I vividly remember the first time someone brought a cake from Bittersweet Pastry Shop to a party. At the time, I was a poor graduate student, so any pastry above the grocery store level commanded attention, but this one was different; a perfectly formed, deliciously creamy concoction that instantly reset my standards. I’m sure I’m not alone in this experience; Bittersweet has been turning out perfect cakes for 30 years now. To accompany this momentous anniversary, the bakery (1114 W. Belmont Ave., Lake View East) has undergone a renovation and is opening a second location in Pilsen.
Owner Esther Griego is (relatively) new to working at Bittersweet, but she has a long history with the bakery; her aunt, chef Judy Contino, founded Bittersweet. “I think I was 12 when it opened; I was still living in New Mexico, so we would come to Chicago and this magical wonderland of pastry,” remembers Griego. “At the time, it was the only modern bakery in Chicago.”
Many years later, after careers in journalism and PR, Griego learned that Contino wanted to sell the bakery. She had no formal culinary background and is the first to laughingly admit that “if I really knew what I was getting into, I might not have done it.” She analogizes her first months at the bakery to “trying to get into the driver’s seat when the car is moving a million miles an hour,” but luckily for Chicagoans with a sweet tooth, everything worked out and Bittersweet is stronger than ever.
Any visitor will instantly notice that things have changed. “The most recent is the renovation of the front of house; it was definitely of its era, very early ’90s,” says Griego. “It was beloved, but the space was harder for us to operate in.” Now, there’s more counter space, more seating, and new draws for walk-in guests. The café menu has been revamped, the coffee program has been improved, and wine and cocktails are coming soon. In addition, there’s now a special nook for wedding cake tastings overlooking the kitchen. Wedding cakes are still the bread and butter of the business, and some months, Bittersweet turns out more than 60 wedding cakes, so having a great space for tastings was important.
However, not everyone is looking for (or can afford) a huge wedding cake, and one of Griego’s goals has been to make, as she puts it, “celebration more accessible.” “I want people to get a cake for everything; your kid learned how to tie their shoes, you got the promotion at work,” says Griego. To that end, Bittersweet has launched a new cake line which can be ordered online. The cakes can still be personalized and special but are maybe not quite as epic, and definitely not as expensive.
The next stage of Bittersweet’s evolution comes in September, when a new location of the bakery opens in Pilsen. “We found this beautiful space,” describes Griego. “It has a huge patio, it’s next to a brewery and an art gallery, and it’s a really cool little area.” This won’t be a full bakery, but it will offer all of Bittersweet’s signature items for retail, and provide a new spot for people to pick up custom orders.
Through all of the changes, Griego still wants to keep the original Bittersweet spirit alive that she inherited from Contino: “I know from my experience and from the history that she was really a trailblazer. We are trying to keep that magic, but give people a new reason to come in.”
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