Business: Business Owner
Business
Business Owner: Abi Langlas
By Sue Kiyabu • Photos by Scott T. Kubo
If Abi Langlas had a motto, it might be, just try it.
This ambitious attitude has allowed her to live in France and England. It’s allowed her to work as a pastry chef at Alan Wong’s Restaurant, one of the most prestigious restaurants on O‘ahu. And most recently, it’s allowed her to call herself a small-business owner.
Langlas, owner of Cakeworks, adopted this go-for-it approach early. As a teen, she whipped up cakes for friends that were a far cry from the supermarket box mix. Her cakes were elaborate—drizzled with chocolate ganache or decorated with chocolate leaves and marzipan flowers. Sure, she had her share of kitchen debacles. But she also had fun.
Growing up near Hilo, Langlas spent her spare time cooking and baking with her parents. Her mother, a social worker by profession, was also proficient in the kitchen. Together, they would experiment—knitting together for Langlas the ideas of passion and process.
“My mother would make all kinds of things,” Langlas says. “Everything from truffles to cookies, but she also didn’t shy away from gourmet items. She didn’t learn from anyone, she would just try it out.”
Although her attitude appears to be carefree, it is anything but. Bakers, on the whole, tend to be exacting and enthralled by the details. There is usually a bit of the alchemist lurking in the heart of the baker. That means precision. That means understanding how a humid day affects the crispness of your cookies or that one area of the kitchen may have a hot spot or a cool spot that affects the consistency of your batter.
“I enjoy figuring out problems,” Langlas says. “And I wanted to learn all the mysteries. Things like tempering chocolate—that takes years to learn. Today, there is a lot of information out there on food and the science behind baking. But before, you had to learn from an expert and repeat the process.”
To do that, Langlas went to England. Although she wanted to specialize in pastry, she also wanted an overall view of the professional kitchen. She chose a small cooking school that provided a “stage” for work experience. And though she says it was “rough,” she learned how to hold her own in an atmosphere dominated by men.
“I found out that I could do it, and do it fairly well,” Langlas says. “It gave me a sense of accomplishment.”
Langlas continues to test her mettle. Recently, she left a secure position at the Honolulu Coffee Co. to strike out on her own. She had been running a small wedding cake business for years, making one or two cakes a week. Since July, she’s been running a full-fledged bakery shop, with 10 employees. She doesn’t have as much time for hands-on baking, but she still does much of the decorating and creates between 15 and 20 cakes in a weekend.
“It’s a marathon,” Langlas says. “But I guess I enjoy a challenge. I’ve found that pastry has given me many challenges over the years, so I’ve never gotten bored with it.”
Much of her time these days is spent with quality control, deliveries, ordering and the day-to-day operations of her business. She calls herself a perfectionist and has a list of things she wants to change constantly running in her mind.
“Some of it drives me crazy,” Langlas says. “I’ve already imposed a lot of changes, but there are things that I still want to do. I have to remind myself that it will happen, I just have to take it day by day.”