All About Food: A cookie maker in the heart of the canyon

If you’ve ever eaten a snickerdoodle or a Death By Chocolate brownie at any of the coffee shops or cafés in town, it probably was delivered that morning by Jan Fabrik. How did a little girl from Nebraska grow up to become the cookie queen of Laguna Beach?

The owner of the Gecko Cookie Company began baking when she was 3, standing on a stepstool in the family kitchen and learning the basics from her mother and grandmother. She was taught old Midwestern recipes that had been passed down for generations. At 9 she sewed her own apron and entered her first cake-baking contest “� taking home the blue ribbon, much to the dismay and surprise of the other older competitors. Her passion for sweetening people’s lives continued throughout high school and college, baking for family and friends; however, her career took her in another direction for many years.

She became an obstetrical nurse, married, moved to California, had a baby of her own, got divorced and worked hard as a pre- and post-natal care nurse, often doing double shifts to make ends meet.

In 1991, inspired by her father’s entrepreneurial spirit as a self-made business owner, Jan started a small consulting firm. For the next 11 years, her company helped design and prepare women’s hospitals and pre/post natal care units, successfully opening 13 centers.

In 1989 she remarried and moved to a small cottage on Anita Street. During all this time she never stopped baking; making cookies, pies, cakes and homemade breads, then sharing them with friends as her mother always did. (Interestingly, the only things her mother didn’t bake were cookies.) When her son Nick was growing up in Laguna, he and his friends would walk by after school and call out, “Anything baking now?�� Then, Jan would pass cookies out the kitchen window of her tiny cottage. Her friends were forever telling her that she should be selling these delicious goodies.

In 2002, burnt out and stressed to the max from her high-pressure job, she said to her husband, “What if I made some little cookies and sold them around town?�� Her husband, family and friends were delighted with the idea and offered the support and encouragement she needed. She began baking cookies at home, packing them in boxes from Sav-On and taking them around to the local coffee shops. Within two months, she had four clients and was up working in the kitchen every morning at 3. With mixers and oven going nonstop, she was driving her husband crazy, so she began searching for a commercial location.

The Soup Company in Laguna Canyon was willing to sub-lease their space from 3 to 6 p.m. She went for it, but it meant that she had to do her baking, clean the place up and be out by 6! After that, she delivered all the products herself. In April 2002 she took over the lease, remodeled the location and began to expand the business.

Now you’ll find her baked goods everywhere from La Sirena and Madison Square Garden to Goko’s Café and Gina’s Pizzeria. Stephen Frank Gourmet, Medici Bistro and Zinc Café have their own signature cookies with their names imprinted on them. In fact, her cookies are now shipped nationwide.

The complexity of managing the business as well as the kitchen was rapidly becoming a major headache. Jan was rescued by Nick who, after graduating college, became operations manager for the next two years in order to help his mom get on her feet. Then her sister, who had stood on her own stool in the Nebraska kitchen and is also a gifted baker, came on board and took over when Nick left to work for L-R-G Clothing Co. with his high school buddy. With 3,000 pounds of gift boxes on pallets awaiting delivery last Christmas, Jan had clearly come a long way

We especially enjoyed talking with her and sharing our common experience (both the joys and nightmares) of running a small business. We commented on the cleanliness of her kitchen and she said, “You can always count on a perinatal nurse for that.�� She is a very friendly, sincere and down to earth person, who takes enormous pride in the quality of all that she produces. She makes everything from scratch using only real butter, with no commercial additives, preservatives or artificial ingredients. It’s all made fresh every day and baked to order. Anything left over is donated to the neighboring Laguna Resource Center for the homeless or to local food banks. Of course, it might also be nice to be one of Jan’s friends, redefining the expression “friends with benefits.��

Some of her tempting treats include chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal walnut raisin, short bread and oatmeal coconut butterscotch cookies. Then there are almond macaroons, apricot coconut pecan bars, Nana’s pecan bars, milk and dark chocolate covered grahams and almond crunch toffee. She makes great pumpkin and blueberry muffin tops as well. New are her hand-dipped chocolate confections.

The Signature Cookie is an old-fashioned, hand-pressed, butter shortbread cookie, stamped with any company logo, design or name. These need to be ordered three weeks in advance and are perfect for events like birthdays, anniversaries, company meetings and weddings.

There are also attractive gift boxes ranging from a small Tuxedo Gift Box with four signature short bread cookies for $12.75 to a large gift box with three-dozen assorted pieces for $79.95. Consider these for an unusual hostess or Christmas gift or for anyone or any occasion you need to sweeten up.

Gecko Cookie Company is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday and you can stop in for one cookie or place an order for 100. It is at 3295 Laguna Canyon Road. Call (949) 494-6960 or (888) 226-3454 or e-mail Jan at [email protected] to place an order. They ship nationwide.

ELLE HARROW and TERRY MARKOWITZ owned A La Carte for 20 years. They can be reached for comments or questions at [email protected]