Sometimes, the most innocuous moments of our lives will turn out to be the most important ones.
For Emma Nemechek, Executive Pastry Chef at the Omni Interlocken Resort and Spa, one of the moments that changed the course of her life was a simple birthday present.
“My husband bought me an 8-inch French chef knife and a gift certificate to Cook’s Street.”
Emma originally met her husband when they both worked on a cruise ship together. Leaving her native home of the Philippines, they moved to his native state of Colorado in 2001. Like a good husband, he’d noticed the books Emma brought home – baking books full of beautiful photos of desserts. “Sometimes I’d make something out of the books, but I mostly loved looking through them and looking at all the pictures. I’d never been a big cook. But he bought me the knife, bought me the gift certificate, and I spent a month in cooking classes.”
Emma’s prize French chef knife
During the cooking class series, Chef Emma realized her love for desserts ran deep. Around the same time, Emma also learned some difficult news. She and her husband were trying to start a family, but to no avail; they discovered they were unable to have children. “We had finally decided to have a family. And when I found out we couldn’t, I had an “aha” moment. I realized then that I can control some things, and not others.”
Following her month at Cook Street, Emma decided to get more serious about her new-found dessert passion. She was working in the payroll department at a tech company, and up for a promotion to boot. She’d never worked in restaurants, and didn’t even cook much at home or growing up. But with the recent life realizations and the joy she found in desserts, Chef Emma decided to quit her office job and go back to school. Referencing her “aha” moment, she says, “I knew I could control going back to school, and maybe even making a new career. I decided it was time.” Emma started at the Art Institute of Colorado in their pastry program. What was originally mean to be a certificate turned into a full-fledged degree, and Emma graduated in 2012.
Following graduation, Emma started working at the Hyatt Regency. After staying at the Hyatt for 3 ½ years, Emma moved to an executive catering company as their sous chef. But after just a year there, she found herself in a brand-new Executive Pasty Chef position at the Omni Interlocken Resort and Spa in Broomfield, where she just celebrated her one-year anniversary in April.
Chef Emma Nemechek showing her selection of desserts at the Omni Interlocken Resort and Spa
How did Emma handle this radical culture transition from office worker to kitchen life? She grins and laughs. “The first day, it was like – every other word was the “F” word out of people’s mouths. I went home that night and told my husband, “I’m going to take them all to HR!” He just laughed at me. Now, I’m among the worst of them.”
“I was a late bloomer.”
Everyone loves a success story, but the day-to-day grind, the hard-earned wins, and painful learnings are the true layers of the cake of success. You’ve likely heard the adage, “Overnight success, ten years in the making.” Emma goes to show that having a winning attitude and mindset spills from one part of life, one career, into the next – and you can create success wherever you go.
Emma calls herself a “late bloomer.” And like any of us, she has questioned her course in life (“I wonder where I’d be now if I’d just started this career in my twenties!”). But regardless of when she blossomed, Emma isn’t one to sit on the vine and wait for the sun. Chef Emma threw herself into her new career, and is still constantly putting herself in positions to learn, teach, and achieve.
Chef Emma at the cantaloupe competition on 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver
Just a year or so into the industry, Emma was already gearing up for competitions and making her way on to TV. In fact, one of her first breaks was a cantaloupe dessert bake-off at 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver. “I remember, my knees were shaking as I was setting up my tables,” Emma says, “I was competing with executive chefs, and here I was, just a year and a half into the industry. All of my peers from the Hyatt Regency left work and came to cheer me on!” Although this set up sounds a lot like the underdog-turned-champion story arch in an inspirational movie, Emma didn’t win the competition. However, her dessert and attitude caught the eye of Kristen Kidd, who was promoting the event. Kristen asked Chef Emma to go on TV for an annual Rocky Ford cantaloupe promotion, and Emma continued to represent Rocky Ford as an unofficial spokesperson for several years.
Emma’s cantaloupe competition creation, just 1 1/2 years into her professional career
Emma still participates in 8-10 events offsite each year, and sits on the American Culinary Federation Colorado Chapter’s board of directors. She’s continued her professional education, traveling to Chicago and Paris for years in a row to learn from the masters and stay current with pastry trends.
Emma also mentors those wanting to make their way in the industry, and especially females. “I like to think of myself as an ambassador for female chefs,” she says, “If you have the knowledge, share it.” Female chefs are in the minority, but she’s helping continue to pave the way for women interested in reaching high levels within the kitchen. In fact, Emma recently earned the prestigious Les Dames d’Escoffier International Legacy Award in 2018. The LDEI works in conjunction with the Julia Child Foundation, promoting and supporting women in culinary pursuits. She was just one of six around the world to receive the 2018 LDEI Legacy Award, and will undoubtedly continue to receive accolades for both her incredible culinary talents and her support of the industry as a whole.
“You can create almost anything.”
It’s difficult to describe how incredible Chef Emma’s desserts are: the taste, the presentation, and beautifully integrated elements. She shares, “I was once told, ‘If you’re going to make a dessert, make a point.’ Otherwise, what’s the point?” That motto is absolutely reflected in her sweet creations. Every detail is thoughtful, purposeful, and executed to be noticed.
A dessert trio creation from Chef Emma Nemechek: layered chocolate torte, lemon meringue, and raspberry mousse on pistachioio cake
Emma takes advantage of locally sourced eggs, craft beer, micro-flours, and honey to elevate her desserts. In fact, the honey is hyper, hyper-local: it’s made from bees that reside on the Omni Interlocken’s Vista Golf Course! Dubbed Vista #3 Home Hived Honey, this honey has its own mascot and is made by approximately 250,000 honey bees living peacefully off the Vista Course Hole Number 3. It’s a key ingredient in Emma’s luscious Vista #3 Honey Lavender Macaroons, which I highly suggest trying for yourself.
Macaroons are, in fact, one of Emma’s favorite desserts to make, along with layered tortes and entremets. Why? “With the layers, you can make so many different combinations of flavors. You can create almost anything. And macaroons – they’re temperamental.” Anyone who has made macaroons knows how difficult it can be – and Emma learned when she was in Paris, through a translator, from a French pastry chef. “I’ve probably made macaroons a hundred times, and they didn’t always turn out. You just keep working at it,” she opines.
Her signature Vista #3 Honey Lavender Macaroon atop a layered chocolate dessert
Emma’s love of these two desserts, and her determination and joy in creating them, could be taken as an analogy for the way she lives her life. Why? She sees life as a challenge, but more so a choice – what does she want to do? How and when does she want to do it? What can she control?
Therein lies an important lesson for all of us. Life is, by its very nature, temperamental and unpredictable. You can’t control everything.
Start by thoughtfully, and intentionally, selecting your life’s ingredients: the people you surround yourself with, the pursuits you can lose yourself in with passion, and the endless opportunities you truly can carve out for yourself.
Pull these elements together. Layer them up. Create the perfect layered life cake that tastes just right to you.
And remember, in the words of Emma Nemechek: “It’s never too late.”
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To book a visit to the Omni Interlocken Resort and Spa and try some of Emma’s incredible creations, click here. This resort specializes in conferences, weddings, and weekend stay-cations with golf and relaxation – and of course, incredible food.
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