Chef Renee Moreno
Chef Instructor, Baking & Pastry Arts
"I enjoy connecting with people who, like me, like to learn and who love good food!"
About
Chef Renee has worked as a Pastry Chef and Pastry Sous Chef in a variety of San Francisco Bay-area restaurants, as well as a Research & Development Chef for such prestigious brands as Donsuemor, Williams-Sonoma, Inc., and Revolution Foods.
After earning her pastry degree from Johnson & Wales University, she moved to California to work in restaurants in Napa Valley, Oakland, and San Francisco. She taught pastry at California Culinary Academy and Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco before moving on to R&D.
Eventually, she found her way back to her favorite facet of the food industry — education — in December 2020. She’s especially passionate about the category of pastry known as viennoiserie.
Professional EXPERIENCE
- Pastry Chef - Mazzini Trattoria, Oakland, CA
- Pastry Sous Chef - Jardiniere, San Francisco, CA
- Pastry Sous Chef - Oliveto, Oakland, CA
Dish Examples
Monte Cristo Croissants
My go-to pastries usually have a savory element to them because while I love carbs, I don’t like what I bake to be too sweet! The Monte Cristo checks all the boxes — flaky croissant, black forest ham, Gruyere cheese, a whisper of blackberry jam, and a light dusting of powdered sugar.
Gruffalo & Stick Man Cake
One thing I love about making cakes is that no two orders are ever alike. There are always favorite go-to flavors that are requested often, like yellow cake with fudge frosting or red velvet, but the decoration requests truly run the gamut. One cake might have a casino night theme, the next might be fashioned after a favorite children’s book. You can never tell what will be ordered next!
Casino Cake
Education
- Associate Degree in Applied Science, Johnson & Wales University, Providence, RI
Special Interests
Collecting community-written cookbooks and profiling recipes from them on my Instagram account.
