In 2003 Carissa decided to trade in her upscale business suit for another kind of suit – a glowing white chef jacket, checkered pants and a toque, in order to pursue her real passion: FOOD! She enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu Academy of Culinary Arts in Paris France to study with some of the very best Michelin starred French chefs from all different regions of France.

Enrolling was one thing, but attending the school that began in 1895 and attended by America's most famous and influential chef Julia Child, would prove to be an interesting and challenging experience. Did I mention that Carissa didn't speak a word of French and had never been to Europe? She didn't let this stop her and plowed full steam ahead. The language spoken at Le Cordon Bleu Paris was food…the language of cuisine and pastry. In the heart of Paris, enveloped in a multi-national ambiance, surrounded by a huge diversity of ages, backgrounds and cultures, here is where Carissa thrived under the supervision of seasoned Master Chefs.

Having successfully acquired a mastery of French culinary technique in both culinary and pastry arts, she was awarded Le Cordon Bleu's Le Grand Diplome. After graduating, Carissa decided to further expand her knowledge and appreciation of the culinary arts by working at various world-renowned restaurants and pastry shops throughout Paris.

She began working under Laurent Duchene, http://www.laurent-duchene.com/ a former Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best French Craftsman) at his pastry shop of the same name. Here she trained under Duchene preparing the doughs and making the croissants, pain au chocolate, pain au raisin, brioche, petit fours and quiches. She also artistically decorated the desserts and cakes. Wanting to fine-tune her artistic decorative skills, she made the move to another pastry shop called Douceurs et Patisseries to learn even more. Here she prepared, assembled, decorated and presented all the desserts. She also made all of the doughs, creams, mousses and fillings for all the tarts, cakes, buches and other desserts.

After trying her hand at pastry, Carissa decided to work at the elegant 3 star Michelin restaurant Lasserre, http://www.restaurant-lasserre.com/ under the tutelage of chef Jean-Louis Nomicos who trained under world-renowned chef Alain Ducasse. One of the highlights of her French experience, Carissa worked in every station in the kitchen. Working side-by-side with Chef Nomicos, she learned classic French “haute cuisine” doing daily food preparation and mise-en-place for the catering of banquets and weddings as well as daily lunch and dinner service. Through her hard work and dedication, Carissa so earned the respect from her colleagues and that of Chef Nomicos that he recommended her for a prestigious placement at the famous patisserie Pierre Hermè. http://www.pierreherme.com/

Carissa studied under the world-renowned and award winning French pastry chef Pierre Hermè in the creation of spectacular classical and seasonal desserts and pastries. Described in the international press as the "Picasso of Pastries”, working under Chef Hermè allowed Carissa's personal creativity, expression and talent to blossom.

Extensive traveling throughout Europe has allowed Carissa to sample, explore and learn about local cooking techniques and dishes. That, combined with her expert training in the use of French cuisine, pastry and bread-baking techniques has allowed Carissa to understand and prepare different ethnic cuisines and apply the learned French techniques successfully to any world cuisine. Through this extraordinary European experience, Carissa was able to educate her palate, expand her knowledge of ingredients and their properties and to truly appreciate and master the culinary arts.