She Takes the Cake on Reality Show

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When Renee Faris bakes a cake, she bakes one that approaches Kobe Bryant in height and a polar bear in weight. At least, that’s the kind she bakes for the cameras.

Faris, the pastry chef at new Westwood eatery Glendon Bar & Kitchen, recently made a giant cake for reality TV show “Cake Boss,” which chronicles the happenings at Carlo’s Bake Shop in Hoboken, N.J. Faris and Carlo’s Bake Shop cake decorator Remy Gonzalez spent nine hours making the giant dessert – which stood at about 6 feet, 4 inches tall and weighed an estimated 800 pounds – in a competition to have their cake showcased in honor of the 100th anniversary of Carlo’s.

But the monstrous confection wasn’t the first giant cake that Faris has created. In a previous season on the reality show, she helped make a cake replica of a NASCAR racer.

Faris said one day she’d love to bake a giant cake just for Glendon Bar’s diners, but for now she’s sticking to cakes of a more manageable size.

Her favorite?

“I love our flourless chocolate cake,” she said. “But Bill Nye the Science Guy came in the other day and said I made the best cheesecake.”

Tackling Real Estate

Businessman Joseph Killinger had an impression that professional athletes who get into business after their playing days are over aren’t necessarily serious about their second careers. But his opinion changed when he met football legend Emmitt Smith.

Killinger is the founder and chief executive of Learning Links Centers, a West L.A. real estate investment company that owns and manages work force housing developments.

Killinger said a “friend of a friend” connected him with the former Dallas Cowboys running back, who is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. He said that Smith, who invests in real estate through his company, ESmith Legacy Inc., wanted to branch out into work force housing investment and liked Killinger’s vision.

Killinger wasn’t sure what to expect going into his April meeting in Dallas with Smith. But he was pleasantly surprised with Smith’s business acumen.

“He’s taking the heart that he had to be the best running back in the NFL and he’s bringing that into the business,” said Killinger, who has since brought on Smith’s company as co-investor in a Dallas apartment project that Learning Links is buying. “He looks for any way to make something happen.”

Killinger and Smith hit it off – it doesn’t hurt that Killinger is a football fan and rooted for the Cowboys while growing up in a small town in Nebraska – though they didn’t talk much football. Smith was too busy talking about business, Killinger said.

Staff reporters Alexa Hyland and Daniel Miller contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].

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