Meet the Team

Born and raised in Waterloo, Dana received her formal culinary training at George Brown College and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Hotel and Food Administration from the University of Guelph. After culinary school, she began working in catering because she wanted to share her creativity and passion for food during the most important moments: weddings, milestones and family get-togethers. She wanted to create unique and delicious dishes that you couldn’t find anywhere else in the region. As her catering business grew, something unexpected happened – her clients began requesting her dishes for themselves and their families to take home. Dana opened the store in 2004 and was delighted to receive the Fairmont Culinary Excellence Award in 2003, the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Greater KW Chamber of Commerce in 2006, “Canada’s Mompreneur of the Year” award from Revolution Her in 2017 and the 2023 Small Business of the Year Award (11-50 employees) from the Chamber of Commerce. When she’s not cooking, eating or talking about food, you can find Dana out with friends in nature, working up a sweat in spin class or spending time with her family.

 

 

 

 

 

Marika

Kitchen Production Manager

Growing up in West Africa, Marika was shown early on the beauty in multicultural cuisine. Wherever her family traveled, it was often centered around food. This, coupled with cooking and experimenting in her home kitchen led her to pursue a culinary arts degree at Niagara College. Shortly after graduating in 2018, Marika was hired at Dana Shortt Gourmet as a prep cook and worked her way up to Production Manager by 2020. Marika oversees all aspects of the DSG kitchen and particularly appreciates recipe development. When she’s not in the kitchen, Marika enjoys a variety of activities including hiking, weight lifting, sudoku and of course, eating!

 

Jessica 

Kitchen Production Manager

Jessica has been working in kitchens since 2018; first baking in the back of Tim Horton’s and then moving on to preparing cookies, cupcakes and other goodies at Sticks and Scones bakery. In 2019, Jess was hired as the head baker at Dana Shortt Gourmet and in 2022 was promoted to Production Manager, overseeing all aspects of the DSG kitchen. Her favourite colour is yellow and her favourite foods are anything-carbs and dessert!