If you scroll through the Instagram page of Mija Bakeshop, you will see a perfectly curated and flawless feed of decadent and mouth-watering pies, cookies, pastries, and custom cakes.
What you don’t see often enough is the face behind the Peterborough-based business, which is approaching its one-year anniversary. A modest but dedicated pastry chef, Miyeon Park — who does everything from the baking to design, marketing, and deliveries — is relatively new to Canada and new to baking, with a passion for pastries that is obvious in every cake, snack, and sweet treat served.
“I just want to make my customers happy,” says Park. “I work for the love of it.”
Mija Bakeshop all began with a career — and country — change long before it even launched one year ago. Before 2011, Park was living in South Korea working in marketing and sales for a movie theatre when her Peterborough-born husband asked if she would be willing to move to Canada.
Having visited Canada every summer and enjoying what she came to think of as “Canadian foods” like Kawartha Dairy and poutine, she was thrilled at the idea of the move.
When she questioned what she would do for work in Canada, her husband — knowing she always harboured a passion for doing DIY crafts and working with her hands — suggested she try a Le Cordon Bleu demo culinary class in Seoul. Though it was a four-hour train ride from where she lived, the journey proved to be worthwhile.
“It was love at first sight,” she says. “It was so fun and mind-blowing for me because all the chefs looked so professional and, the way they were making the creative desserts, I was in love with that. I phoned my husband and said ‘This is it. I’m a pastry chef now.'”
They moved to Seoul so Park could take two of the classes before studying at the superior level in Ottawa upon relocation. As she was still learning English, the move wasn’t always easy for Park.
“The first few years were very hard for me because the culture is really different and the food is different,” she recalls, noting how challenging the language barrier made it to learn from the chefs. “I had to understood what they were doing from watching their hands, and I was using the dictionary a lot.”
Fortunately, Park found a way to make learning her second language a lot of fun.
“I learned English from Shrek,” she says with a laugh. “I was always watching animated movies over and over and over again. That was pretty fun for me, and it’s still one of my favourite movies.”
Above all, one of the biggest challenges for Park was adjusting to just how different the lifestyle in Canada is compared to that of Korea.
“I was missing people a lot because I’m used to having a hectic life, but Canada is very quiet,” she says. “People are always so laid back and smiling about everything and don’t do as much, but I then realized that’s how life should be. It shouldn’t be always hectic, busy, all about working. So now I just totally enjoy Canada and couldn’t go back to live in Korea.”
After finishing her schooling, Park honed her skills at local businesses Parkhill on Hunter, Black Honey, and Two Dishes Cookshop before launching her own company in May 2023, despite her hesitations.
“I was worried about if the customer wouldn’t understand what I’m saying,” Park recalls, adding that she decided to try anyway and dedicated just one month to learning everything she could and accessing resources in the community to help set up her business. “I decided if I fail, I fail — but if I succeed, then it could be so good. So I just did it.”
Park created her own makeshift kitchen in her home basement — which, though she is much busier, she continues to use — with just a couple of sinks, some baking racks, and used fridges from friends. Without a brick-and-mortar storefront, Park says most of her customer base has come from her social media presence, especially on Instagram, and through word-of-mouth.
Today, Park’s affordable madeleines, cheesecakes, stuffed cookies, tarts, and more can be found in Peterborough at Milk + Tea, The Main Ingredient, and The Night Kitchen. Up until she recently bought a car, Park was so dedicated to her customers that she made the deliveries by using public transit.
“It took almost an hour and a half of waiting time, and I had always these two giant bags with me while walking on the bus, which was pretty funny,” she says.
She notes her relationship with other locally owned businesses is a “win-win situation,” where they work together to both get customers and earn a profit.
“I’m always happy with what I’m making for them because they know what their customers want,” she says. “I’m really, really appreciative of those places.”
Goods from Mija Bakeshop can also be found at the Peterborough Farmers’ Market at the Morrow Building. When the winter edition wraps up at the end of April, she will be joining the summer lineup, where she will have fresh baked seasonal pies-her favourite dish to create. She will also be present at a Mother’s Day pop-up event at Milk + Tea in May.
As she approaches her one-year anniversary since launching Mija Bakeshop, Park is already looking well ahead into the future: thinking not only expanding her business, but on how she would love to share her knowledge with new chefs.
“I want to teach my skills to other students somewhere in Peterborough,” she says. “First step was starting my business, the second is a brick-and-mortar store, and the third will be teaching.”
If the success of Mija Bakeshop proves anything, it’s that Park’s passion, dedication, and resilience will undoubtedly get her whatever she sets her mind to do.
To view the full menu available at Mija Bakeshop, visit www.mijabakeshop.com. You can also follow @mijabakeshop on Instagram.
