The awkward chef has new digs, for now
It’s all about uniqueness—one-of-a-kind ideas—at the Awkward Pastry in Midtown Ventura, where Jess Baker, as she calls herself these days, holds court among flower blossoms and citrus fruits. For now Jess is ensconced at the building that used to house Native Pizza at, until the building’s owner finds a permanent tenant.
“I love having a place for people to stop in,” says Jess. “People just show up. There are a lot of good vibes and sugar in this building.”
Jess, who went by her former husband’s surname—Modzelewski—has switched to Baker because it suits her now. She was a contestant on Hulu’s “Baker’s Dozen” in 2021, where she says she lived up to the awkward name before being voted off in the first round. “I get bad stage fright. I’ll never do that again. I have no filter,” says Jess. “I’m called awkward for a reason.”
A huge believer in communities and their ability to access entire groups of people, Jess doesn’t have a problem gathering people to contribute to various causes about which she feels passionate. Her Valentine’s Day pre-order cakes showed a Conversation Heart with the words F**k ICE. She’s been part of a community bake sale to raise money for causes she believes in, raising $10,123 last summer for immigrant defense.
Baker started out as an art school graduate who found that working in edible cakes was her métier. “I love that cake works so well as an art medium. It’s an ephemeral thing. There’s buttercream. I love that it constantly has a creative free-dance,” she says.
She started her full-time baking in 2020. “My first five years I was building up clientele,” she says. “Now all of my holiday, engagement, wedding, baby-reveal cakes come from customer orders,” she says.
Community connections are at the heart of her success. Baker reached out to Jason Ruffinelli who runs Ruff House BBQ, which allowed her to start using her first professional kitchen. Ruffinelli was running his barbecue business from the backyard of his house before moving to the Ventura Music Hall Theater, where he was given the use of the facility’s huge kitchen.
“She reached out on Instagram and said, ‘I’d like to do desserts.’ I didn’t do desserts at the time,” says Ruffinelli. “The kitchen [of the Ventura Music Hall] space was big—stupid big. I told her she was more than welcome. She moved in quickly. That enabled her to take her business to the next level.”
Baker says she keeps a few select items on hand at her midtown shop for people to pick up if they stop by, during her open hours from Wednesday through Saturday. “I like to keep an extra cake on hand for the dude who forgets that special event,” says Baker. “I try to make it with squiggles to match any event.”
Her work tends to keep her special ethos. If it’s an AI-generated piece, she’s not interested. “I DO NOT like robot art. There’s a lot of Hungry Caterpillar art out there. I can do it higher by drawing a cute little caterpillar. But on the highest end I made an entire cake that looks like the Hungry Caterpillar,” says Jess. She also eschews fondant cake covering, finding it fairly tasteless—although she’s happy to make referrals to bakers who excel at that art.
So far, Jess has been such a success that she’s hired an assistant in the shop, and another assistant to handle the paper/online work. Jess says that she can’t sleep well as long as there are people in the community who need help. “It’s inspiring to see how other people are the source of redirecting the funds that we raise,” she says, adding that she’s reaching capacity at her small midtown shop. A life-long Venturan who’s visited other places, Jess says she can’t imagine being anywhere else but here.
JESS BAKER
[email protected]
805-341-9194 (text only please!)
1751 E. Main St., Ventura
