Though it only takes a few simple ingredients to make a gingerbread house, what New York artist Jon Lovitch creates out of them is anything but simple.
Lovitch’s latest “Gingerbread Lane,” taking over a former McDonalds on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, is a 650-piece wonderland, created with 2,000 pounds of icing and more than 15,000 jelly beans. The display is free and open to the public until Jan. 11, 2025.
“It makes you feel so wonderful that you were able to create an art medium that makes people that happy,” Lovitch said.
While Lovitch has been creating gingerbread villages for 30 years, his desire to construct one in San Francisco has its roots going back much further. It started with a trip to the city as a ten-year-old with his family.
“I bought all these postcards of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz,” Lovitch said. “I just just freaking fell in love with this city like you wouldn't believe it.”
The San Francisco exhibit is part of a larger collection of four gingerbread displays he’s set up across the U.S., each a year-round labor of love.
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The passion that fuels these massive gingerbread installations dates back to Lovitch’s childhood in Kansas City, where the holiday season provided comfort and stability.
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“I was obsessed with the holidays,” Lovitch said. “The holidays was the time of the year everybody acted functional.”
His gingerbread hobby grew alongside his career as an executive chef, managing kitchens at some of the country’s most prestigious hotels, including The Hay Adams in Washington, D.C., The Plaza, and The Algonquin in New York.
Small displays soon blossomed into larger, more ambitious projects, until it became too difficult to be both a chef and a gingerbread artist.
“I need to pick one or the other. Can I make a living off the other one? Can I make a living off the fun one?” Lovitch said.
Nearly a decade later, Lovitch still doesn't have a clear-cut answer. But he’s certain of one thing: his gingerbread art has become his primary focus.
Though displays take a year to complete, Lovitch finds fulfillment in the reactions of those experiencing his creations.
In them, Lovitch sees himself, the little kid saved from all the sour things in the world by something sweet.
“It's short-lived but for that 20-minute encounter, they're very happy,” Lovitch said.
