What potential clients may not know is that Pomellitto, who operates the Savory & Sweet catering company with her chef husband, has won awards for her unique confectionery creations. On Jan. 29, she received first place in the "Think It, Build It, Taste It" competition held by San Jose's Tech Museum of Innovation.

The contest asked local pastry chefs and caterers to build an entirely edible and structurally stable likeness of a familiar San Jose sight in honor of the Tech's new exhibit, called "Engineer It." Receiving an invitation to participate in the event earlier in January, Pomellitto chose the Children's Carousel at Arena Green after looking for just the right landmark.

Her winning entry—made from cake and a brittle sugar paste called pastiage—took her 45 to 50 hours to complete. "Everyone around here was warned not to disturb me," she says with a laugh. Her creation required a little on-site construction, so she showed up first at the competition, and with rattling nerves, watched her competition arrive and examine her work. But even among the best of her peers, including the pastry chef from the Fairmont San Jose, she prevailed. "It can be cutthroat, but he told me, 'You deserve to win,'" Pomellitto says.

She's come a long way. After taking cake-decorating classes in high school, she attended the State University of New York at Cobleskill. She began working for a Marriott Hotel in Boston armed with a two-year cooking degree and soon transferred to the chain's Santa Clara branch. Through working with Italian and Bavarian pastry chefs, she continued to refine her technique.

This accumulation of experience helped tremendously after she met her husband, Vince Bosnar, while both were working at the Marriott. The couple decided to open their own catering company. "We had both worked for caterers and hotels, and we knew we could do better," Pomellitto says. They started Savory & Sweet in 1993 and four years ago moved the business to Sunnyvale, where they also live.

About 60 percent of their business comes from weddings, where Bosnar takes care of the meals while Pomellitto tackles the cakes. Most of their events happen locally. "Sunnyvale has the best parks to offer—they're so clean and friendly," she says. Savory & Sweet has handled everything from barbecue weddings in the gazebos at Ortega Park to receptions at the Sunnyvale Community Center and Cupertino's Picchetti Winery.

At first, Pomellitto and Bosnar tried to cover six to eight events per weekend, but they've since scaled back. "I don't want to have to look at a sign to remember their names," Pomellitto says. "I want to know the bride. This is an important day for them."

She says that she tries to pattern a cake around a couple's style, something that will prove visually appealing in an unusual way. "It's not always going to be what everyone expects," she says. One example is the Mad Hatter, which features lopsided layers she carves out of a baked cake. Her current favorite to eat is her orange zest cake. Other flavors include an applesauce cake with a cream-cheese filling.

"I love cakes that taste really good and are interesting to look at," she says, "and I love making them all." In fact, Pomellitto has placed among the top 20 at regional wedding cake competitions, and regularly bakes cakes for corporate clients like Paramount's Great America and high-tech company McAfee.

She's currently hearing from a fresh batch of brides-to-be, who became engaged during the holiday season. By the time May rolls around, Pomellitto and her husband will be catering about three weddings a weekend. Weddings aren't so popular around Valentine's Day, when anything remotely romantic is expensive, so their holiday business is focusing more on their relatively new personal chef service.

Bosnar will cook three- or four-course meals and deliver them to clients' homes, ready for reheating whenever dinner might roll around. Savory & Sweet is offering a Valentine's special, complete with a selection of torte for dessert, and 15 couples have already signed up.

For more information, call 408.245.4712.