Christine Miller, the beloved Pasadena baker, cookbook author and owner of Little Flower Bakery in that city, has died, her children announced on Monday morning. She was 61.
Her children Maddie, Avery and Colin announced her passing in an online post, which quickly garnered hundreds of comments from people sharing their experiences with Moore as a mentor, neighbor, community patron, and most of all, “the proudest of moms.”
Her children called her “the heart and guiding force of Little Flower and our community. She was our rock, our home, our mom—the North Star of our family. Her love, kindness, and generosity changed countless lives. We will love her forever and carry her in our hearts for the rest of our lives. Our legend.”
Little Flower Bakery, which had closed in recent days, will reopen on Wednesday, Jan. 7, the first anniversary of the Eaton fire. Moore and her youngest child Colin stayed at their Altadena home and saved it and other structures when the fire first exploded. From the bakery, she spearheaded distributing community meals, pushing bags of candy at children as she remembered how sweets comforted her as a child, and worrying about her staff, many of whom have been with her for decades, and her fellow business owners in Altadena and Pasadena.
Victoria Knapp, outgoing chair of the Altadena Town Council, said she was shocked and saddened to learn of Moore’s unexpected passing. Moore helped her plan her 50th birthday soiree in a private room of the café.
“We worked together on the menu and the room’s layout so that it would be exactly what I wanted for my guests,” Knapp said. “Beyond that, wherever I saw her in public, I was always greeted with a warm hug and we would catch up on the goings-on in our lives since we last saw each other. She will be missed by so many and no one will ever fill her shoes or match what she meant to this community. My goodness, my heart goes out to her children.”
A photo posted to Little Flower Cafe and Bakery’s social media shows owner Christine Moore, far right, with her staff. (Photo from Little Flower Facebook)Within hours of hearing of her passing, Moore’s friend Randy Clement, owner of Good Neighbor Bar, wrote this:
one ofour greatestmoments parentalis sitting with christine mooreoutside of little flowerand witnessing hertell our sons about life
most peopleborn hereon this planetmove through life
christine mooreborn hereon this planetlife moved through her
every personwho has had the privilege and honorto share a moment in space with christinenow knows or will one day knowthat they have not and will notshare space with anyone like herin their life ever again
Karen Drasner LuKanic remembered Moore had just opened Little Flower when she asked for help in opening her own business. So enthusiastic a mentor was Moore, she introduced LuKanic to those who helped Little Flower, including her lawyer.
“Even when she had a lot of things on her plate, she was always so positive and inspirational,” LuKanic said.
She ended up opening Chef Zorba’s, a restaurant in Colorado, and the two stayed in touch, joking about arranging a marriage between LuKanic’s daughter and Moore’s son Colin so they could be family.
Moore’s children, LuKanic said, defined her.
“You were her greatest pride, her biggest joy, the center of her universe. She spoke of you the way people speak of miracles—with wonder, with gratitude, with overwhelming pride,” LuKanic wrote online. “The rest of us are left holding memories like precious things—her laugh, her kindness, her advice, the way she showed up for the people she cared about.”
In an interview with “The Gourmandise School” in 2017, Moore reminisced about her childhood in New Jersey, raised by a single mom to believe the best in people. She left home at 17, fell in love and moved to California, where she waitressed and catered for restaurants in Pasadena. The death of a friend propelled her to France, and a determination not to waste any time making her dreams come true.
She worked in Paris for a year before returning Stateside, working under renowned chef Nancy Silverton. In 2007, Moore said in the foreword to her book “Little Flower: Recipes from a Café,” she found herself at age 44 “with a premature baby, a broken marriage, a 5-year-old, a 7-year-old who had just been diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome, a husband out of work, canceled health insurance, and no way to pay the mortgage.”
That was the year she opened Little Flower Bakery in Pasadena, with help from family and friends. The “tiny cafe and candy kitchen on the edge of town” soon inspired a loyal nationwide following, loyal fans of her sea salt caramels, marshmallows, lemon lentil soup, goddess salad, chocolate caramel tartlets and brown butter shortbread.
“It’s been a lot of hard work but that’s what life is,” Moore wrote in her cookbook. A second cookbook “Little Flower Baking,” was another chance to share her unadorned chef’s philosophy: “play when you cook and embrace the imperfections. Most of all, cook with love.”
Christine Moore, center, with her friend Karen Drasler LuKanic, at right. Moore, owner of Little Flower Cafe and Bakery in Pasadena, has died, her children announced Monday. LuKanic, owner of Chef Zorba’s in Denver, Colorado, credits Moore with mentoring her. (Photo courtesy of Karen Drasler LuKanic)On Dec. 31, Moore posted a message to her social media thanking her community as the first anniversary of the fires approached. She would pass away without seeing that milestone, but left that recording, her voice, reflecting on the past year.
One word comes to mind, she said. Community.
“When the fires hit our community, everything felt unknown and honestly scary,” she said. “Yet our little community showed up in ways I could have never imagined. People showed up day in and day out, offering care, steadiness, and support when it was needed most. The way my people, our people, showed up, became my saving grace during such a difficult and uncertain time and I am endlessly grateful. Happy new year, happy life, happy rebuild. I am thankful for you, my community.”
In lieu of flowers, her children request that donations be made to the nonprofit Camp Conrad Chinnock, which provides camping experiences to children and families living with Type 1 diabetes. Information on a memorial service will also be announced shortly.
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