Our History...

Karl Boerner, a native of Germany, completed his apprenticeship in Porz, near Cologne, in 1958. Moving to Switzerland, Karl continued perfecting his vocation, became a Swiss citizen, and opened a bakery all while training apprentices and winning Judo, Wrestling, and Schwingen tournaments.

In 1976, Karl immigrated to America intrigued by an opportunity to broaden his horizons both in travel and the culinary arts. Karl became head pastry chef at the Hyatt Hotel in New Orleans, which started him on a course towards opportunities to work in some of the most amazing places: Super Dome in New Orleans, Turtle Bay Hilton in Hawaii, The Biltmore in Downtown L.A. and, Turf in Santa Anita where he jokes he “made pastries for the horses”.

In 1980 he opened up Café Swiss in Seal Beach, California. He was one of the first bakers to bring the croissant and espresso culture to the west coast. From 1990 – 1993 he was a partner of B&L Bakery in Beverly Hills, California where he met stars like Prince, Whoopi Goldberg, Paula Abdul, and Barbara Streisand.

The collaboration ended and Karl moved to Arizona where he became production manager at Café Valley supervising three-hundred employees and developing the Jack in the Box croissant in a facility that produced 500,000 croissants a day!

Eventually, growing tired of the corporate culture and large manufacturing facilities, Karl longed to open another small neighborhood bakery where he could return to baking; a place where he could make products from scratch with real ingredients. He found a perfect spot in the Sunnyslope neighborhood. It was then, in early September, 1994 that Karl opened the bakery on the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and Dunlap. Together, with his wife Stefanie, they grew their business, raised a family and worked tirelessly to become an essential part of Sunnyslope.

Christine Boerner, daughter of Karl & Stefanie Boerner, has been a part of Sunnyslope since she was seven years old when her parents opened the bakery in 1994. She grew up around industrial mixers, bread slicers, and ovens and played with cookie dough, eggs, and buttercream and by the time she was twelve she was already helping her dad with small tasks around the bake shop.

After graduating from Sunnyslope High school in 2004, Christine flew to Europe to broaden her education. She completed her apprenticeship as a Conditor / Confisure (Pastry Chef & Confectioner) in 2009 at Boulangerie Hofmann in Reconvilier, Switzerland. After completing among the top of her class she then started working at Hotel du Cerf in Sonceboz – Sombeval, Switzerland, a Michelin Restaurant.

Christine eventually made it back to her father’s shop in Sunnyslope where they started working together and even opened a chocolate side to her father’s bakery. In 2014, Karl’s daughter, Christine, took over the bakery from her parents and moved it to its current location: The Marketplace on Central in Sunnyslope. Taking the same values that Karl instilled into his business, Christine continued in his footsteps, with her mother Stefanie by her side, maintaining the commitment of small, hand-made batches, created from scratch with real, clean ingredients.