WELCOME TO L'ACADEMIE
L'ACADEMIE
Baking & Cooking School
3244 E Guadalupe Rd. Ste 107
Gilbert, AZ 85234
480-687-8888
Paul Busceni, Ed.D.
Owner
I am thrilled to call L'Academie Baking & Cooking School my home, and am excited to dig in. I am a Chicago native with 27 years of public and private school teaching, administration, and higher education experience, now living in Tucson since 2018.
I hold a doctorate from Roosevelt University, Chicago, and spent ten years as Dean of the School of Education at Kendall College in Chicago, Illinois, where I learned some great culinary strategies and techniques (though never as good as my Mom's!). I also train American Saddlebred horses, and I especially enjoy reading, writing, landscaping & gardening. One of my aspirations in life is to complete my debut novel and become the next great American writer.
What an incredible opportunity to work with and learn from talented, skilled, and knowledgeable chefs in this glorious location! I look forward to getting to know the Gilbert community.
Scroll Down To Meet Our Staff!
I’m a restaurant kid at heart. Growing up in Bronx, New York in a Chinese restaurant gave me an early glimpse of how labor intense the food industry can be and how much time and effort goes into running a family-owned establishment.
I started working in the restaurant industry when I was in high school. I started working for a Sushi Restaurant and I worked my way up and trained as a Sushi chef for a few years. In the quest for further education, I decided to attend the Art Institute of Phoenix and graduated from their Culinary Arts program.
I believe that food brings people together and is another form of language. I enjoy making food for my guests and I’m excited to meet you all and share the skills and knowledge of what I have amassed over the years.
Austin Lee
Chef
Hello everyone! I am currently a senior in high school attending Arete Preparatory Academy. At school I am involved in different clubs such as Student Life Team, Hearts for Others volunteer club, and my school’s mentoring program. I love working with middle school aged kids, helping them with their studies and adapting to campus life. In my free time I love to visit the beach and spend time with my friends.
My passion for baking has been with me for as long as I can remember. Decorating sugar cookies is my favorite way to relax and it brings out my creative side.
I’ve had the opportunity to take many kinds of cookie decorating classes from professional instructors and I have picked up many cool tips and tricks along the way that I’m excited to share.
I hope to pursue baking professionally in the future and one day have my own business doing the thing I love.
Cassie Romero
Assistant
Michelle has been in the culinary world for over 20 years. In her high school culinary program, she competed for and won a scholarship through C-CAP to attend culinary school. After graduating from Scottsdale Culinary Institute, she worked in pastry shops and restaurants until she started her family. For the next 18 years she ran a successful business making wedding and event cakes. In 2020, she left the cake world and decided to go back to school to become a chocolate sommelier. She now holds two certificates from the International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting. She has been hosting chocolate tastings, teaching others about what makes craft chocolate and why it's worth the extra money to support the craft.
Michelle Zimmerman
Chef & Chocolate Sommelier
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