Georgian College

9 GEORGIANVIEW 2024 PRINT EDITION ALUMNI STORIES Acclaimed chef is two- time Georgian alumna Melanie Robinson (class of 2000 and 2012) always wanted to be in law enforcement. The desire stemmed from a tragic drunk-driving incident that killed her father when she was just seven years old. "That always kind of held space with me," she recalls. "I wanted to be a police officer who fixes things and helps people." She took Georgian's Law and Security program and, after graduation, started working in security. She met and fell in love with a co-worker, and soon after they were married in 2007, the way she saw her entire life changed. She fell in love again – but this time, it was with food and how it contributed to a simpler way of life. "We decided to honeymoon in Kelowna, BC. It's known as the Napa Valley of Canada," she recalls. "We were only there for a week, but I fell in love with the region and the food. The simplicity, freshness, and how all these restaurants were ahead of the curve with sustainability and farm-to-table caught my attention." When they returned home to their life and respective jobs, something was different for Melanie. The meaningful experiences in Kelowna had lit a fire inside her. "I had always enjoyed cooking up to that point and my friends would tell me my food was really good and that I should sell it. I was always like, 'nah,'" says Melanie. "But I couldn't let it go. The experience was just so meaningful." As she continued to think about cooking as a career, her thoughts once again turned to memories of her father, always enjoying cooking when he was alive. So, in 2010, at the age of 30, with a child, a job, a mortgage and her husband's encouragement, she returned to Georgian to take the Culinary Management program to honour her father's memory once again. "The second time around, I was the smart kid in class, and I wasn't used to that," she says with a laugh. "I was the eager one, and I knew the answers. It was 100 per cent, where I was supposed to be." While Melanie worked as a chef at Horseshoe Resort, she applied for the popular Food Network Canada show Chopped Canada and won the televised competition in 2015. "Winning Chopped Canada was pretty cool," she says. "It validated that I was going in the right direction." That direction took her to the Orillia Farmers' Market, where she started selling biscuits, handcrafted compound butters, and sandwiches on weekends. In 2018, the owners of a local antique shop asked her if she'd take over the small café inside. She serviced the 20 seats there and started a full-scale catering company. It wasn't long before Melanie opened Eclectic Café in Orillia's downtown core. Baked goods from scratch and tasty farm-to-table meals drew in loyal customers so much so that it made sense to expand into a space beside their original restaurant. "The old adage, 'find something you love to do, and you never work a day in your life' is very applicable to my story," she says. "When you find that true passion and you have the courage to follow it, it can be very rewarding. You're never too young or too old."

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