Alkadour Sweets: A Syrian refugee and pastry chef builds a sweet life in Ottawa
When Aeman Alkadour hand-rolls his mouthwatering pastries, he’s making life more delicious for his customers.
“I make them with the love,” said the 37-year-old.
“When you love your work, you make the best. I can’t sleep if I don’t make sweets. This is my life.”
When customers buy the baker’s Middle Eastern desserts, they’re supporting the dreams of a new Canadian. Alkadour is a Syrian refugee. He and his family fled his war-ravaged country in 2012 and came to Ottawa in 2016.
Aeman Alkadour's family moved to Canada in 2016, after fleeing war-torn Syria in 2012.
“In Syria, there is no life. Nobody goes out of the home, and if he does, maybe he don’t come back,” said Alkadour.
Alkadour knew nothing of this country when he arrived. He didn’t speak English. He and his family didn’t have relatives here.
However, two caring and welcoming people who extended love and compassion and embraced them.
“When I came in Canada, I said ‘thank you, God. I’m here in this safe country, this free country.”
Initially, Alkadour, his expectant wife and three children were living at an Ottawa hotel. He still recalls his first walk to the grocery store on a frigid January day.
“When I walked, I felt frozen,” he said.
He was wearing a thin jacket, when a passing motorist stopped and showed him the kindness of Canadians.
“A woman asked me to get in her car. I didn’t know her. She just sees me on the street and stops. She drive me to grocery store and drops me home at hotel,” he said, his eyes smiling above his mask.
Just two months after their arrival, the Alkadours would make news in the local media, when their son, Zain, was the first child born to Syrian refugees in Ottawa.
Alkadour has been hard at work supporting his family. He’s a trained pastry chef. He’s been making desserts since he was 16, and now uses family recipes to bake for his two retail outlets in Ottawa.
“I like to make the people happy. When you like my baking, you make me happy.”
In an industrial mall in Ottawa’s east end, in a shared kitchen space, Alkadour crafts his delicacies for hours on end, seven nights a week. After preparing desserts until 11 p.m., he’s back at the bakery the next morning at 6 a.m. to package them.
He delivers them to his Carlingwood Shopping Centre location, and then to his kiosk at Billing’s Bridge Mall, where he works until closing. He then returns to the bakery to begin creating again.
Aeman Alkadour at his Alkadour Sweets retail outlet in Billing’s Bridge Mall.
“If I want to do something, I need to work hard. The dream is not coming easy,” said Alkadour.
The dream is to become a king of cookies, cakes and baklava in the capital.
“Like Tim Horton’s. I want to be in every mall in Ottawa, then in Ontario, then all off Canada. Big dream,” he laughs.
For now, he’s grateful to have a safe and happy home in Ottawa. For Aeman Alkadour, life doesn’t get much sweeter than this.
“I just want to say thank you Canada because I’m here. Thank you to Canadians for always supporting me, making me happy, making me safe. It’s a big community, a big family here.”
Alkadour Sweets: Billing’s Bridge Mall and Carlingwood Shopping Centre
- 613-712-1008
- aemank984@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alkadoursweets/
- Instagram: @alkadoursweets
Aeman Alkadour's sweets. (Joel Haslam/CTV News Ottawa)
Aeman Alkadour's sweets. (Joel Haslam/CTV News Ottawa)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
RCMP uncovers plot to sell drones and equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Demonstrators kicked out of Ontario legislature for disruption after failed keffiyeh vote
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Government agrees to US$138.7M settlement over FBI's botching of Larry Nassar assault allegations
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
Man wanted in connection with deadly shooting in Toronto tops list of most wanted fugitives in Canada
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
Keeping these exotic pets is 'cruel' and 'dangerous,' Canadian animal advocates say
Canadian pet owners are finding companionship beyond dogs and cats. Tigers, alligators, scorpions and tarantulas are among some of the exotic pets they are keeping in private homes, which pose risks to public safety and animal welfare, advocates say.
Thieves use stolen forklift to rip cash machine out of U.K. bank
Police in the U.K. are searching for a group of suspects seen on video using a forklift to steal a cash machine from a bank.
'There was a lot of black smoke': Crane operator sounds alarm while trapped during highrise fire in Halifax
A tower crane operator alerted emergency crews after noticing a fire on a construction site in Halifax Tuesday morning.