Courtney Goldian: Corporate Pastry Chef

With experience in restaurants as well as hotel and corporate kitchens, Courtney Goldian has overseen a variety of culinary environments, including bakeries, casual fine dining, elegant dining and large hospitality venues.

After relocating from her home in Connecticut to the mid-Atlantic area, where she graduated cum laude with a degree in political science from James Madison University, Courtney had a change of heart from a life in possible government service and attended L’Academie de Cuisine to study pastry arts. In only a decade of working in this field, she moved from baking cinnamon rolls in a Virginia mall to overseeing the pastry program of the four-star Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, D.C.

With a strong foundation in the culinary arts, Courtney went on after pastry school to hold an externship in the large kitchen at the Park Hyatt Washington. Her talent for pastry and her dedication to its art propelled her from Assistant Pastry Chef at the Chef Geoff’s restaurant in upper Northwest D.C. to the top spot, Executive Pastry Chef, at the 220-seat downtown Chef Geoff’s, which she helped open. Eventually, she was drawn to work at the world-renowned Inn at Little Washington, where she managed the pastry staff, production, and inventories.

Courtney’s next role, Assistant Corporate Pastry Chef of Albert Uster Imports, allowed her to step outside the kitchen and excel in a different setting: research and development. At Albert Uster Imports she was able to take the role of an educator, teaching advanced classes for pastry professionals as well as training an extensive sales force on the usage and applications of their products. Beyond this, she wrote and contributed to pastry compositions on chocolate methodology.

Since her time at Albert Uster, Courtney has served as the Head Pastry Chef in the kitchens of 2941 Restaurant and the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, D.C. She was also the recipient of the Silver Medal at the National Pastry Championship in July 2011 in Phoenix, Ariz., as a member of the competition’s second-ever all-female team.

Courtney holds a competitive edge in her industry and will be able to bring her expertise from a wide range of culinary management settings to VSAG. She looks forward to the opportunity to grow with the firm and to develop programs individually suited to the unique needs of a variety of clients.

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