A World-Class Pastry Chef Finds His Place in San Marcos

San Diego Magazine's Happy Half Hour · Oct 9, 2026 · 58m

Christophe Rull walked away from a six-figure pastry chef job to spend two years training for one of the biggest chocolate competitions in the world. The gamble paid off: In 2021, the French-born chef was named U.S. Chocolate Master and went on to place fifth internationally, presenting an ocean-inspired chocolate sculpture built around the idea of protecting marine life. These days, his ambitions are a little closer to home. Rull and his wife, Wilma, have traded the luxury-hotel kitchens where he built his career for a 1,200-square-foot patisserie in San Marcos, where French butter…