Rebecca Turnbull
Chef / Owner of Little Star Pastry
“By far the most impactful job I’ve had was working at Eataly. I won the lottery with that job. My mentor there, Katia Delogu, who moved from Italy to New York to open the Flatiron store. I started working for her the first month the store was open as a gelato maker. I interviewed the day after I moved to New York and started working two days later. Before working there, I’d been an ice cream maker for a few years, but had no formal pastry experience. She took me under her wing and taught me not just an incredible amount about pastry, but how to work, how to be curious and how to recipe test. „
EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION
I didn’t go to culinary school, I entered the profession at what felt like the old age of 26, but at Eataly I was able to get experience working a restaurant line, designing dishes for fine dining and more casual restaurants, a breakfast cafe and a traditional pastry case. I worked so, so hard! But the education I got was nothing short of incredible. The people I met in that kitchen are lifelong friends. Working for someone like Katia, who truly cares about all her employees and works harder than all of them, modeled what a successful chef looks like. The joy was found in the day to day work and the camaraderie of the loud, tightly packed basement.
I left New York City in 2019. I knew I wanted to start a business, but also knew that if I tried to do it in Brooklyn where I was living I would not be able to have the work life balance that I wanted with a young family. By moving to Northern Westchester and running the business out of my house for three years I was able to grow slowly and at a pace that felt manageable. Now I’m able to run my own shop and still be home with my kids a lot. I take one day completely off! I pick them up from daycare everyday and am home for dinner every night. That would have been impossible in the city.
Building diverse teams has been an incredibly important part of my success as a chef. I’ve found that diverse teams are more innovative and successful. When people bring lots of different experiences into the kitchen it creates a better environment for problem solving. We can all learn from each other constantly. Diverse teams build more interesting flavor profiles and are more likely to figure out efficient ways of production.
I look to hire people who are excited to be part of a team and who have a real cooperative attitude. Running a small business means that by design everyone on my team does a little bit of everything from customer service to cleaning to prep work. I look to hire people that want to learn about pastry, but also understand that washing sheet pans is just as important as baking cake. The most important skills in my kitchen are communication and collaboration. Nothing gets done without those.
To do my job, I can’t live without group chat! I have a group chat that includes my mentor (Eataly North America Executive Pastry Chef) Katia Delogu and her original sous chefs in New York, Yun Ko and Karen Lin. There is no problem that the group chat can’t figure out. We all worked together on and off for a decade and they are like family. It’s been four years since I’ve worked with any of them, but the group chat is still constant. We share recipes and troubleshoot issues but also share all our life milestones.
I love being a chef, but when I was working out of my house alone I really missed leading a team. Building a crew is the most fulfilling part of my job. One of the most important things I do to create a good environment and a strong team is respect everyone’s lives outside of work. I think the most caring and inclusive thing I can do is take into consideration the needs of my workers off the clock. This means I make the schedule in a predictable way with lots of lead time so it’s easy to adjust for special events and holidays. Making a predictable schedule might not seem like a straight shot to a tight-knit work culture, but in my experience showing my team that I respect their time helps build trust among us. I’ve found it makes team members more willing to cover for each other when needed and that trust and respect is what makes the caring and familial culture.
I don’t know if I have a totally healthy work/life balance, but I know that working close to where I live has helped a lot. Without the commute I am able to leave everyday at a reasonable hour and know that if I have to come back to finish something up after family time, that is totally possible. It makes it so my personal life can be the first priority and I can fit my work life into the spaces in between. Also having a good team I trust is super important. I know they will take good care of the business if I am distracted or pulled away.
Disclaimer: Individuals featured in the Inspirational Career Timelines section have been nominated by peers, colleagues and/or other members of the hospitality industry. It is to the best of our knowledge that each individual has demonstrated leadership and acted as a positive role model for others.
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