The power of social media should not be underestimated! After a couple of months of seeing images of pastries circulating in my Instagram feed thanks to #FilipinoFoodMovement, I finally paid a visit.

 

Chef Aris was present and was very friendly and engaging. He was generous enough to have us try his freshly baked goods, which are buttery and heavenly and for a person who doesn't eat breads and sweets often, these small bites alone makes up for lost time.

I can review the pastries, but you can always read them here. Having a conversation with the owner and creator of Baker Cakemaker and understanding his viewpoints made the trip more worthwhile. Chef Aris is a trained pastry chef who helped launched La Boulange on La Brea. He decided to break off to create his own recipes, hoping to set him apart from other French bakeries by playing with Asian and Filipino ingredients and tastes. He takes his training, his attention to detail and refinement and incorporating a cultural cuisine that until lately, have been flying under the radar. It's amazing how far Filipino cuisine is being pushed today. Filipino cuisine, has come a long time since the Los Angeles 2010 article about why Filipino cuisine is not served by LA's top chefs who happen to be Filipino.

 

Baker Cakemaker is primarily a one-man army. Everything is baked onsight and not shipped from a mass production factory off-site. When you buy from BCM, you are buying homemade-with-love cakes and pastries and supporting and independant business directly. Support local. Love local.