A new spot to savor

Greer Wylder

Precise geometric shapes and brilliant layers of fuchsia, tangerine

and chartreuse contrasted with swirls of dark chocolate and marbled

chocolate straws. These are as much works of art as they are the most

elegant desserts in Costa Mesa. It’s no surprise that President

Clinton’s party planner chose R.J. Guo to make 400 desserts for

Clinton’s golf tournament.

Award-winning pastry chef Guo just opened R.J Patisserie in Costa

Mesa. The bakery on East 17th Street offers stunning individual and

full-size cakes, mousses, pastries and cookies.

For more than 20 years, Taiwanese- born Guo mastered complicated

baking skills throughout Asia and Europe. He’s baked at five-star

luxury hotel Grand Hyatt Taipei, which is famous for its Asian and

European cuisine, as well as throughout Japan, France, Switzerland

and Germany. The confluence of his background inspired him to open a

bakery that would combine European baking techniques with Japanese

artistic influences. Five years ago, his flagship R.J. Patisserie

opened in Hacienda Heights. It’s popular, producing as many as 1,200

desserts a day.

Guo follows traditional European dessert techniques for making

custards, ganache, mousse, cakes and even sorbets. Yet their beauty

comes from Japanese influences and has an emphasis on nature, balance

and practical use of fresh fruits for colors and flavors. Sumptuous

delicacies look like pieces of art. He frequents galleries for new

ideas and inspiration and carefully composes the exterior of each

dessert with premium and aesthetic ingredients. He imports fresh

gooseberries from New Zealand, wild blueberries and raspberries,

exotic star fruits and Belgian chocolates. One of his cakes, the

“XO,” has premium Hennessy XO cognac that sells for more than $100 a

bottle. Fresh almonds, pistachios and pecans are hand-selected

locally.

The Mandarin-speaking Guo chooses whimsical dessert names. There’s

“Lady in Pink,” a towering strawberry and lemon mousse, with lime

custard, a rim of crushed pistachio surrounding the crust.

Strawberries and chocolate straws adorn the top ($4.25). “Spring

Rain” has a crescent shape, with mango mousse, light cheesecake,

crust and is decorated with fresh mango, star fruit, raspberry and

mint ($4). The most beautiful, “Prelude,” is a chocolate mousse

delicately wrapped in a blanket of white chocolate ($4). Tiramisu has

a rum-soaked cherry lightly gilded with 18k gold ($4.25). The

favorite “Jewelry Bag” cake replicates a large jewelry bag. The

inside is a vanilla cake with strawberry filling, covered in crisp

white chocolate “bag” ($45). Most desserts can be made in larger cake

sizes. Cakes range in price from $18 for a small cake (serves six to

eight) to $40 to $56 for a large cake.

Guo craves creativity. He also designed the interior of the shop,

from the Italian white marble counters laced with gold specks to the

wood flooring and custom tables imported from China. He installed

demonstration mirrors over the pastry chef’s station. Customers can

watch spectacular dessert and design techniques. Ongoing displays of

chocolate tempering, creating white and dark chocolate straws,

chocolate corkscrew ribbons, and transferring beehive and snakeskin

patterns on chocolate. For chocolate designs, Guo uses a guitar lever

slicer that resembles a giant egg-slicer. It’s a series of parallel

tines that carefully divides chocolates.

Also offered daily are bergamot-flavored Earl Grey tea cookies ($5

per package); eclairs ($5); and biscotti ($9 per package). They serve

Illy coffee and espresso drinks. Premium teas include Imperial tea,

blooming tea, lavender tea, sweet Osmanthus tea and iced or hot Earl

Grey Tea ($3.50 each). Fresh sorbet flavors include kiwi, mango,

blueberry and raspberry ($5.50).

R.J. Patisserie’s desserts are almost too pretty. Once you get

over that, you’ll see they taste as good as they look.

Call a week in advance for custom cakes.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at

[email protected] or at 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627.