Posted on the Edible Asheville website on September 1, 2026.
Alyse Baca thought she had her career figured out.
After earning a degree in Dental Assisting from A-B Tech in 2011, she enjoyed the work and expected to stay in the profession. But while working full time, she picked up a hobby that slowly began changing her plans. “I started doing some baking on the side, just for friends’ birthdays, baby showers and things like that,” Baca recalls.
Around the same time, she took a job behind the register at Asheville’s former Tomato Jam restaurant. Before long, she found herself jumping into the kitchen whenever help was needed, learning everything from working the flat-top grill to frosting cakes. “I had a kind of epiphany,” she says. “I realized I really enjoy doing this. It’s something I’m passionate about, and I want to pursue it.”
So in 2015, Baca made a career-changing decision. She returned to A-B Tech—this time enrolling in the Baking & Pastry Arts program. Although she considered culinary schools outside of Asheville, like the Culinary Institute of America in New York and Johnson & Wales in Charlotte, staying in the mountains of North Carolina made the most sense. More importantly, she wanted the kind of structured education that would help her master the science behind baking.
“I’m the type of person that wants as much information on something before I start a new venture,” she says. “There’s so much math and chemistry involved in pastry that I felt like that was the better choice.”
During school, Baca interned at Canyon Kitchen in Cashiers before graduating in 2017. She went on to work at several respected restaurants and bakeries, including Katie Button’s former restaurant, Nightbell, and Well-Bred Bakery in Weaverville, building the skills that would eventually lead her somewhere she never expected.
When Spicewalla advertised for a warehouse assistant, Baca was actually considering opening her own food truck. She applied almost on a whim, assuming the position would simply be a temporary stop along the way. Instead, owner Meherwan Irani quickly recognized something else: Baca brought a strong culinary background and a talent for understanding flavor. He asked her to help develop spice blends and recipe content instead. Seven years later, she’s Spicewalla’s Culinary Director.
“I’m still very much working in the flavor department,” she says. “It’s like I get to use my skills of tasting things and knowing how to balance things, just in a totally different way.”
Although Baca entered A-B Tech determined to become a fine dining pastry chef, she says the program broadened her perspective on what a culinary career could become. “When I first started out in culinary school, I had the singular goal of being a fine dining pastry chef,” she says. “The experience of going through the program showed me that you can really branch out into so many different things.”
That willingness to think differently still shapes her work today.
As an April Fool’s joke, Baca suggested creating a spice blend inspired by the Indian philosophy of jugaad—making something better with what you have. She blended sugar, salt, and MSG using ingredients already in her pantry. What began as a playful idea impressed Irani so much that it became one of Spicewalla’s newest products: Jugaad It!
Some of the lessons she learned at A-B Tech remain part of her daily routine. Even now, she organizes ingredients using the culinary principle of “First In, First Out”—making sure older products are used before newer ones to reduce waste. And just as importantly, she credits the program with teaching her how to collaborate.
“Having that feedback loop and having to work with my classmates really helped me hone those skills,” she says. “Giving feedback and being honest is something I really attribute to A-B Tech.”
Looking back, Baca says the biggest surprise isn’t where her career took her; it’s how closely it now reflects who she is. At one time, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do or what her purpose was.
Today, she sees a direct connection between her work and her values. “Once I really discovered my passion and pursued it,” she says, “it feels like my career and life became more aligned with my values and purpose.”
