Jana Lai is an Australian-born, France-based pastry chef whose love for her work has seen her grace magazine pages, TV screens, and even compete with the French Pastry team in the 2023 World Pastry Cup. 

For Jana Lai, a career in food was never on the cards.

The granddaughter of a baker, Jana’s parents migrated to Australia from East Timor and the expectation was that she would pursue a career as a lawyer, accountant or in a medical field.

However, this prospect never inspired Jana. As a teen she said she checked out of high school, before half-heartedly studying to be an accountant.

“I didn’t finish that because I didn’t like it. I think I then started an online university course for business, and that just didn’t fly,” she said.

“In about 2010 my sister had a coffee shop where I met a chef called Pierre Roelofs, and he just inspired me – the way he was speaking about his experience in Switzerland. I was discovering and exploring his desserts and just being like, ‘what is this world?’.”

Jana decided she was all in, and went on to study pastry at William Angliss Institute in Melbourne. It’s a move she describes as being fantastic.

“I think that was the first time in my whole life that I chose something for myself,” she said.

“That really changed something in me. Just going to class and making bread or petit fours, discovering all these types of cakes and have these really passionate people around me who love their job and who I still keep in contact with today. It’s so amazing.”

Paris came calling partway through Jana’s studies. The first step was through a trip with William Angliss Institute where for 10 days the group explored pastry shops and took classes. Jana said she can still clearly remember the first time she ever saw a pastry shop.

“I can still dee the light shining from inside and it just felt like heaven’s door,” she said.

It was also at this time that she discovered Ecole Bellouet Conseil – the Parisian school where she now teaches.

“I returned to Paris a few times after that [first time] because I wanted to learn more of the skills that I saw there and give myself the opportunity to upgrade my skills further,” Jana said.

“I went back to Bellouet Conseil a few more times after that… and decided I wanted to move to Paris.

“I sent an email to my boss – well he’s just retired – and asked ‘do you know anyone looking for pastry chefs to work for them?’ He was like ‘you know what? I’m looking for an assistant at the school. Would you be interested?’.”

Jana describes the process of finding her feet in a new city renowned for pastry prowess as like starting from zero again, not least because she was simultaneously trying to learn a new language.

“In Australia I felt quite confident win my skills. I had some really good mentors who guided me. I had grown quite a lot in Australia but I felt like in Paris it was like going straight back down the ladder again,” she said.

“It’s just the skillset of French pastry chefs is immense.”

Within eight years Jana had not only proven her skills but had also landed a coveted spot on the French Pastry team, which took home silver in the 2023 Pastry World Cup.

It was the first time Jana competed as part of a team, and although she describes it as a great experience, it was also a huge learning curve.

“[Preparation] was seven-days-a-week and by the end of it we had completely exhausted all our physical resources. And then it was 10 hours of straight competition – so for 10 hours you can’t stop, because if you stop you lose time,” she said.

“The French team especially had a whole row of men standing in front of us and another behind us – just really solemn – watching us to find every single mistake that we would make. But it was also exhilarating having the support of the public.”

It’s a far cry from her time spent on MasterChef Australia Dessert Masters in 2024, where she tied fourth with Reece Hignell.

That competition, Jana said, was pure fun.

“I did it because Amoury Guichon was the judge and I have always wanted to work with him,” Jana said.

“It was an amazing experience with everybody. It was stressful, because you have that really short time limit, but it was great fun after having done the World Cup.

“It was like instead of running a marathon you’re just let loose to run in a forest. The creative freedom too – the limit really is your imagination.”

So what do you do when you’ve already competed on a world stage multiple times? For Jana, her upcoming few months include another competition, for which she is in the thick of preparation. But she’s also firmly focused on growing her skillset, including learning about bread and vegan pastries.

“I don’t know why, but I’m really fascinated by it [vegan pastries] and I feel like it’s a challenge that I would love to take on,” she said.

“But I’ve also said that in a couple of years I would really love to quit pastry and become a baker, just like my grandpa. I love it; I just love touching dough and getting a feel for shaping. It feels so therapeutic and is not as precise as pastry.

“But, I probably would never quit pastry because I love the artistry of it. I just really love creating things that bring us together. It’s a great way to connect and it brings joy. I’m so very lucky to do it.”