Richard Warner was trained as an executive pastry chef at the California Culinary Academy. He worked as a chef at some of the finest hotels in the United States: The Mark Hopkins in San Francisco, The Westin Hotels in Boston and Kansas City, The Salishan Resort in Oregon and others. He was a confisier and made wedding cakes for the hotels and also created one of a kind showpieces for the hotels. One year he made a life size gingerbread house made out of candy and edible components. 