Viola Goren has studied cooking and baking at leading culinary institutions around the world. She graduated from The California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, and studied in several European institutions, including the Ewald Susan Notter School of Confectionery in Switzerland, The Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Belgium, and Fabbri & Fruibel in Italy. Her classroom training is complemented with hands-on experience in the pastry departments of leading bakeries and hotels. She prepared pies, pastries, cakes, and breads at the famed La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles, California, and prepared diverse desserts at The Regent Beverly Wilshire and the Hilton Tel Aviv. For more than a decade, Viola owned Sweet Dream, a popular Tel Aviv-based bakery that supplied baked goods to dozens of cafes and restaurants. Today, she is the owner of Viola Cafés, and teaches aspiring pastry-makers from all walks of life at the Estela Culinary School.