Barnett in front of Sims Corner Steakhouse & Oyster Bar on 86 Queen St, Charlottetown, P.E.I.. Photo taken from her Instagram page.
By Pratik Bhattarai
May 23, 2023
Kaela Barnett had just ended her shift at a restaurant. It was 2 a.m. She was about to go home when she heard some of her co-workers placing a bet.
“How long is she going to last?” one said.
“110 days,” another replied.
It was her sixth week in her new job at a well-known steakhouse restaurant in Montreal.
The 22-year-old Barnett was one of the only two women working in the kitchen, the other18 were men.
She did not understand why her co-workers picked on her. She was good at her job, but she still felt like she had to fight for her place.
But she was sure skills as a chef were on par with anyone at the restaurant. Besides, was promoted to higher positions before others, even though they had more experience, she said.
Apart from learning how to become a good chef, Barnett got to meet farmers and learn about where the vegetables, fruits and meat came from.
Along with that, she grew her own herbs, lettuce and picked wild products from the woods. She even took care of a cherry tree and protected it from the birds. And in some ways, the tree also protected her.
“I also used to climb the cherry tree to cry until I felt better.”
It made her respect nature, food and farmers. She started appreciating her job more. She started becoming better at her job.
Barnett moved to P.E.I at 26. She returned to Sims Steakhouse, where she had started her career after graduating from the culinary school at Holland College at 19.
The second time around, her head chef let her figure things out on her own. The people there helped her as a professional and as a person, she said.
She learned about the importance of having a team. She learned every individual is different and has unique value.
At 28, she got her first job as a head chef at Landmark, a small restaurant in Victoria-by-the-Sea.
The important thing as a head chef is to make her team happy. Take care of their needs and their problems, she said.
“Being a head chef is like being a babysitter.”
It’s a long way from her dreams as a youngster. Barnett wanted to become a dentist because she wanted everyone to have a nice smile.
She stumbled upon her career path when her parents enrolled her into the culinary school so she would be close to them.
Now, she is one of the few women running a steakhouse kitchen in the country, she said.
Her future plans do include having a family, but it will be difficult to work as a head chef at the same time, she said. She’s also thinking about getting into food production, teaching culinary to kids or even being involved in farming.
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