Fast Casual: How Food Became 'Vehicle to Dream' for Paris Baguette Chef

Senior Research and Development Manager Yvette Castillo has blended her culinary expertise with the mindset of an ever-searching explorer. Her recent interview with Fast Casual shines a light on her culinary career and skills as a designer and food scientist for Paris Baguette. Castillo spends much of her time tinkering and toying with cake-decorating variations or recipe adjustments.

"When people go to culinary school they just assume they'll be working in a kitchen for 12-14 hours a day”, says Castillo. “That was never going to be the case for me. There's a lot of different concepts now so chefs aren't confined to one path."

Much of Castillo’s career has been about breaking a recipe down to its core elements, testing a product's viscosity, for example, or making sure it can work in a much larger manufacturing-type setting. She loves the freedom her job provides — the ultimate satisfaction for her is to dream up something new while, of course, making sure it's feasible for other chefs to replicate.

“It’s all about getting inspired and then putting your own twist on it."

Now, leading the cake decorating team for the chain of bakery cafés, Castillo is free to dig into her wildest ideas and, just as important, take inspiration from wherever she can find it.