Performing Chef

Barbara Jakusconek’s life and passion is about all things sweet and wine. A private chef living in Tuscany, Italy, she is a sommelier, cuisine and patisserie chef, and chocolatier.

Chef Barbara (Babs) holds cooking and wine classes at her school, Babs Kitchen located in the Chianti hills of Siena. ‘Babs’ loves meeting new people and enjoys sharing food and wine.

The cuisine and patisserie chef has the Grand Diplomas of Patisserie and Cuisine, and a Certificate of cake decorating from Le Cordon Bleu, London. She also has four Wilton cake decorating certificates. Babs studied chocolate showpieces and chocolate production at George Brown in Canada and is an FISAR sommelier (Italian federation of hotel and restaurant sommeliers). She does wine tastings and pairings of food and wine.

In the past, Chef Barbara has worked in several Italian wineries and restaurants besides a bakery and chocolate shop in Toronto. She taught various courses in the cooking school Apicius in Florence. At Gourmet Getaway, she has been conducting wine and chocolate tasting sessions.