Thomas Haas Makes All of My Favourite Things.....

This episode is about a local icon named Thomas Haas who settled here and became a pastry and chocolate making legend. 

Raindrops on roses, I look in Thom's kitchen
Bright cakes and danish, some warm chocolate fixin's
Brown fancy packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favourite things

Cream coloured stollen, gol-den scones, turnovers,
Flaky croissants, brioche, choc-lates... Moreover,
Sugar and spices - my spoon even sings!!
These are a few of my favourite things

When the clock strikes
When the clock rings
When I'm feeling glad
I simply remember to buy all these things
And then I don't feel so bad!!!

www.thomashaas.com
www.glosays.com

TOP 25 BUSINESS PODCASTS IN CANADA

Transcript

GLO 0:00
Welcome back to Glo Says, this is season three. It's about local innovators and icons. And I'm so excited to speak with Thomas Haas today. Everybody knows his name. I have mentioned it to a few of my friends that I'm going to be interviewing you, Thomas. And as soon as I say Thomas Haas, they're all like, oh, or Ah, they're very impressed. They're not impressed with me. They're impressed with you. So I'm so glad to have you on the show today. Thank you for coming on. Welcome.

THOMAS HAAS 0:28
Thank you for having me. GLORIA. Yeah, I'm excited.

GLO 0:34
You know what you look like a person with lots of energy. Every time I see you in the shop, you're, you know, just bright and energetic. And even though the stores full of people and there's lots of people outside the line, you're still very positive, enthusiastic.

THOMAS HAAS 0:49
That's the only thing that gets me through through the days and, and it has worked has worked really well.

GLO 0:56
Yes, enthusiasm. So that's important. So um, why don't we just touch a little bit about you know, who you are, and where you're from? You know, what brought you to Vancouver? How you started a shop here, just a little bit about your origin

THOMAS HAAS 1:10
story, I guess you could say, I'm from Germany. And I came here from the southwest of Germany to blackforest. My dad, who is also a pastry chef, and had his own patisserie in the black force and cafe with my mom together. And my grandfather had a bakery. And my great grandfather had a grocery store and bake bread. So it goes into the fourth generation, and I suppose to, as every young good boy should do take over the parents business one day, yes. Because my dad would always make it sweet for me and would say like, Oh, you know, I was a 14 year old school kid, and he's in a while and you're gonna make an apprenticeship with the best pastry chef, not with him, but with somebody he finds that's the best one. And then after that, you're gonna go and travel the world a little bit, and Daniel come home, and bring that fresh breath of air into, into our, into our little business and, and continue the tradition. And so I followed I left school at 16 and started this apprenticeship, which was a big awakening, because I did go to probably the best chef I could work under, but not that I was told that he was also slightly crazy. He was like an old fashioned traditional maniac. And, and I think, I think Bodie was obsessed with certain things. But I would always say, Well, if somebody asked me like, Yeah, he was amazing, but my gosh, his people skills were like, catastrophic. And so I come there as a 16 year old, got the big awakening on my first day I lived above, in from there patisserie as a, as a tenant in his own house. Oh, and so I got this tiny little room. And I came down, and I was given the first task of preparing the foods for the day. And so they gave me this apple peeler, only for me to figure out like, that's a strange apple peeler. I've not even seen that at home. That's only for right handed, you know, it almost looks like a razor blade, which you hook your, your index finger in on your right hand only. But, but I'm left handed. So I'm standing them, like, that's a little awkward. And he walks by and he says, What's the problem? And that was literally the first hour, the first day of my apprenticeship. And I'm like, Oh, I'm left handed. And I think this is only working for right handed people. And he loses it right there on me. And he's like, what do you mean you're left handed? And like yes. And nobody told me that you're left handed. I would never hire anyone left handed. I have people that university degree lining outside the store. Want to get this job and then I hire somebody who is left handed. There is no success in this business if your left hand and I'm like, oh my god. Told us a 16 year old kid was hard to recover on that day. But it was determined so then like I'd never forget this the next morning at 3am I get ups we always earlier sneak myself into the pastry kitchen took dead right handed Apple Peters started preparing the foods the parents he uploads and they did it three consecutive days. made sure that on day number four, I'm as fast or faster than anybody in the kitchen doing this with my right hand. And it taught me that lesson of resilience and, and not give give him ever again an opportunity to give me it it actually went a little bit on and on and it was just his personality. Fast forward. I did have an amazing apprenticeship he wanted to take me on afterwards. And I stayed for another year. And then I did follow my dad's advice and I travel the world a little bit. And I love the taste of independence. I worked in in a ski town in St. Moritz in a two star Michelin restaurant as pastry chef at the age of 24, or 24, and 25. And I got an offer to join the Four Seasons for a chef and the general manager who were there for dinner to join the four seasons. Hotel Group in North America is, in this case in Chicago, and young little German kid barely spoke any English. That was a dream come true. I got to go there for a year, lived the American dream, and then come back, and I'm ready to go. Yeah. And Chicago never worked out because of the visa. But then they offered me Vancouver.

THOMAS HAAS 5:56
I called an ex girlfriend who I knew she traveled to Vancouver and said, like, Hey, what do you think about this and say like, Oh my god, you would love it. It's the outdoors. It's a young city. It's very vibrant. The mountains, the ocean, like, okay, I go. And so I ended up in Vancouver in 1995. And this was the promise and the hug to my mom. Hey, I'd be back in a year. So I left I arrived at at the hotel. I've been treated like royalty, right from the beginning.

THOMAS HAAS 6:37
Got a hotel room for the first few weeks until I found an apartment. And then this girl who was assistant manager front office or room service, and it was Lisa, she says like, you know,
you need the room space.

THOMAS HAAS 6:53
Okay, so I really had to be smart enough to find an apartment. So I found an apartment in the West and moved out That girl who threw me out of the hotel eventually became my wife. I love

GLO 7:06
it. There's a big story there, I'm sure.

THOMAS HAAS 7:13
Yeah, yeah. So I ended up at the hotel. As the pastry chef, as I entered the kitchen, I'm like, Holy smokes, I'm the youngest in here, I was 26 by then. And everybody was like, double my age. And, and I didn't want to mess this up. And so I was just there and wanted to lead by example of, you know, I just cleaned up and organized. And, and and ask everyone where I can help out. And instead of coming in, sorry, Hey, does this I'm the chef here. This is what we do. I didn't think that was appropriate. And, and so I doubled my hours from anyone else. And I just love to be in this place with this position in the country I've never been before and what myself up earned the respect from, from the people I worked with. I still left by the same philosophy with anyone I work in our kitchens and like, you know, we don't give titles you just do what you love to do. And people will will be attracted to that if you do it the right way. And all of a sudden you earned where you are. And you feel safe, you feel strong, you feel confident, instead of going somewhere with pressure, being vulnerable, and making yourself so vulnerable that you probably sometimes can't recover from, you know, the things you still have to learn. I think it served me well in that at that age and still up to this day.

GLO 8:49
That's a principle that a lot of people should live by and stick with actually.

GLO 9:35
And you know, if you're with an outfit like the Four Seasons, you can continue with them right? They could have sent you to Chicago right again, get it again, they could have sent you to Asia or back to Europe. But you must have stepped out at one point what happened after that.

THOMAS HAAS 9:50
I did have three amazing years. But as eager as I was I always looked out and was like who is the best in this on this continent like America. counted out. And you know, it was into all the trade publications and the pastry art and design magazines and wanted to read and, and picked a couple of people. And one was in our hotel chain working in, in Chicago, actually, but it was a Ritz Carlton. And, and I emailed him and said, Hey, you know what, I'd take a week vacation, I would love to come and just work with you and, and make a connection. He said, Okay, come. So I came and and worked with him in Chicago for a week. There, I saw his assistant making this amazing centerpiece out of chocolate and one out of sugar. And I'm like, What is she doing? And he's like, Oh, she's preparing for the pastry chef of the year competition in New York City. That's amazing. Yeah, I would be curious to do something like this and said, Yeah, you should. Not becoming one because it's way too early to put an application in and to train and prepare yourself. But the one in a year if you start now, in a year from now, you will be ready, and you will have something good to show. And I'm like, wow, that's another year like that. So I went back to Vancouver. I put my paper, I put my papers, and I send it to New York. And I'm like, probably I'm lucky. And probably they, they, they want somebody from across the border behind the Rockies. You know, to spice it up a little. And here we go. In January, I got the I got the green light to go. So I call up to I called Sebastian in Chicago. And I'm like, hey, they accepted me. And I'm like, Are you crazy? And I'm like, Why? It's in four weeks. I'm like, Yeah, but that's four weeks. And he's like, seriously, you're crazy. So what happened? I worked day and night, I was super excited. Now I'm going from Vancouver to New York. When they did a competition, it was in the Jacob Javits Center. And there was a big Food Show. And yeah, it was, it was next level. And I would be arriving there. And I see like 18 chefs, having all their systems and all their sous chefs with them. And they have transportable refrigerators and heat guns and compressors. And, and here at my, with my, with my suitcase full of ingredients and a couple of centerpiece items. And another sister had two suitcases and that was it. And, and so I would prepare myself and and go for an 18 hour. Non Stop. Assembly. And, and then, and then there was this judging and so I walked away from it, I took a peek on everybody else's work. And I'm like, I felt good, you know? And the more I looked at him like, Yeah, it's pretty good. But there was this one from my friend in Chicago, who was assistant like, that's, there were some techniques I've never seen before and, and long story short, at seven at night, all 18 lined up and, and it happened to be that I came in second. And I think that was there was very, there was very fared I was very happy. kind of did a little celebration dance around my table. And I'm like, that was a fun thing. And there was some prize money and I felt proud to come back to Vancouver and I thought the first place winner was a fair first place winner because there was really things I just haven't seen. Plus, it wasn't a one man show by myself compared to the three men shows up on the other tables. Yeah. So So coming back to Vancouver to the Four Seasons to chef and Susan like well second places first loser.

THOMAS HAAS 13:56
You better go bad You better go back better next year. I did go back better prepared with with a higher standard thing and was actually convinced that I well. Yeah, that was clear. I gotta win this. And and not having my head too high, but I couldn't make sense of it. And I came in third. And my heart Penner was a little bit broken. I'm like, That's impossible. But that is such a scam. And I unveiled and I'm like, he has a metal rod in his showpiece and his his cake was mounting on the display and Reiko Can you and it became a political thing, which was very embarrassing. Anyways, moving fast forward. That was my introduction to New York. And six months later, I got a phone call from a very famous chef who, who runs a deadtime a one of the three best restaurants in the world and his name is Danielle BULUD on Park Avenue. And, and he offered me if I want to, he's looking for a pastry chef, which is non French because his last pastry chef who was Rachel, he actually partnered with a patisserie in New York. But they butted heads all day long. I think it's a little bit of an ego thing. So So and I was recommended. And so he asked me for recipes and menus and pictures, and I send it to him. And I'm like, oh, that would be amazing. Didn't tell Lisa, anything at that point. We had a little baby boy at the time. And we were happy and Vancouver. So he calls me back. And he's like, the pictures and the recipes. They just don't tell me enough. You know what, I want you to fly and do a tasting for me. And then if it works out, I pick up the expenses. If it doesn't work out, we do 5050. And I'm like, that's fair. And the tasting turned out to be a massive long menu of 10 different items. Instead of the two he first asked me to, and I'm a yes, man. So I'm like, Yes, chef. Yes, chef. Yes, chef. Yes. So another another marathon was there I flew into New York again on a rainy October day, set myself up, work through the night work through the day, one o'clock in the morning to tasting was finished all during service on Saturday night. So whenever you dish came out, he would take two minutes with a chef leaves the pass in the kitchen goes up in this little office has to dessert goes back. And then at one I go in the office, and he signs this book, welcome to the Big Apple, his book. Welcome to a big apple, Chalmers and Lisa. And I got super emotional tears running down my cheek and nothing nicer than earning, earning a job and just being given to and two months later, we ended up in New York. So that was the short answer to the question you asked.

GLO 17:05
So you were working with Daniel BULUD at night? Like in his heart? Wow. That's amazing. How long were you there for?

THOMAS HAAS 17:11
For a little bit more than two and a half years?

GLO 17:14
Yeah. And how was your time there? Did you learn anything new? Or was it more like learning the business of how to run a business,

THOMAS HAAS 17:21
it was the best professional time of my life. It was, you know, if if people watch Gordon Ramsay and the craziness in the kitchen, and you think it's all for television, we had the French version, not the British version, live every day. But it was focused on nothing but the care and probably the will to succeed or to succeed or perfection or excellence towards your customer, on on on every single day. And so there was a lot of heat in the kitchen, there was a lot of screaming a lot of drama. But there was always I could always see that big heart of love behind. And that sounds kind of ridiculous, but it is true. You know, there could be like mayhem. And I'm like, you know what, this is just about getting this dish right to the customer. And making sure the service right because the expectations were super high. And so that was for me probably the greatest learning experience I could have seeing this day in day out and learning that I personally sometimes I was affected by this and and I just told myself Don't take it personal. Do not take it personal because you know, at one o'clock after service, there's a glass of wine and some cheese coming to you. And and you talk about the day and then you go home and you start fresh again.

GLO 18:41
What an amazing experience. Wow.

THOMAS HAAS 18:43
It's I love him to this day in in every aspect even though he grew from his one three star Michelin restaurant to having 12 restaurants worldwide, which I think didn't make his life much easier but but it's solidified his name worldwide and after 18 months being there, he asked me to sign another three year or five year h h h five working visa. Early on in my life. I knew what success meant to me and it cannot be just being good at one thing. And in New York, I would have been really good at one thing, but I don't think I would have been a good husband, a good father a good community leader or a part of the community at least and and I would have been just so focused on one thing and everything else would suffer I would not be happy. And and so when that discussion came up I was talking to Lisa and we had our baby girl Alyssa born there in New York. And I there were times she would not recognize me you know as much as I think. Yeah, I would go to work at six in the morning and there was seven in the morning and I would never come home rarely come home before midnight. And it Wasn't tiring, I still had some days off. Because the energies were just so high and he was he were young and driven. And, but I just, I just knew that for a long run, I would not feel fulfilled. So we took one week off. I did a cooking class at barber Joe's cookbooks. And we looked at each other and we're like, you know, this is where our heart is. So I went back to New York, told Danielle, I'm like, I'm here for a year, I just want to let you know, way in advance that to not waste your money and your efforts for another three years has nothing to do with you. I would love to just live and die in here. But But I can't I, I yeah, I just wouldn't be able to look in the mirror a long time down the road. And and as we all know, the restaurant industry has a lot of fatalities in the sense of marriages and relationships and and I just wanted to have the foresight of that and not being one of them. And so so I did my, my 30 months, Visa ahead, and and then 24 months and then state a few months longer. And then and then we move back to to Vancouver on the last day of my work. He called from Leo and he says like, you can still change your mind. And undersheriff I would love to but no, I got to do this. And he paid and he paid for my way back to Vancouver and move in and like that man. Oh my god, I will never ever not be thankful.

GLO 21:54
Did he has he ever visited you here? Has he ever come here? 

THOMAS HAAS 21:57
Oh he was my neighbor on Broadway. So why? So we moved back. We moved back I already had a job offer as a as a consulting pastry chef. And also do not make this too long of a story. But we started our our business in the basement, because we had no chocolates to offer in that hotel in that pastry shop which was at that time called five senses. And so I said well then I make it and nobody wanted to invest in like, okay, I make it from home in my basement. Then I did that for two months and moved into a commercial kitchen because it did become popular. And then I said well if I make it for the store and for the hotel, I've probably asked one of my colleagues in the states if if they need anything for their hotel, and all of a sudden my full time job stayed a full time job and my little chocolate the job at night job at night became a pm to 2am daily session of chocolate making with two girls I worked in the hotel with who got laid off. And we worked and we work night shifts, listen to radio talk shows love laughed, so much made chocolates went home. I went to sleep. We met the next night that they came in at seven I came in at eight because I worked until 6am to have dinner go back. And within four years of doing that and working the pastry shop job at the Metropolitan hotel. We had 27 four seasons and with Carlton hotels as our customers worldwide. And we were to write yourself just for your chocolate Do you mean just for chocolate the IV so we would make 20,000 chocolates a week during the night and and found a system of shipping them so you can throw them at the wall in the packaging and they would have no scuffing. And they would go to the island of Knievel's or to New York City or Hawaii or Austin, Texas. You name it Boston and
an expert.

THOMAS HAAS 24:19
Yeah, exactly. And that was the foundation of of of what was yet to come. I would say

GLO  24:26
you know, Thomas, I have a recollection that you were out of the Metropolitan hotel and I just feel like I remember that I've had your chocolates out of those hotels, so and that was such a full thing. But you've had a whole other thing since then.

GLO 24:48
Okay, Wow, amazing. Okay, so you that's tons of business and you're still working out of this Metropolitan hotel. So I guess at some point you thought, Okay, I need to get my own space and have my own business. Is that? Is that what happened? Or

THOMAS HAAS 25:01
no? Young People always ask me Oh, how did you start? Was it always your goal? Did you always so first of all, I have to remind myself that, hey, I told my parents, I'd come back home, but that didn't happen. So I just, I just wanted to get on to the best I can be. And therefore I needed an environment where I could be challenged. And, and I always love laughter challenge. Because I think that was, for me the safest way to progress. So after after working those two jobs, and I'm like, Whoa, this chocolate thing is becoming really real. Right now. And the space is becoming really small. And, and, and the two girls, Lisa, was her name as well, then and Whitney would be, would be are like, Well, I think we got to, we got to outgrow this and we got to do something. And plus we probably shouldn't work every night and probably won't work during the day. And, and, and we love to learn pastry and Okay, so at that time, one of my best friends who owned the building, I was making chocolates out of he was a German butcher founder Black Forest his name was Juergen. And he was the most driven, successful single minded individual with not adult moment in his entire life. He would always push me and say like, Okay, you got to get out of here, you got to get your own, you got to get your own. I'm like, I don't know if I can afford it. Like, you can't, you can't you got to do it, you got to do it. And so he literally kicked me out out of his own building. And I was looking, and he says, and you're not gonna go into rent? And like, Are you crazy? I kind of was like, Yes, you do. You give them the bank, your socks, your underwear, whatever they asked for. And then you work as hard as you did. And you make it work. And I went, Oh, okay, then you're going? Okay, I will try. So I looked around, and there was this blank, blank space of lands here in North van, where we are right now. And there's supposed to be an industrial complex being built in the next six months. And so I inquired, and, and so surprisingly, it was the first so we could choose the location of we are in North when behind the auto mall, on a dead end street, one one way, in the middle of nowhere. And people would say, oh, you're crazy. And I'm like, Well, our business at that time, at that point was of still shipping chocolates to five star hotels. And that was a great foundation. And then we decided to put a little pastry shop in there, because we did have experience over the last three years selling out of, of their tiny little catering kitchen, on the other side of North Bend, also in an industrial district that you make it, you do it and you make it and you probably also have the people smell it, they will come so so. So people would line up and line up into this little kitchen and we would be like, just crammed in there and like, Bobby somebody will like what we do. And so we did put a little retail store with a couple seats in there. During the process of building it redoubled that space from tiny to less tiny but still tiny. And and better always set up at the kitchen has to be big and bright and beautiful. Because I worked in so many dungeons, I do not want my co workers to not have daylight see each other and and be given the space, they can actually operate in an efficient manner. And so we had this 3000 square foot kitchen, and 100 square foot front door. And 15 years later, saying we're still there.