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Billy Kawaja
A passion for food, and a family history
in the food business, inspired Chef Kawaja to become a professional
chef.
“While I was growing up, my family
owned and operated a large wholesale produce and grocery
operation and I learned to appreciate food quality at an
early age. My passion for fine food is rooted in finding
the best quality ingredients.”
Prior to joining Culinary Capers for the
Olympic Games catering, Chef Kawaja was the Executive Chef
for the Canadian Embassy in Beijing for two years. During
this time he has also done numerous cooking demonstrations
and lectures on French cuisine and Canadian seafood.
“My team and I are committed to delivering
great food experiences to our clients." |
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Sandy Yi
Sandy Yi joins Culinary Capers from Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, and she spent nearly 12 years in senior Marketing Communications Management roles in Hospitality, Public Relations and Special Events industries.
Sandy is passionate about providing clients with exceptional service and exquisite food. Her values align perfected with Culinary Capers and her experience in marketing will help us spread this message throughout the Beijing Community.
Her motto is: “The target is to achieve it.” |
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Rani Cunningham
Rani is passionate about creating stylish events with world-class cuisine and intuitive service. Her knowledge has been gathered from experiences spanning over 20 years in the catering and restaurant industry. After having her own catering business in Australia, she moved to Beijing in 2009 with her chef husband and two mini-gourmand children. |
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Jenny Zheng
Jenny joined Culinary Capers Beijing in June 2009. She has a degree in sales and marketing and is fluent in Mandarin and English. Jenny‘s focus is about bringing all the components together in seamless unison to create amazing events for her clients. |
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Heinz Helmut Klenner
Executive Chef Heinz Klenner began his hospitality career in his home country of Austria and then travelled internationally to gain valuable experience in Malaysia, Dubai, Serbia, United States, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Prior to joining Culinary Capers Beijing, Heinz spent twelve years with five-star international luxury hotel groups. Among the many accomplishments while advancing his career, was the appointment to an Executive Chef position with Hyatt International.
Chef Heinz’s passion and commitment to training will be the driving force of the continued growth and success of the kitchen team. |
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Jack Lian
Jack’s calm and capable presence in our state-of-the-art catering kitchen ensures that every detail is covered for our clients. Pulling from his experience in five-star hotels, Jack is able to produce fine-dining quality cuisine in myriad locations. In catering, an ability to adapt to rapidly changing challenges is essential, which Jack does with ease – all the while keeping his trademark smile. |
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Lisa Li
Lisa has a degree in tourism and hotel management, so she shapes our team with professional expertise. Bringing together the best and most experienced staff is our ultimate goal. Lisa cultivates an entrepreneurial culture within the company that further attracts passionate professionals and refines the quality of our service. |
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Jason Tian
Jason Tian has a degree in hotel management from the acclaimed Swiss Hotel Management School. After studying in Switzerland, he returned to Beijing where for the last nine years he has excelled in his field of service management and event sales at five-star hotels here in the city. |
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Debra Lykkemark
CEO and Founder, Debra Lykkemark oversees a high energy staff who share a passion for fine food. In Debra's own words, "Our goal is to provide the best cuisine, service and décor to all our customers. We are dedicated to producing delicious food accompanied with personal service".
Debra served on the International Caterers Association Executive Board from 1997 to 2005, including two years as President. As President of the ICA, she completely revamped the Washington office and left the organization in a strong financial position at the end of her term. Debra has been a highly regarded and frequent featured speaker at the top special event conferences throughout North America, including the Special Event, Event Solutions, Catersource, NACE and the ICA. She is active in Les Dames d'Escoffier, the Entrepreneurs' Organization, the International Special Events Society and the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs. Her local speaking engagements include business and women's groups and guest appearances before students in hospitality and culinary programs.
She was selected as the 2004 Consumer's Choice Vancouver Business Woman of the Year. In 2005, Debra was the recipient of an Influential Woman in Business Award presented by Business in Vancouver. She has been featured as one of Canada's top 100 women business owners by Profit magazine and Culinary Capers was ranked 72nd in the 2010 edition. Debra was invited to join the organizing committee of the British Columbia Cancer Foundation's Inspiration Gala from 2007 through 2010 and was instrumental in helping to raise a record breaking amount of funds for cancer research. |
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