Cheesecake Bakery Opens in Winchester

While dreams of sugar plums danced in people's heads these past few holiday weeks, dreams of finding, baking and perfecting the perfect cheesecake—make that, gourmet cheesecake—danced and debated within accountant-turned-cheesecake baker Sarah-Beth Chester's head for the past three years. 

"I wanted to create a creamy, rich, fluffy cheesecake—better than any I've had in the area," the Melrose resident said.

After leaving her financial services job, Chester tested recipes and studied the science of baking to perfect her cake. 

"You eat your mistakes. It's not such a bad way to go."

Once the long, but tasty trial and error phase was complete—lots of friends volunteered to sample and provide feedback—Chester felt ready and last summer, officially founded 7ate9 Bakery, her new gourmet cheesecake bakery. Early last December, just in time for the holiday season, 7ate9 finally opened its doors. 

Except there are no doors. You won't find a sign or an awning anywhere with the bakery's name. Chester is operating her business in a "new", avant-garde style—sharing, not owning, kitchen space from the well-established in Winchester.  

"If you go to La Patisserie, you won't know I'm there," Chester said. "You can't even buy my cheesecake from them because I don't have a wholesale license." 

As for advertising, don't look for ads displayed in newspapers either. She's marketing 7ate9 via a recipe which blends doses of hip, social networking, like Facebook and Twitter, along with batches of old-fashioned word-of-mouth. (Filled with her cheesecake, preferably.)

An everywhere and nowhere bakery

Why Winchester? Why operate out of someone else's bakery? And where did she come up with the creative numbers name?

Decreased costs and risks are the two major factors, says the new business owner. 

"Because it's dairy and cheesecake, you have to cook and store out of a commercially licensed kitchen," Chester explained. "There used to be a place in Jamaica Plain which had a shared kitchen. I went to over 50 bakeries, speaking with the owners to use their kitchen, including the communities of Melrose, North Reading, Medford, Malden, Winchester, and Burlington. 

"The number one reason why people turned me away is that they don't have extra space to store. In fact, many owners need it themselves and said to me, 'If you find a place, let me know.'"

Finally, Chester worked out an agreeable arrangement with Winchester's La Patisserie, baking during their off-hours, delivering the finished products herself "fresh, directly to my customers."

It's the modern version of the old-fashioned dairy delivery service.

"I'm the milkman of the next generation," Chester said. "People can get their cheesecake made to order and just in time for a dinner or holiday party, or for a special gift."  

As for the innovative name, Chester recalled how she was thinking out loud that perhaps a name with numbers would be good, something like 1369 Coffee House in Cambridge. Her friend, Liz Bissinger, was over doing some work and said, "How about that old joke, 'Why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 ate 9!'"

"It was brilliant," the entrepreneur said, "so I stuck with it. I'm always sure to tell her when I get compliments for it!"

A variety of cheesecakes, all made from scratch

Compliments are what 7ate9 Bakery have been receiving, thanks to a huge variety of cakes designed to satisfy cheesecake aficionados, like the Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake stuffed full of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and drizzled with homemade peanut butter sauce and fudge. Or the much-lauded, though seasonal Pumpkin Cheesecake.  (It's Chester's favorite.  "I'm obsessed with it!" she confessed.) Made with locally-grown pumpkins from Verrill Farms in Concord, the creamy cake is nestled in a pecan-gingersnap crust. 

For classic cheesecake lovers, there's a red and white cheesecake, a classic cheesecake with raspberry sauce and homemade whipped cream. Perfect for Christmas, Valentine's Day, the Fourth of July, or well…do you really need a reason? 

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, Chester reports that another new recipe is in the making.

"Valentine's Day is going to be big.  I'm going to make a red velvet cheesecake."

All ingredients are fresh. "I make everything from scratch," Chester stressed. "The fudge sauce, the peanut butter sauce, whipped cream, and more."

Is your New Year's willpower depleted? Not sure how much cheesecake to get? 7ate9 Bakery offers individual-sized Mini Cheesecakes, ($25 for a dozen), to the more indulgent 9-inch cakes, weighing a whopping 4-6 pounds each and known to feed groups of 20 people (starting at $40 each).  

"The first thing people always comment on is how heavy a cake is, but even though it's dense, how it tastes light and fluffy. It's much richer than cheesecakes you'll find around here, more like a New York style cheesecake." 

The only way to find out? Do your own research. Try one (or more). Just for Melrose Patch readers, 7ate9 Bakery is offering a special 10 percent discount in honor of its grand opening good on orders placed by Wednesday, Jan 12. regardless of delivery date.

For more information or to order a cheesecake, visit www.7ate9bakery.com or call owner Sarah-Beth Chester at 781-218-9361. For delivery in the Boston area, see website map.