Miami Beach native Jamie Cantor trained at the Culinary Institute of America before moving to the Napa Valley and breathing the rarified air of The French Laundry’s kitchen, where she worked for culinary legend Thomas Keller and pastry chef Stephen Durfee. After a brief stop in Dallas, Cantor and her husband moved to Los Angeles, where she launched an increasingly popular cookie company that eventually sprouted into a retail location. We recently met at Platine, her bakery in Culver City, where Cantor better explained her background and approach.

What is it that inspires you about pastry?

Sugar is my favorite food group, so I’d much rather eat sweets. If I could survive on cake and ice cream and cookies, if I didn’t have to eat meat and vegetables, then I wouldn’t. It’s just kind of what makes me happy, and it’s fun, and exciting and new.

What is it about cookies in particular?

Cookies were the first thing that I ever made when I was little, by myself. On the back of the Toll House package, I would make the recipe. That’s just what I always did. I was a six or seven-year-old little girl. It’s always just fun. People love it, and they make people happy…They’re also kind of one of my favorite things to eat, really. That’s probably the main reason.

Would you say that you have any mentors?

Definitely. When I was working at The French Laundry, the pastry chef there was named Stephen Durfee. Now he’s teaching classes at the CIA up in Greystone, but he was the pastry chef when I was there and had a a huge – I don’t know if I’d say effect – on the way I think about baking, cooking. Then when I was younger, I worked in a restaurant in Miami Beach with a chef, and we’re still in touch, and he’s kind of been super supportive of what I do.

Who’s that and what was the restaurant?

His name is Gary Lampner, and the restaurant at the time was called The Strand. It was a popular restaurant on Miami Beach in the early ’90s. He’s still in Miami, but now he does catering.

What’s the key to a great cookie?

Two things. Obviously good ingredients and understanding your method. Understanding what you do to the ingredients affects the way the cookies come out.

Is there any particular pastry technique that was especially challenging to learn?

Yes. We don’t sell French macarons at the bakery. People come in, and it’s a big trend, so they’re like,” Do you do macarons?” No, absolutely not. I hate doing macarons because when I worked at The French Laundry, we had to make them every day, and they’re really tricky. Especially, this was a while ago, so they weren’t well known. There weren’t recipes on the internet. You had to follow the chef’s orders. It was very stressful, and if they didn’t come out, you got reamed because “These macarons have to be perfect.” I hated making them then and now I don’t make them because I vowed, that’s it, I’m never making French macarons again.

Was there a moment when you knew you’d be a pastry chef?

I don’t know if there was a moment, but I always wanted – like when I was little, I always wanted to have a restaurant or be in the food business – I’ve never had a desk job. I’ve always worked in restaurants, bakeries and kitchens. I’ve never sat down at a desk. I just love sweets and love to cook. It wasn’t really a certain moment, but kind of like formative over my life.

What brought you to Los Angeles?

I was living in Dallas with my boyfriend at the time. He’s now my husband. Before then I was living in Northern California, but I was like, “Okay, Dallas is alright, but let’s change things up.” We moved to L.A. He has some family here and we have some good friends here, so if we’re going to move to the West Coast, let’s be by the beach. So we moved out here and have been here a little over ten years.

How did this bakery come about?

Again, it’s kind of a long story, so I’ll give you the short version. I moved her and I’m like, “Okay, what am I going to do?” I just worked at The French Laundry and I had moved here to be with my boyfriend/husband. I’m like, well, I don’t want to work at a restaurant because I’ll have no life. We’ll never see each other. I’m like, “Okay, let me start selling my cookies.” I was doing personal chef work, cooking for other people, and the cookies just kind of took off. I started selling cookies in stores and it sort organically. We built a website, and the website got more popular. We started doing a lot of events and catering stuff, and the business just kind of grew and grew. It just got big and we moved into our own space…I haven’t had a plan of what this is going to be, but it’s just kind of always grown organically. I do what it tells me to do.

What’s the criteria for something that goes in the Platine case?

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