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about
Citizen Cake began as a retail bakery South of Market in 1997. After three busy years, Elizabeth Falkner moved Citizen Cake to Hayes Valley, on the corner of Grove and Gough Streets, in 2000, and expanded it into a restaurant, bar, and patisserie. Citizen Cake helped spearhead the development of Hayes Valley into a citywide destination for dining, shopping, and socializing. Citizen Cake was awarded recommendation by Michelin in 2007 and has scooped up numerous commendations from both local and national media, including Best Dessert for the past three years from 7x7 magazine.
Wanting to make birthday cakes, cupcakes and dramatic event and wedding cakes that both look amazing and taste really good, Elizabeth opened Citizen Cake with the tag line, "A cake for every Citizen" in 1997.
Our philosophy is to make memorable experiences for our guests.
We love food -- all dining periods throughout the day and night. We want our guests, who are sometimes rushing to have a morning pastry and coffee or a quick afternoon break for a cupcake to enjoy their experience as equally as the guests who find great pleasure in lingering over an evening out in our restaurant enjoying an inventive and unpretentious dinner with a couple of cocktails or glasses of wine either leisurely or pre-theater.
Just remember, dessert doesn’t have to be gigantic to be great and a dessert course or two is acceptable at any time of the day or night.
With her spiky platinum hair and unstoppable creativity, Elizabeth Falkner has become one of the most recognizable faces of the Bay Area culinary world on Bravo, Food Network and beyond. She has been a frequent contestant, judge, and guest on Top Chef Masters, Top Chef, Iron Chef America, Sugar Rush, Tyler's Ultimate with Tyler Florence, Rachael Ray's $40 a Day, Martha Stewart Living, and more. Elizabeth also blogs for the San Francisco Chronicle on sfgate City Brights.
Falkner is the owner and Executive Chef of Citizen Cake, along with the Michelin recommended and popular SOMA restaurant bar and lounge Orson. Once known as the go-to for all things pastry, Elizabeth's expertise is now widely acknowledged to have bridged the gap between sweet and savory.
At Orson, her second restaurant,Falkner explores familiar and iconic dishes with personal flair. A longtime San Franciscan and native Californian, Falkner describes herself as "a very California chef" with a deep appreciation of the Bay Area's year-round abundance. "Like New York City's David Chang (Momofuku Ko, Ssam Bar) and Gabrielle Hamilton (Prune), I'm part of a generation of chefs who really like to explore a lot of global influences, adding a touch of surprise and a modern edge. We utilize all of the vibrant products the Bay Area has to offer and we apply what we learn from tasting the familiar and the exotic or foreign; then we throw in a little high tech, once in a while. We strive to make great food with our own stories or signatures.”
Before starting her own businesses, Falkner was an acclaimed pastry chef at Rubicon, working with chef Traci Des Jardins. Prior to Rubicon, she honed her craft in the kitchens of Masa's and Elka.
Falkner's dramatically architectural "cakescapes" and whimsically deconstructed desserts have been featured in dozens of magazines, including Pastry Art and Design, Conde Nast Traveler, Gourmet, Food and Wine, Travel and Leisure and Epica, Japan’s travel magazine. Demolition Desserts, her first cookbook, was published by Ten Speed Press in 2007. Using vivid manga-inspired graphics, Demolition Desserts lays out the elements of Falkner's multi-part contemporary desserts to make even the most inventive combinations easily accessible to home chefs. Falkner is also noted for her savory creations including her Citizen Steak with Blue Cheese Ice Cream and Seared Scallops with Bacon, Tomato, and Avocado Puree featured on Martha Stewart Living.
Throughout her career, Falkner has been both a leader and a mentor to many other chefs, working closely with Les Dames d'Escoffier and Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR), who awarded her their Golden Bowl for Pastry in 2003. She has been named the city's "Best Pastry Chef" by San Francisco magazine and a Rising Star Chef by the San Francisco Chronicle. Bon Appetit magazine hailed her as one of America's 10 top pastry chefs in 2003, and named her Pastry Chef of the Year in 2006. In 2005, she was nominated for the pastry chef of the year award by the James Beard Foundation (JBF) and has been a featured guest chef for JBF hosting dinners for the foundation in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute with a particular interest in film, Falkner often finds culinary inspiration in film, art, and sculpture. For benefits and celebrity events, she has created striking interactive "dessert performances" like the Man-Powered Taffy Pull, Chocolate-Painted Models, and the World's Largest Pavlova, displayed in Union Square in spring 2006.
Working frequently with Bay Area's Center for Culinary Development, she has taught and consulted all around the world for clients including Barilla, Molino Bianco, California Walnuts, Hershey's, Williams-Sonoma, Ghirardelli, Haagen-Dazs, Pepperidge Farms, and many more.
Dedicated to education, the arts, and social justice, Falkner has been a tireless advocate for many Bay Area organizations, donating time, goods and services to The Edible Schoolyard, Human Rights Campaign, Share Our Strength, America's Second Harvest, Project Open Hand, Glide Memorial Church, Frameline, ODC, Slow Food, and many other school and arts programs. In June 2008, she made the City Hall wedding cake for lifetime partners and longtime lesbian activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.
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