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Bittersweet Turns A Sweet 25 And Dishes On Some All-Time Favorite Cakes

By Ariel Cheung | July 26, 2017 6:09am
 As Bittersweet celebrates 25 years in business, the owners shared photos of some of their favorite cakes over the years.
Bittersweet's Best Cakes After 25 Years In Business
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LAKEVIEW — It's been a sweet quarter-century for one of Lakeview's most established bakeries, which is celebrating a big anniversary this month.

Bittersweet Pastry Shop and Cafe, 1114 W. Belmont Ave., has been serving up sweets for 25 years. And while 23 of those years had founder Judy Contino at the helm, current co-owners Esther Griego and Mindy Gohr have hit their stride two years in.

"It kind of seems as though we've been able to move in the direction that customers want us to," said Gohr, who has spent 12 years as a pastry chef at Bittersweet. "Hopefully they're seeing that we are able to be a little more flexible and work with them."

Creative creations are the bakery's specialty, with increasingly customized cakes becoming the norm, "I think due to Pinterest," Gohr said. Over the years, the pastry chefs have crafted Lamborghini cakes and Baby Admiral Ackbar cakes, cakes that look like Wrigley Field and towering wedding cakes with sprays of delicately frosted flora.

Bittersweet sweets over the years. [Provided/Bittersweet]

"We're part of so many special events, and that's what we love to do," said Griego, who is also Contino's niece.

Customers have included Eddie Vedder and Rick Bayless of Frontera fame, who got a "massive" four-tier chocolate cake.

"We approach everyone's cake like they're a rock star," Griego said.

"But," Gohr finished, "knowing it's going to Eddie Vedder just adds a little extra bit of pride."

Bittersweet cakes over the years. [Provided/Bittersweet]

The two have become a well-oiled machine of leadership, expanding the cafe menu — including a new cinnamon roll — and adjusted recipes to accommodate vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free requests.

RELATED: Bittersweet Departure For Chef-Owner Opens Doors For New Operators

"The only thing we don't have is cake without sugar," Gohr said. "Unfortunately, some things you just have to splurge for."

But Gohr does make sure that the recipes are still using ingredients that are "approachable," she said, "so we're not creating some sort of Franken-pastry."

Esther Griego and Mindy Gohr began to run Bittersweet Bakery when Griego's aunt, Judy Contino decided to step down from running the eatery after 23 years. [Provided/Bittersweet]

Contino is traveling and "enjoying her time off," but is always just a phone call away for advice or to bounce ideas off of, her niece said.

And there will be plenty of new ideas in the years ahead — hopefully many of them.

"We want to continue to grow so we'll be here in 25 more years," Griego said.

After stints at Ambria and Lettuce Entertain You, Contino opened Bittersweet in 1992, the same year she was named Woman Pastry Chef of the Year.

Bittersweet, 1114 W. Belmont Ave. [Provided/Bittersweet]

In 2015, Contino was a James Beard Outstanding Baker semi-finalist — the first year the category was introduced — placing Bittersweet among the top 25 bakeries in the country.

In addition to its 12 cake flavors like almond strawberry brulee or vanilla peanut butter and jelly, Bittersweet makes pies that fly off the shelves at Thanksgiving, fresh bread and a display case stuffed with pastries.

"Bittersweet was the first of its kind when it opened," Griego said of the European style pastry shop. "Now there's all kinds of bakeries, but the quality and range of product we have here is pretty unbeatable."