Carina Jost , Pastry Chef

Born and raised in a small town near Frankfurt, Germany, Carina Jost was taught to bake by her grandmother. "I remember she baked goodies almost daily", says Carina, "and that's where my passion for pastries began".

At the age of eleven, she started working in a pastry shop on the weekends, and four years later enrolled in the Culinary Institute of Frankfurt.

After graduation, Carina accepted a job with a Chicago bakery but soon moved on to Aspen, Colorado, where she held a number of pastry chef positions. Carina spent nearly four years at Aspen's Renaissance Restaurant working with award winning chef Charles Dale, where she firmly established her reputation as one of the top pastry chefs by creating a large variety of seasonal desserts, that have gained recognition from Julia Child herself as well as several other chefs in the restaurant and hotel industry.

In January of 1996, Carina joined the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, which is known to be one of the most beautiful historical landmarks in Colorado. There, Carina worked for two years with Executive Chef Todd Slossberg, who inspired her with his cuisine and supported her every step of the way.

As she gained more experience, she says, her taste buds refined to enable her to achieve the balance of flavors that characterize her desserts today. Carina describes her work as creative, light and flavorful. "I continually try to learn about new products, techniques and styles to create the most delicious desserts possible", she says.

In January of 1998, Carina moved and helped open up Mc2 restaurant, which is located in the Financial District of San Francisco. Carina joined Jack's Restaurant ten months later and her fabulous creations include caramelized apples on a spiced shortbread crust, passion fruit creme brulee and toasted macadamia nut tart with frangelico ice cream in caramel sauce.

In 2000 Carina moved to Sacramento and became the pastry chef at Tower Cafe, which is very well known for it's fabulous desserts and decorations from around the world. Tower Cafe became Carina's second home, working side by side with Owner Jim Seyman, desserts were on the rise. All of the desserts were reinvented by making them with better quality products and by creating a large variety of new desserts followed by home made hamburger buns and foccacia bread. Four years later dessert sales have more then tripled. Since then, Tower has become a dessert destination for Sacramento.