Meet Tom

Hi, I’m Tom. Welcome. I’m a pastry chef in America’s finest city, San Diego, California. Working professional by day, creative artist by night.

Born in Los Angeles, I spent my childhood through college years in Alaska, where I learned to grill, to cook slow braises, to appreciate the short summer growing months, and of course, enjoy world class seafood.

My first real forays in cooking were preparing dinners for family and friends. Beer battered halibut, sausage calzone, beef pot pies and stews would start me down the path of creating bistro style comfort food.

It wasn’t until I moved to San Diego that I began to gravitate to the kitchen in my free time; then all my free time. I was cooking and baking every day. Dinner parties led to rave reviews and recipe requests, especially for desserts, and ultimately the decision to enter the professional world and take my culinary skills to a different level.

I’m sharing some of that knowledge here. My desserts range from rustic to elegant; casual to fine dining. I love studying the techniques of others and the cuisines from around the world, so Tartistry will always be evolving.

It wasn’t until I moved to San Diego that I began to gravitate to the kitchen in my free time; then all my free time. I was cooking and baking every day. Dinner parties led to rave reviews and recipe requests, especially for desserts, and ultimately the decision to enter the professional world and take my culinary skills to a different level.

I present unique, original content crafted to entertain and educate. The desserts and accompanying step-by-step recipes are selected and published based on taste testing and accessibility to recreating the dish in the average home kitchen with common household cookware and appliances. Most of the focus is on sweets you can make at home in little time, with an occasional nod to something more complex requiring some additional time and effort.

Baking is science, art, practice, and experimentation. If you are engaged in the craft on a regular basis, you begin to understand and master ingredients, tools and equipment, timing, and patience. When you begin to see the results you imagine, baking becomes a passion.

Photography

When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m usually standing on the dining room table taking photos. Photography seemed a natural extension of creating and sharing with friends and family. My thoughts were of a food truck or a small, quaint coffee shop where I served my latest pastry creations with your favorite beverage. I would capture images of my desserts for marketing purposes. Tartistry was born to further that mission, but I began blogging as a creative outlet, and for now, I stay that path.

I shoot with a Canon 6d Mark ii camera; 24mm, 50mm, and 100mm lenses.

Contact

Use the contact page for inquiries and questions.