Jacqueline Joy Diño-Garcia

Pastry Chef

A system and data analyst turned into a passionate pastry chef. Jacqueline graduated from The French Pastry School in Chicago under the teaching of French master pastry chefs Jacquy Pfeiffer and Sebastien Canonne, M.O.F. While in pastry school, she staged at Graham Elliot and Hendrickx Belgian Bread Crafter to hone her pastry skills. Upon graduation she landed a job at The Whitney in Detroit and started to put her learnings into practical use. Jacqueline went back to The French Pastry School and took continuing education class under the acclaimed Chef Stephane Glacier, M.O.F. She started a cottage food industry business Jacqueline’s cakes and pastries specialized in celebration and custom cakes. She also worked as a pastry chef of renowned Chef Takashi Yagihashi’s restaurant, Slurping Turtle in Ann arbor where she imparted her skills by creating seasonal and special event desserts. After years of learning Japanese inspired desserts, she worked as a pastry sous chef at MGM Grand Detroit Hotel and Casino supervising the pastry kitchen with team members that produced bread and desserts for all the outlets including hotel's amenities and banquets and was in-charge in executing and facilitating the renowned Wolfgang Puck Steakhouse under the keen management of distinguished Executive Pastry Chef Orlando Santos. She was also invited to be a part of the 26th season, “A Sticky Situation” episode, of Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay which was premiered on August 2020.

Currently, together with her husband JP Garcia, they opened their own  Filipino restaurant Isla located in Sterling Heights, MI.