Sharlena Fong

Sharlena Fong would never be the same after the events of September 11th 2001. At the time, the native New Yorker was working as a successful consultant in the World Financial Center. The attack on the World Trade Center sent a message to her very core: Do what you love! Lead an inspired life! With that as a mantra, Sharlena left the world of finance and entered culinary school to pursue her true passion.

After a successful internship at Eleven Madison Park, Chef Nicole Kaplan hired Sharlena as a pastry cook. After two years at the award-winning restaurant, Sharlena landed a pastry position at Thomas Keller’s Per Se lead by Chefs Sebastian Rouxel and Richard Capizzi. With this team of talented chefs, Sharlena learned the importance of a clean kitchen, technique, consistency, and quality ingredients.

Sharlena transitioned to become a member of the opening team at the first Bouchon Bakery in NYC by recipe testing and participating in the day-to-day operations. This is when the dream of opening her own bakery was ignited.

In 2007, Sharlena moved to downtown Los Angeles, CA. She was quickly taken by the vibrancy of this budding community. As the original pastry chef at the Nickel Diner, Sharlena saw a need for a local bakery that made freshly baked handcrafted goods.

Dennis Hunter

Dennis Hunter has never been afraid of pursuing his dreams. When he was 17 years old, he decided he wanted to see the world. He took a year off before college and lived on Moloka'i, Hawaii. Two years later, he studied for a year in Ghana, West Africa studying ethnic art and symbolism. It was there that he learned what it is to be a member of a community and he vowed that he would live a life of service to those around him, while always pursuing his dreams.

Since 1992, Dennis has been working in various aspects of film production and holds an MBA from Pepperdine University, specializing in entrepreneurial business. He moved to downtown Los Angeles and adopted it as his home when he bought his loft in 2005, joining in the rebirth of the Historic Core.

Dennis also has fond memories of his grandmother's kitchen where she made supper for the family on Sundays growing up in San Diego. Baking had always been a hobby, so when he met Sharlena Fong, he asked her if he could intern for her on Saturdays during one summer to get the experience of working in a commercial kitchen. Half way through that summer, he decided he wanted to be a part of a bakery and by the end of the summer the idea of Semi Sweet Bakery was born.

When asked "Why a bakery? What does it do for you?" Dennis' response was about that vital purpose in life that we all need to fulfill, finding our calling and being of service to humanity. "I am blessed to be able to bring happiness to people. No matter how bad someone's day is, no matter how much heartache someone may be going through, I get to give them a slice of cake or a piece of pastry made with love, and they smile!"

James Gonzalez

Inspired by his Grandmother's cooking James attended culinary school at Los Angeles Trade Tech. Since graduating in 2006, James has worked at the Nickel Diner in downtown Los Angeles with Chef Monica May who challenged him to make everything in-house from scratch and focus on flavor profiles.

James also spent time under Chefs Roxanna Jullapat and Dan Mattern at Ammo in Hollywood, specializing in California Rustic cuisine, using the best in local farmer’s market produce and sustainable meats. Here, he learned that great food starts with great resources.

At Semi Sweet Bakery, James continues exploring his concept of creating simple fresh food made from scratch using organic produce and sustainable meats