 La Dolce Vita Baking Co. was named for the Italian spirit
of "The Sweet Life", as Kelli's focus is pastry/baking;
and also as a nod to Kelli's Italian Heritage.
Kelli's mom was born in Italy and raised in an Italian suburb of Philadelphia.
While Kelli's childhood here in California was All-American, life centered on
family and respect for good food.
While working in office administration and customer service for 10 years, Kelli
cooked, baked, and entertained as a hobby. When her husband graduated from college,
she had her chance to follow her dream to attend culinary school.
She attended Tante Marie Cooking School in San Francisco's North
Beach and graduated with a full culinary certificate. Luck was
with her when the great Bay Wolf Restaurant
on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland called Tante Marie looking for an Assistant Pastry
Chef, and Kelli's was chosen. Kelli went to work at the Bay Wolf and has
never left "Pastry Land". She cried when she gave her notice as she
wanted to stay there forever!
But her husband had his own dream, to relocated to the Sierra Foothills, get
some land, and live a more small town life out of the Bay Area. "This was
a risky move, but it has turned into a dream come true", Kelli says.
Kelli has worked at City Hotel in Columbia, CA; was opening Chef/Pastry Chef
at  Babcia's Tea Room in Sonora, CA; was Pastry Chef at Ironstone Vineyards working
for the great Kautz Family in Murphys, CA; while developing La Dolce Vita
Baking Co. all along. She has always loved cake making, using her recipes
and skills acquired along the way to focus LDV Baking Co. on Wedding Cakes.
Kelli
honed her Wedding Cake skills by attending the Culinary Institute
of America at Greystone's Wedding Cakes and Advanced Cake Decorating
in 2001. She completed this Certificate Course and had a great
experience with the other Pastry
Chef's in this specialized area of baking.
While hoping to find the perfect pastry shop location one day, Kelli has renovated
a deserted restaurant kitchen downtown Sonora to operate LDV Baking Co. "While
my bakeshop is NOT a thing of beauty, it satisfies the local and state requirements
for a Certified Commercial Kitchen, and has plenty of room. I love being downtown
Sonora."
Links:
Tante Marie's Cooking School
Historic Sonora Chamber of Commerce
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