“For years people have been telling me they can’t get dessert like this anywhere else,” says Glee Havens, a pastry chef and Munith resident who’s been working out of her home for about twenty years, making cakes and pastries for special events. “My customers have always encouraged me to get a shop of my own.” They’ll finally get their wish when Havens and her husband, Steve, launch Glee Cake & Pastry on Main Street with a grand opening November 11–13.
Cakes, cupcakes, European-style pastries, cookies, tortes, and tarts are among the items on the menu—all with a decidedly elegant twist. Havens’ best seller is a white chocolate mousse cake with raspberries. And she calls her ganache cake “a chocolate lover’s dream.”
A fifty-year-old native of upstate New York who graduated from a Baltimore culinary institute, Havens has three children—two still at home—and smiles often as she talks about her plans for the shop. “Oh, yes, I think the name ‘Glee’ fits me. My mom almost called me Phyllis. But my younger sister got that name instead,” she laughs. A double wall oven will allow Havens to bake up to two hundred cupcakes at a time—she can bake only thirty at a time in her home kitchen. A few marble-top tables will seat up to a dozen customers. She’ll serve organic coffee and tea but expects most of her retail business to be carryout.
Even though turning out pastry and cake orders is a way of life, Havens says she’s rarely tempted to eat them herself— unless she’s making something that reminds her of her childhood. “Every once in a while, when I’m making a puff pastry cup with lemon curd or a cream horn, it will bring me back to this bakery I’d visit when I was a kid. Then I’ll eat about six of them,” she laughs.
Glee Cake & Pastry. 117 S. Main. 475– 3000. Tues.–Sun. 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Closed Mon. gleecakeandpastry.com
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“They’re going to be wowed!” says Michele Balaka about customers who visit her new Chelsea TreeHouse location in the Village Plaza on South Main. Balaka closed the TreeHouse’s Clocktower location in October and plans to reopen November 12—doubling both the size of the space and the size of the play structure, and offering two cafes, one for TreeHouse customers and one in front for the public. Balaka says she’s completely upgraded the structure to appeal to a wider range of ages. There’s a new balance beam log roll, more obstacles, and easier entry. Plus, she’s added a basketball court geared for older kids as well as a separate area just for toddlers with slides, blocks, and a soft play area. The baby area will be exclusively for non-walkers and their caregivers.
The public café will feature a fireplace and offer couches and seating for about thirty with soups, sandwiches, salads, baked goods, and Zingerman’s coffee. “It’ll be a great hangout,” Balaka says. And though she’s keeping the space “unplugged” without TVs, she’ll offer free wireless. Because the space will be action packed, Balaka’s installed two glass garage doors on the front of the building that can open when visitors need some cool, fresh air.
Chelsea TreeHouse, 1101 S. Main, (Village Plaza), 475–1555. Sun.–Tues. 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Wed.–Sat. 10 a.m.–7:30 p.m., with earlier opening hours planned for the café. thechelseatreehouse.com
