At 8:45, on a drizzly Saturday morning, Olivia Wilson has already run out of croissants. This led to some disappointment for customers who flocked to her “O Cakes” business in the Harrisonburg Farmer’s Market, but many were satisfied with a chocolate chip cookie, macaron, or BLT (bacon, leek, and tomato) quiche. Although Wilson is now a chef with her own business, she was once a HHS student who acted in musicals, was on the tennis team, and designed the Newsstreak’s first ever food-centered page.
“I started cooking at a really young age,” Wilson said. “I started baking more seriously at 15. [I was] making dinner every night for my family.”
After high school Wilson attended the French Culinary Institute in New York City and earned a degree in Pastry and Baking Arts. She interned at Jean George, an NYC restaurant, and at Bouchon Bakery for three months after graduation. She stayed in the NYC for a while, but returned to Harrisonburg when it became hard to find a job.
From there she took a job as a chef at the Inn at Little Washington after a rigorous “audition” process (called stage, which rhymes with dodge) that included working an overnight and evening shift, and an interview with the sous chef. She accepted the job, but resigned after nine months when she became too tired of the hard hours- up to 14 hour days, sometimes with eight or nine days in a row without a break.
“I wasn’t being able to be creative,” Wilson said. Next on her culinary journey she traveled to White Salmon Washington and worked at a vineyard. Then she went to Austria and lived with a family who owned a winery, and traveled around Europe. This lead her back to Harrisonburg, where she opened up O Cakes.
“I am a European-inspired bakery. [I do both] savory and sweet. I focus and highlight local as much as I can [and] utilize what I can find in the market,” Wilson said, describing her business. Some of the customers she served on this particular Saturday were fellow vendors, and others were tried and true fans.
“My experience [at O Cakes] has been overwhelming,” customer Bruce Jenson said, as he purchased a quiche. “Sometimes I just lie down and start weeping right on the concrete.”
Former THMS principal Betsy Dunnenberger was another repeat customer.
“Olivia is amazing. She’s creative. Her food’s tasty. What’s most amazing is that she’s an HHS graduate!” Dunnenberger said. Dunnenberger purchased all three of Wilson’s remaining “cake jars.”
In addition to these tasty delights, Wilson enjoys making sourdough bread. She would love to have her own wood-fired oven some day. She would also like to have a patisserie or wine bar with tapas- somewhere else to cook beside her home kitchen (where she still makes dinner for her family every night.)
Although she has enjoyed her chosen career, Wilson encourages prospective chefs to get a job or an internship in a kitchen and see if they enjoy the experience.
“It’s not for everybody,” Wilson said. However, it was for Wilson- and now she’s become a sweet (and savory) success.
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