Pastry Chef Gergana Shipochka

About quality desserts made of true products

No guest or occasional visitor to the Rila hotel in Borovets could have missed the amazing sweet temptations and cakes made in the hotel’s pastry workshop.  They are all created by our Pastry Chef Geri Shipochka.

Geri is born in Sofia city and already as a young child she started helping her mom in cooking especially in desserts making. “I was always around my mother. She was preparing really great sweets and desserts” tells Geri about her childhood which she shared between Samokov and Sofia. During her studies in book-keeping and accounting in Sofia University of National and World Economy Geri started working in her brother’s restaurant. “In my brother’s restaurant I went through the entire chain of food preparation. I learned a lot about precision, punctuality, discipline and team work. At some point a friend of mine invited me to make the desserts for his New Year’s Eve’s party – he ran three restaurants – and I had to prepare some 350 pieces of “baklava” made on my own recipe. I was a bit hesitant to accept as I had never before set foot in a pastry workshop. But it was really great! I spent two days there, I had two assistants and when the baklava was served I held my breath waiting for the guests to share their opinion. And yes!... the note was “excellent”. This was the beginning.

Her professional path in pastry Geri started 12 years ago as sous- chef in a boutique pastry shop making great strides ever since. Just four years later she was appointed to be the head of a pastry workshop. Then, two years later she became Pastry Chef in a holding company managing five restaurants and a food distribution company.

In her constant striving for perfection Geri has undergone master classes under the best Pastry Chefs and Maîtres Chocolatiers internationally such as

• Martin Chiffers - chocolate and chocolate carving master class
• Nina Tarasova – two master classes
• Karim Bourgi - master class
• Vincent Vallee –master class in Bacelona

It’s been three years now that Geri Shipochka is Pastry Chef at the Rila hotel.  With her own creative line which combines the art of homemade and the modern pastry style and using the best products she achieves a truly remarkable product – an explosion of flavors bringing all senses to a climax of delight.

As Pastry Chef at the Rila hotel Geri was assigned the challenging task of creating an a-la-carte dessert associated with the spirit of hotel. She appropriated the hotel’s landmark marble cone recreating it in a chocolate seduction “The Rila Magic” – which skyrocketed to the top position among the guests’ best favored desserts and has stayed so ever since.

The dessert fridge in the hotel lobby displaying scones, brownies, cookies, cannolis, muffins, cupcakes and seasonal cakes focuses all eyes and cravings and Geri’s desserts can be found at:

The buffet tables

Тhe lobby bar

“Samokovi” a-la-carte restaurant

The „Gourmet on the Go” van at the bottom station of “Yastrebets Express” quad

Geri’s sweet and salty creations have their dedicated fans who buy on the spot or order for home delivery for special occasions or just at a whim. 

The dessert fridge in the hotel lobby displaying scones, brownies, cookies, cannolis, muffins, cupcakes and seasonal cakes focuses all eyes and cravings …

Weddings

Birthdays

Special occasions

Baptisms

Company parties

And Geri is truly happy because she united her hobby and her job all in one. “I love my work. We, pastry workers, we share people’s best moments in life: weddings, childbirth, baptizing ceremonies, babies’ first steps “loaf parties” (Bulgarian tradition), birthday parties.”

So, it’s no surprise that she doesn’t think twice answering our question about what’s the most gratifying experience for her. “The positive return by customers which gives you the feeling of a job well done”. And she has lots of examples to share: “I’m often asked to the Reception desk to meet happy customers who want to shake hands with me. Or customers calling the hotel to ask if there is a shop in Sofia where they can buy a cake they loved during their stay at the “Rila”. I recall a wedding – all family members from the bridegroom’s side came to thank me for the carrot cake because they were quite skeptical before they tasted it! The postcard from actress Radina Dumanian is among the most heart-warming signs of appreciation I have ever received.