Brie Malik

Brie is a beautiful pastry chef and the co-owner of Gourmet Hound, along with Graham Ramos. A 30-year old Muslim woman with cheerful disposition and caring personality, Brie is passionate about food and how it can make people happy. She formerly worked at Dimanche, but left after Chef Bartlett gave her the opportunity to buy the Gourmet Hound property and open her own coffee shop. Despite not coming from prominent culinary background, Brie showed strong determination during her time at Dimanche, which attracted the attention of Chef Bartlett, Charlotte Nguyen, and Heath Nguyen.

## Background

Brie started working as a dishwasher when she was 16 years old.  After she completed her study at culinary school, she was hired as a pastry chef at Dimanche. Her skills grew under the tutelage of Charlotte Nguyen, who recognized her determination and dedication to excellence. During her time at culinary school, Brie became close to Graham Ramos and the Nguyen family, especially Charlotte's son, Heath.

Brie dreams of having her own restaurant, and it puts her friendship with Heath to the test. Charlotte offered Brie and Heath opportunities to become apprentices in several European countries, which Brie agreed to accept. However, when Chef Bartlett showed her an advertisement of the Gourmet Hound property (which was for sale), Brie decided to follow her dream and cancelled the plan to work in Europe. This decision angered Heath, who must work hard to protect her mother's and Brie's reputations during his time alone in Europe.

Despite initial doubt about her ability to run a business, Brie pushed through, determined to run a successful coffee shop. She looked for Graham after he left Dimanche, offering to employ him at her new coffee shop, presumably saving him from ruining his life after the accident that damaged his sense of smell and made him quit. She also employed John Clementine as barista. She met Lucy Fuji two years later when the latter accidentally damaged the door and set up fire alarm, and accepted her as a part-time employee. Later, she became close to Lucy, and even helped in her quest to find all the former chefs of Dimanche.

## Appearance

Brie has brown skin and olive green eyes. Being a Muslim woman, Brie is always shown with various styles of hijab, from headscarves to turbans. When not wearing chef's uniform, she loves wearing preppy-casual but modest outfits, such as high-necked sweaters, tailored pants, patterned shirts, flowing skirts, or long coats. Even when she wears denim pants or casual long-sleeved shirts, she always pairs them with blouses, long skirts, and preppy heels.

## Personality

Brie is cheerful, full of smile, and often addresses people with "dear" in conversation. She is level-headed and rarely gets angry, except whenever something bad almost happens to her coffee shop. When Lucy accidentally set off the fire alarm before their first meeting, Brie barged in and said that she will "kill Graham herself" if he set her coffee shop on fire. However, when Lucy explained her situation, she quickly ceased her anger and even offered Lucy some food.

While Brie looks feminine and elegant, she really loves watching true-crime shows, especially about murder cases. This particular disposition even enters conversations several times, at times making Graham afraid of her. She is also single, something that Graham often attributes to her morbid interest.

Despite her outer appearance, Brie often doubts herself. She often questions her ability to run a business, and constantly blamed herself for putting Heath and Charlotte in difficult positions due to her decision to buy Gourmet Hound. Unable to make peace with her past decision, Brie showed up every day at Heath's newly-opened Cosmos Bakery, despite Heath's refusal to talk to her, unknowingly hurting him and affected his performance at Cosmos Bakery.