Christopher Garren's Let Them Eat Cake - Costa Mesa, CA

July 31, 2012 - PRLog -- Not only are our cakes beautiful, they are moist and delicious! Whether you’re looking for a cake for a baby shower or a five-tiered wedding cake, you can be sure that the Christopher Garren’s team will be able to create an edible masterpiece for your special event.

Originally opened in 2001 on Newport Boulevard, we moved to the South Coast Collection in Costa Mesa, California in September of 2009. Over the past decade, Christopher Garren’s has been featured in numerous publications and television shows. Both Chris and Marjorie have won several Food Network challenges, and more recently, the shop has filmed three seasons with WETV’s Amazing Wedding Cakes.

At Christopher Garren’s, we consider ourselves pastry chefs, artists, and innovators, but most importantly, we consider ourselves students. We continually challenge ourselves and learn from each other, pushing the limits of what can be accomplished in edible form. We believe that our unending search for new techniques, combined with a skillful balance of form and function, is paramount in keeping us on the forefront of the decorating arena.

We invite you to visit our cake gallery, or maybe enjoy a latte and fresh cookie while you browse through our portfolios. We have a cozy dining room where you can speak to a decorator about a cake design, or simply relax and savor in one of our many freshly baked pastries.

We hope to see you soon!

Our Key People:

Chris Russom
Owner

Chris’s adventures in the kitchen began at the tender age of nine, when he attempted to make a cake for his mother and realized, after two hours of baking, that he had forgotten the flour. Since then, Chris has taken a bit of a circuitous route to his present status as one of the leading creative forces in the industry. Spending time in each of the disparate fields of landscaping, interior design, plumbing, catering, and construction, he picked up various useful skills along the way that he would later apply to decorating in some quite unlikely methods. Throughout his many careers, Chris has always maintained a link to the culinary world, where he would ultimately find his Zen.

Ever since he was convinced to make his first wedding cake, Chris has worked to continually improve his art, learning by experimentation and pushing forward with constant innovation. In an industry ruled by trends and fads, Chris has built his success on his continued devotion to clean, precise work, cutting edge designs, and cakes of a truly singular quality.

A self-proclaimed shy guy, Chris has made appearances on Food Network, FOX 11 Good Day LA, and is a featured chef on Amazing Wedding Cakes. Although viewers might not believe it from the way he derives great joy in needling Marjorie, Chris is a loyal, charming, personable individual…when you get to know him.


Marjorie Chua
Cake Decorator

In 1997, Marjorie stumbled across what would soon become her life’s passion, when her sister cajoled her into taking a cake decorating class. Throwing herself into her newfound profession, Marjorie has since turned her determination and inventiveness into a successful career as a decorator on one of the foremost creative teams in the business. Although she was originally trained in accounting, Marjorie loves the creative aspect of her job and credits her Filipino roots for the ingenuity that serves her so well in the decorating arena. She has competed in, and won, several Food Network Cake Challenges, but prefers to stay below the radar whenever her busy schedule allows.

With her rambunctious personality and infectious laugh, Marjorie, or more affectionately, Marjie, does all the cake baking that goes on in the store. Her routine activities include baking and decorating cakes, perfecting her sugar flowers for the week’s wedding cakes, and finding new ways to push Chris’s buttons.  


Kristen Motooka
Store Manager

Growing up following her mom around in the kitchen and watching Food Network, Kristen was always interested in baking but never imagined it as part of her life’s path. After moving across the country and delving into “biology without the blood,” she found herself without a plan. With a Bachelor’s in Plant Sciences from Cornell University to fall back on, she decided to go to culinary school and try her hand at cake decorating. Looking for the best of the best, she sought out an internship at Christopher Garren’s, and the rest is history.

Never straying far from her first love, Kristen enjoys challenging herself to make physiologically correct sugar flowers. Her exacting nature and unwavering dedication to excellence make her a perfect fit for Christopher Garren’s. When she’s not decorating cakes, she can be found answering emails, updating Facebook, scheduling classes, or otherwise cracking the whip.


Juan Carlos Pena

In 2010, Juan got his start in high end, made-from-scratch products when he delved into the world of Christopher Garren’s and our fast-paced kitchens. Since then, he has proven himself to be a hard working, resilient individual, who never seems to tire. Juan is in charge of preparing all of our many pastry doughs, and he is the early bird that bakes our breakfast line every morning. A true team player, Juan considers our kitchens to be his “Disneyland,” and loves helping with artwork for our cakes and learning our secrets. Proud owner of a healthy sweet tooth, Juan has found a good fit in the Christopher Garren’s team.  

Christopher Garrens Cakes
3321 Hyland Avenue. Suites J&H,
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 445-0189