Nicole Rucker Lands With Golden State Crew After Surprise Gjusta Departure

Well, consider the question of where Nicole Rucker has gone to be officially answered. Despite a terse "no comment" from Gjelina staffers about the surprise departure of one of Los Angeles’ best pastry chefs, it’s now official that the Gjusta mastermind is headed for a Fairfax takeover.

Well, what restaurant she actually lands in is still up for discussion, but Rucker is joining forces with the J. Howard Group crew — that’s Golden State, Bludso’s Bar & Cue, Cofax, Prime Pizza — to continue the Mid-City West domination.

A word from the team:

Nicole Rucker is not just a blue ribbon winning pie maker and highly acclaimed pastry chef -- she is a great chef straight across the board. We could not be more pleased to bring such a great talent and tremendous person into our company.

It looks like Gjusta’s big loss is Jason Bernstein, James Starr, and Noah Galuten’s even bigger gain. But it all begs the question: Who’s on tap for Gjusta now that the rumors are confirmed? And why can’t Venice seem to hold down their pastry chefs?