Best Pastry Chefs In Los Angeles Right Now
With many desirable menus for Angelenos to enjoy, restaurants are upping the ante with special pastry items. Many of these delectable items are all thanks to new pastry chefs that have taken over the scene across L.A. From housemade baked goods to multicultural desserts, explore these great chefs and what they're cooking up.
Pastry Chef Malia Nery
Connie and Ted's
8171 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 848-2722
www.connieandteds.com
Fish isn't the only thing served at this West Hollywood seafood institution. Since graduating from culinary school just three years ago, Chef Malia Nery started working at Connie and Ted's and recently took the helm as pastry chef. Heading up the menu's creative dessert menu, Nery serves up housemade breads, pastries, and more. All the baked goods are made in-house, from the saltine crackers served with the smoked bluefish dip and their delicious lobster roll buns, to the tasty cinnamon roll and their English muffins on the Nor'Easter breakfast sandwich during brunch. Some of Chef Malia Nery's recent additions to the menu include a rhubarb pie with almond crumble, a boysenberry bread pudding, as well as a refreshing cucumber sorbet with ginger, alongside New England-inspired treats like blondies and whoopie pies.
Pastry Chef Kelli Nehls
The Cannibal
8850 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 838-2783
www.thecanniballa.com
Pastry Chef Kelli Nehls served at the helm of Moby's Little Pine as the Pastry Chef creating vegan desserts, but has since moved on to The Cannibal in Los Angeles where indulgent baked goods including a Strawberry Pop Tart with bacon icing, a Matcha Cinnamon Bun, and Everything Pretzel Bialy with trout roe are part of her top creations. Additional desserts include a tasty and moist chocolate cake with blackstrap molasses buttercream, a Pavlova with chai spice, stone fruit, and candied almonds, and a dark chocolate cremeaux with raspberry gelèe, peanut butter crème, crushed peanuts, and berries.
Na Young Ma
Proof Bakery
3156 Glendale Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 664-8633
www.proofbakeryla.com
Proof Bakery has been all over the map because of their delicious pastries. This can all be attributed to Pastry Chef Na Young Ma, who bakes tarts, cakes, and delicious croissants at this Atwater Village favorite. Ma was working in a New York bakery when in college and made her way back west. Soon, she realized that chocolate chip cookies, layer cakes, fruit tarts and other confections were her true calling.
Executive Chef Louis Tikaram and Pastry Chef Zen Jay Ong
EP & LP
603 N La Cienega Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 855-9955
www.eplosangeles.com
Executive Chef Louis Tikaram and Pastry Chef Zen Jay Ong sure know how to delight their customers at this popular two-fold space. With a dining room and rooftop bar/restaurant, the food here is as sought after as any in town, but the desserts really are something not to be missed. Chef Ong joined the opening team at EP in 2015, and found his calling for pastries after working at other areas in the kitchen. Using influences from Australia, America, Thailand, and Indonesia, Ong together with Executive Chef Louis Tikaram create a menu that offers a creative dessert program to complement Tikaram's Asian/South Pacific-inspired menu. Dessert and pastry offerings on the menu include the EP&J, their creative twist on the classic PB&J sandwich. With roasted white chocolate, salted peanuts, honeycomb and strawberry jelly, its a favorite among restaurant-goers. Other pastry specialties include The Cali Cloud with vanilla tofu custard, light pineapple 'cloud', nuta de coco, pineapple sorbet, and shaved frozen honeydew melon, as well as the king of it all, their Coconut "S'mores" dessert. With torched coconut marshmallow, crushed graham crackers, and Belgium milk chocolate, it is served with fresh and freeze-dried berries and a housemade young coconut sorbet. It's a must try.
Pastry Chef Joseph Kim
BOA Steakhouse
9200 Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 278-2050
www.innovativedining.com
The Pastry Chef of BOA Steakhouse, Chef Joseph Kim, has some pretty great experience. With training from The French Culinary Institute, Kim has gained valuable skills and knowledge in some of the most prestigious kitchens throughout the world, including in Japan and the United States. Tokyo's Suji's Cuisine, as well as the Compass in New York are just some of the top restaurants Kim can claim on his resume. Some of Kim's delicious concoctions at BOA include the lemon tart with lemon curd, caramelized Katafi nest, lime-infused cucumber and kaffir lime syrup, as well as the ever popular Cake in a Box. This large-format carrot cake comes completw with citrus cream cheese icing and is served in a tin box! Then, there is their Neapolitan Cheesecake, a mascarpone cheesecake with licorice lemon coulis, dehydrated fennel seed meringue, and espresso granita.
Zoe Nathan
Rustic Canyon, Huckleberry, Milo + Olive, Cassia and Esters, and Sweet Rose Creamery
Multiple Locations
Overseeing the pastry side of things at restaurants like Cassia, Milo + Olive, Huckleberry, Rustic Canyon and the always loved Sweet Rose Creamery, Zoe Nathan is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to desserts. Although she collaborates with chefs at each of the restaurants, Nathan's directions and influence are written all over the delicious confections served to thousands of patrons each day. Making breads, and pastries using only the freshest ingredients, Nathan also focuses on seasonal and organic ingredients as well to bring out a better product.