Julian Jimenez is embedded in Folsom: He was born and raised there, worked at Bidwell Street Bistro and the mayor attended episode watch parties at his shop.
FOLSOM, Calif. — Sacramento-area pastry chef Julian Jimenez said he was bummed after his elimination from a Food Network show two weeks ago, but it’s cool to just be on the program and have people notice the hard work he’s put in.
Jimenez, owner of Julian’s Patisserie and Cafe in Folsom and Julian’s Pastry Nouveau in Roseville, placed eighth during the April 14 episode of Spring Baking Championship’s 11th season. Each of his four appearances on the network since 2016 has been a dream, he said.
“I could just go to work every single day, bake some stuff and go home,” Jimenez said. “But I don’t want to be that person, and I want to do cool stuff. I want to show my kids that you can do cool stuff. So, I feel like being on TV, it shows them, like, ‘Oh, wow. You got a real deal legit job.’”
Jimenez said he’s never applied to appear on the television shows; the network has always reached out to him. They’re an awesome opportunity that he loves, but he considers them separate from real-world experience, he said.
“Today, I got to bake more pastries and sell more pastries than I spent on paying my employees and paying my rent and my ingredients,” he said. “I mean it’s such a different world.”
His Folsom store opened in the last few days of 2016 and Roseville’s launched in February 2023, according to Jimenez. The Roseville store closed Dec. 14, 2024, after a fire inside a metal chocolate machine and reopened March 24, ABC10 previously reported.
Now, regulars are back and they’re hosting baking classes, he said.
“The first one that we did, we’ve only done one, was so successful that we want to keep doing that, keep pushing that, maybe have another opportunity for us to grow as a business in this kind of teaching space,” he said. “One thing we really want to gear up towards is wholesale.”
Wholesale goals
Jimenez wants his bakery business to create custom items for other restaurants’ dessert menus.
“When you go to these restaurants in Folsom, sometimes I’ll have an incredible meal, and then the dessert might not be as strong as the entree and the appetizer was,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Oh man, this meal is excellent,’ but then that finishing note’s mediocre. And, it’s because it’s cook guys doing pastry guys’ stuff… if you put a baker grilling the steaks, it’s not going to be awesome either.”
Separately, a high-end French restaurant may want to serve creme brulee, but its space may not be set up to make creme brulee — that’s where Jimenez said he could come in.
He said wholesale operations come with razor margins, but he wouldn’t have to worry as much about customers showing up on any given day. For example, right now if he makes 50 cinnamon rolls tomorrow but only sells 25: “There goes my profit,” he said.
“I’m always just trying to generate jobs for us,” Jimenez said. “Part of the job of having a business in the community is providing jobs to the community.”
Jimenez is embedded in the Folsom community: He was born and raised in the city, he worked at the now-closed Bidwell Street Bistro after his first brush with culinary school, and since his “Spring Baking Championship” appearance was filmed about a year in advance, Mayor Sarah Aquino attended every single watch party hosted at the shop.
“Maybe we can do our own little baking competition with Folsom residents,” he said. “I’ve talked to her about it. Something I do want to do more of is big, community-focused events.”
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