Pastry chef extraordinaire, Blake Shellabarger makes things just a little bit sweeter at Lutsen Resort, where he is employed. Photo courtesy of Blake Shellabarger
Several months ago readers were treated to pictures and a story about an interesting and very creative gingerbread house that was made and displayed at Lutsen Resort. One of the bakers who created that piece was Blake Shellabarger. Fairly new to the area, here’s a chance to learn a little bit about Blake.
Born in Truckee, California, Blake spent most of his life on the West Coast. He lived in many of the western states and experienced much of their cultures. Blake had an interest in the culinary arts from an early age and enjoyed cooking and baking for his family. As a teenager his first job was as a dishwasher for a pizza restaurant. He didn’t wash dishes long though before he was promoted to prep and pizza cook, but he had his sights set higher.
After graduating high school Blake explored his career options, trying his hand at several jobs over the years before he realized that baking and pastry was his passion, along with cooking in general.
Once he set his sights on the culinary field, he entered school and achieved a Baking and Pastry Certificate from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and Greystone in St. Helena, Calif.
While attending CIA he worked as the morning teacher’s aide in the baking kitchens and attended classes in the afternoon and evening. Blake also worked special events for the CIA on weekends. After graduating he took on the CIA baking & pastry lead teacher’s aide position for a short while.
Following culinary school, Blake began working at Crossings at the Riverhouse Resort (a three diamond Steakhouse-Restaurant, Lounge and Banquet facility in Bend, Oregon). There, Blake began learning as much as he could about food production in a professional kitchen.
“Baker 2” was the next step up, and Blake became that role at Harrah’s Resort Hotel and Casino in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. In two years at Harrah’s he learned a lot about production baking, desserts, preparing restaurant and fine dining meals and assistant supervising.
After meeting his wife at Harrah’s the couple moved to Portland, Oregon where Blake was the pastry chef at Bon Appetit and George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon. Pastries, desserts and meal production, ordering and inventory, on and off campus catering in local wineries, businesses and museums were among the experiences and skills he picked up there.
In the next two years, Blake became the night baker at Karen’s Bakery Café in Folsom, Calif. and then went into retail baking for Selland’s Market Café in Sacramento. He moved to Utah where he helped open a new food service account for Bon Appetit at Westminster College, in Salt Lake City.
Then, as luck would have it, there was an opening at Westgate Resort in Park City, Utah, where his wife worked. She urged him to apply. After an interview with Mark Lindsey, the food and beverage director, he assumed the role of the banquet sous chef and resort pastry chef.
Mark and Blake enjoyed an inspirational working relationship. Two months after starting at Westgate Resort he was awarded the food & beverage department employee of the month and resort employee of the month simultaneously. There would be more of those awards to come in the next year and a half.
When Mark Lindsey returned to Lutsen Resort on the North Shore, Blake and his wife were invited by Mark to come and visit. Blake was eager to find a way to work for Mark again. They soon decided to move, eventually settling down in Silver Bay.
Without a position at Lutsen Resort available, Blake accepted a position at the Coho Café in Tofte. After nearly 10 months there the pastry chef position opened up at Lutsen Resort and Blake knew that was what he had been searching for.
In late September 2017, Blake began working for Lutsen Resort and today he holds the pastry chef title.
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