Celebrating Spokane Success Stories
& Cake Bakery
Rewind back two decades ago to 1994. After working various jobs with a degree in art and photography, Gina Garcia decided to pursue a new career—the love and joy of cooking that had been instilled in her since childhood. It became clearly evident that culinary baking and cooking was the right profession. She began attending culinary courses at a local community college. Gina obtained a job as a prep cook in the kitchen of Spokane’s Rock City Grill. It was through this humble beginning that her path to sweetness began and flourished. While working at Rock City Grill, she was introduced to Karen Hansen, owner of the Take the Cake bakery. At that time, Karen had the reputation of being one of the best in the industry. She serviced Luna, Luigi’s and the Anaconda Grill, as well as many other restaurants at the forefront of Spokane. Before long, Gina began working with Karen, acquiring the competence and techniques required of a pastry chef. Two years later, in 1996, Gina purchased and acquired Take the Cake. After experiencing seven years of success with Take the Cake, Gina felt the time was right to expand the bakery, so in 2003 she relocated Take the Cake to South Grand Boulevard, establishing Bittersweet Bakery and Bistro. More than expanding the tiny occupied space of Take the Cake, a focus on Bittersweet’s menu would evolve as well, as Gina had focused
PIE PHOTO BY JED CONKLIN, OTHER PHOTOS BY JEANETTE DUNN AND COURTESY OF CHAPS
solely on desserts in the past. She would now offer more pastry-type items, with the addition of savory foods. Bittersweet Bakery was a popular destination for its unique savory crepes, its array of beautiful pastry, exceptional cakes and desserts, but due to some location-related issues, it closed in 2009. Soon after, Gina and Celeste Shaw of Chaps Café started discussing the thought of opening a bakery addition to Celeste’s café. Their design was to offer simple pastry and cakes. The rest is history. Anyone who has visited Chaps knows Cake is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art bakery within Chaps, and Gina’s experience and expertise shines through in all of her creations, (509) 624-4182 emphasizing the importance of 4237 S. Cheney pure simple baking focusing on quality ingredients and products. Spokane Rd. From Take the Cake to Bittersweet ChapsGirl.com Bakery and now Cake … Gina Garcia’s baking has been a sweet treat to Spokane.
2014-2015 SpokaneSizzle.com
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