research, make sure it’s a good environment for them—don’t settle.
When asked what advice she’d give any student entering the industry during the pandemic, Dooher says she recognizes it’s a difficult time to be starting in hospitality. “It’s going to be challenging because we went from a situation of not enough people to work in our operations—we were desperate for staff for the last five years—we couldn’t get enough people through the door and trained up, particularly in our kitchens—and now it has completely flipped to the other side of the coin where there are no jobs because of what the pandemic has done in particularly to the hospitality industry. My advice would be don’t be disheartened, but really carve out that niche that works for you, and that’s what you really need to go out and sell when you are looking for employment.”
“Those opportunities are there,” she adds, “you are just going to have to dig a bit harder for them.”
During her AC Day 1 event on Monday she will be teaching students how to make her famous pancakes filled with wild blueberries from Northern Ontario and Quebec, and Ontario dairy, and drizzled with maple syrup from a farm near Almonte (she is a strong proponent of using local ingredients and supporting small farmers and business). She will also talk more about her thoughts on the industry, and the advice she has for young people entering it.
“You are going to work hard when you go into this industry,” she says, “there’s no getting around that. It is physically and mentally and emotionally demanding. But I think the part that is really key is that you work when your friends play, which I think is always the toughest challenge for young people going into our industry. Make sure you look for that life work balance when it comes to the industry – maintain that balance.”
Again, she says, doing your research about a place before working there is important, asking whether their values align with yours, and if they can give you that work-life balance. If you’ve found somewhere you know you’ll feel good working hard in, it’ll be worth it.
“It’s very rewarding,” she says, “very rewarding.”
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Dooher’s event is just one in a series of diverse programming for students on Monday. “AC Day 1 has something for everyone!” says Events Officer Michelle Hevey, “College Services hosts drop-in support sessions, information sessions, and virtual activities. There are notable experts from various industries leading workshops, social programming where students meet their peers, and a Welcome Ceremony featuring a student panel on the topic of Navigating Life at Algonquin College. Check out the AC Day 1 Magazine for the full schedule. Programming focuses on a key theme: Wellness and Self-Care to help students kick off Winter 2021 feeling happy, healthy, and energized!”
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