The restaurants

it, man. L.A.’s really fantastic. We get to do everything on a bigger stage.”

When Charm City Cakes opened its doors in Baltimore back in 2002, the bakery was at the forefront of the couture cake movement.

Today, he and his team still design and create one-of-a-kind, elegant, sometimes outlandish, edible masterpieces. The intricately designed confections have incorporated cutting-edge elements such as sound, smoke and motorized moving components. The crew has baked, frosted and assembled cakes for the 2013 presidential inauguration, Super Bowls and Hollywood premieres, much of it chronicled on the Food Network series “Ace of Cakes,” which ran for 10 seasons.

Building on the success of his original location, Goldman launched Charm City Cakes West in Los Angeles in 2012. He later founded Duff’s Cakemix, a DIY cake and cupcake decorating studio. Chef Giada DeLaurentiis described Cakemix on her website as “like Willy Wonka’s workshop and the Project Runway studio rolled into one sweet package.”

“In L.A., most of our staff came out from Baltimore,” said Goldman, 42, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. In fact, the chef who was recently in town to launch a new bakery in Harbor East, adds that the City of Angels “is a lot like Baltimore.”

“It’s full of very creative people, who really appreciate art and what we do,” said Goldman, whose Food Network shows include “Cake Masters,” “Worst Bakers in America” and the “Baking Championship” series.

“We have done some fun projects with Disney lately, and John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, including a sculpted cockatiel [cake] for Chrissy’s father,” said Mark Muller, general manager of Charm City Cakes West. Goldman does philanthropic work, too. For the past few summers, he and friends like the Voltaggio brothers, actor Ben Feldman (a Potomac native who’s on the NBC sitcom “Superstore”) and what he terms other “ex-pats” have co-hosted Crab Cake LA, a traditional Maryland Blue Crab feast held in Los Angeles. The annual event draws hundreds: celebs such as Nicole Richie, Laurence Fishburne, Waldorf natives Joel and Benji Madden and Ryan Phillippe have joined the fun. Ticket proceeds have benefitted charitable organizations that benefit homeless and lowincome individuals.

“We ship the crabs in from Maryland,” said Goldman. “We have newspaper on the tables and show people how to crack crabs.” The menu also features corn on the cob, pulled pork and hush puppies, and Goldman whips up Smith Island layer cakes, Maryland’s official dessert. “We have beer sponsors and cases of Utz chips.” ink.: Sack Sandwiches: Charm City Cakes West: Cakemix: