Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Pacitto Murphy.
Stephanie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a pharmaceutical scientist and worked in scientific software sales for seven years, selling to the pharmaceutical industry. One day, as I was re-making jam (not a trivial task), I had my “a-ha” moment – despite having a Master in Science and a successful sales career, being in the kitchen is my calling. I loved to both bake and cook, so I had to make a decision when choosing my culinary school stream.
I enrolled in the Patisserie & Baking Diploma program at Le Cordon Bleu (Pasadena, CA), where I completed my studies. I worked at Nobu (Malibu), worked for Roy Choi and Marian Mar at Pot/Pot caFe/Commissary for 1.5 years, then Jon & Vinny’s and J&V Catering, then a local South Bay bakery to decorate cakes, and finally onto opening The Trim Tart in August 2019 in Lomita, CA.
I felt the South Bay was ripe for needing a scratch, high-end bakery/patisserie with a coffee program, which is why I chose to partner with Intelligentsia for a beautifully rounded out pastry & coffee experience. We do custom cakes, and cater to all – we do traditional pastry, but also specialize in vegan and gluten-free cakes and pastries. We make everything, including most of the sauces for the bar (house-made vanilla bean syrup, rose syrup, dairy-free 72% mocha sauce, tres leches). We are a one-stop shop and are arguably the best bakery in the South Bay.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road is never smooth. The build-out took a long time – longer than I expected, and we encountered many set-backs to the physical building of the bakery.
Once we got going, COVID-19 ravaged the world. Luckily, we are a resilient crew and actually had our best month ever in May 2020. Our wholesale business slowed, but retail has been steady, with our local community being absolutely amazing and wonderful in supporting us throughout this pandemic. We were fortunate to be an essential service and have stayed open, continuing to serve our community with wonderful, house-made pastries and excellent Intelligentsia coffees and lattes, while other establishments were forced to close. We will forever be grateful to the wonderful South Bay community, and I am also forever grateful to my staff that stuck it through with me during this crazy time.
I am happy to report an uptick in both our retail business and the resurgence of the wholesale business as restrictions have loosened this pasty June. While this is far from over and a second wave is possible, I *believe* we survived the worst of it.
The Trim Tart – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are one of the few scratch bakeries in the South Bay. We bake everything fresh daily and use premium ingredients. We proudly make pastries and cakes in all veins – traditional, vegan and gluten-free. We can work around just about any dietary needs.
I would like to be so bold as to say we make some of the best, if not THE best, vegan and GF cakes in Los Angeles. Our traditional cakes are also pretty rad, too.
We make excellent, multi-dimensional cakes with various flavors and textures. We are creative and derive much joy from making people happy when they bite into our pastries or cakes.
We are making a name for ourselves with our scones and our vegan chocolate chip cookies. People come for the scones. We can barely keep up with demand. Our vegan chocolate chip cookies topped with Maldon sea salt and incredible – they happen to be the best cookie most people have ever had – we use excellent chocolate and make our own vegan butter because we are unsatisfied with the vegan butters on the market.
We are one of just two providers of Intelligentsia coffee in all of the South Bay. Our coffee and lattes are excellent, and I don’t know anyone that makes their own sauces and syrups for their coffee bar.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I would say my proudest moment was working a catering event for Jon & Vinny (the Emmys in 2015), and of all approx. 40 or so workers that evening, Jon Shook approached me and asked me to work for him. I immediately jumped on the opportunity and sent him my resume. I have tremendous respect for Jon & Vinny, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity afforded me when I joined their pastry team at Jon & Vinny’s (Fairfax). They are hard-working great guys that have achieved immense success (including winning James Beard) and I cannot say enough about them. Thank you for the opportunity, Jon (and Vinny!)
Contact Info:
- Address: 2213 Lomita Blvd
Lomita, CA 90717 - Website: www.trimtart.com
- Phone: 424-305-4175
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Deirdre Book
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