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Verseau Bistro by Say Cheese … cake will specialize in cheesecake (including the banana pudding-praline variety shown above), charcuterie and coffee
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Assorted mini cheesecakes from Verseau Bistro
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Cheryl Wittman, owner of the forthcoming Verseau Bistro
Cheryl Wittman never meant to become a professional baker. She made New York-style cheesecake from scratch in her home kitchen for the same reason many parents take up baking: to please their children. It’s been one delicious flex.
“I have been dabbling with cheesecake recipes for over 25 years. I had three boys, and cheesecake was a favorite dessert. They would always ask for a basic Snickers cheesecake,” Wittman says.
That luscious, craggy cheesecake brimming with peanuts, caramel and chocolate dunked in a traditional vanilla cream cheese batter became a gateway for Wittman’s culinary creativity. But her food business was sidelined as she rose from software engineer to project and technical manager, before retiring from a high-level project position at Verizon in Florida. “Every wire line project and wireless project I ran, those skills have helped me out as my [baking] business exploded,” she says.
Say Cheese … cake began just over two years ago in a commissary kitchen at Edible Education. It was the beginning of the pandemic. Wittman had recently relocated from Florida to Richmond. As she transitioned from baking at home and ordering her ingredients from Amazon, she sold cakes on her website and plotted launching her cheesecake business at farmers markets and getting a food truck. But a call from Tom O’Toole, an owner of O’Toole’s Restaurant & Pub, smoked that plan. His baker had just left, and he wanted Wittman’s cheesecakes on the menu. Then Latitude Seafood Co., who shared the same baker, came calling for cakes. She still bakes for both restaurants, and others, while fulfilling brisk online orders from as far away as British Columbia.
Scanning Wittman’s menu, which includes cheesecakes such as pumpkin vanilla swirl, white chocolate cranberry, s’mores and a six-ingredient, classic New York-style plain cheesecake, you’ll get a taste of what’s to come at Verseau Bistro by Say Cheese … cake, slated to open in late November.
Located at 9200 Stony Point Parkway, Suite 180, near the P.F. Chang’s entrance of Stony Point Fashion Park, Verseau Bistro by Say Cheese … cake is a snug cafe named for Wittman’s astrological sign, Aquarius, or the water bearer. “I wanted something casual, but French, for the name,” Wittman says, “and something personal. My marketing person suggested I keep the name Say Cheese … cake as a continuation of my brand and so my customers could find me easily. I added Verseau, the French word for Aquarius, and the water theme. I plan on hanging photographs of famous waterways over the retail shelves.”
Wittman is a focused 62-year-old who buzzes with purpose. As her coffee bar equipment gets polished, lighting hung and art work selected for the seating area at Verseau, she lists how the bistro will differ from her current model, which is fulfilling online orders. “I am adding savory cheesecakes to the cafe. The cafe will have a European feel in that it is casual; you can walk up and get a coffee or a whole cheesecake to go from the case, or you can sit and sip on an espresso or glass of wine, have a full slice of dessert, or a handheld, mini broccoli-cheddar cheesecake and a charcuterie board.”
Wittman says her mini cheesecakes — think two-bite brownies — have grown in popularity as weddings have gone from serving a traditional wedding cake to having a cutting cake with a massive dessert table. “I have weddings already booked for next year,” she says.
Her enthusiasm for the new restaurant is obvious as she lists her partnerships. First there are the new owners of Stony Point, who offered her terms she couldn’t refuse: a year lease with free utilities. “They are determined to turn this mall around and to attract both local and national anchor business. I will be the only coffee shop in the mall. I am partnering with Maharajah Coffee, a local roaster, for Verseau’s line of coffee beans. I am using local and organic products and ingredients as much as I possibly can.”
Products include gluten-free baguettes from 7 Muffins a Day, local meats and cheese for Verseau’s cheese plates from Mountain View Farm.
Like water, the opening date for the bistro is fluid, but Wittman hopes to be up and running by Thanksgiving. This Saturday, Nov. 12, Say Cheese … cake will vend from a table at the outdoor Stony Point Beer, Wine & Spirits Festival. The ticketed festival runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature samples from local and regional breweries, wineries and distilleries, along with pay-as-you-go food from on-site restaurants.
