Chocolate Initiation

Panagiotis Samaras, born in Greece, started his pastry career since he was a child. He was growing up together with his family pastry shop in Ptolemaida. He picked up his skills from his experienced father and at the age of 16 he entered the Organization of Technical Education of Greece in Thessaloniki to become a pastry chef. After he graduated in 2007, he returned and took over his father’s pastry shop and worked on French and traditional Greek cuisine. And during these times he found his passion for chocolate and confectionery.

After eight years of successful operation, he decided to move to Dubai to expand his own culinary horizons. Before joining our Chocolate Academy™ center in Dubai, he worked in French Bistro and Boulangerie at “La Serre”

A food enthusiast from her early years, Fatima’s experiments in the kitchen began under her grandmother’s patient tutelage. Despite familial roots in the FMCG sector in the Middle East and enriching experience in marketing , her passion for pastry would not be overcome. It led her to some of the best culinary schools - City & Guild & Le Cordon Bleu Paris in 2010. She co-founded a pastry venture in her native India and then moved to Paris for creative pastry, working with some MOF accredited chefs. Having worked in France, a luxury chocolate boutique and in artistry, her experience includes training in Sugar Craft by Knightsbridge PME School of Confectionery Arts. Her experience in marketing, business development and budgeting come through her endeavors to be an educator in chef instruction and developing course structures. On a quest to learn, formulate recipes and impart knowledge, she joined the Chocolate Academy early 2017.