In The Kitchen

Belfast chef Gemma Austin on her new patisserie: ‘The best part was having my nana cut the ribbon’

With her restaurant A Peculiar Tea and the newly-opened Mamó patisserie, the chef has her hands full, but is relishing the challenge

Gemma Austin: ‘I had no interest in cooking up until that point, but I just walked up to this chef and asked for a job’

Many chefs have taken roads less travelled on their way to a kitchen career, but for Gemma Austin, owner of A Peculiar Tea and Mamó Patisserie in Belfast, the journey to success was particularly long and winding.

“I always wanted to be a nurse, so I went to Queen’s University to get my degree, but then I found out then that my spine wasn’t shaped the way it was meant to be so I had ...