OSFO and I have become quite the regulars at Sweet Melissa. It’s such a cozy, warm place to hang out on a winter afternoon after school.

Hot chocolate and a pommier, a buttery cookie sometimes called an elephant’s ear, is OSFO’s regular choice.  In fact, the other day before we sat down, a nice waitress said, "We don’t have pommiers today."

OSFO ordered a madeleine instead. I usualy get a small latte.

OSFO starts and sometimes finishes her homework while we sit there, which has provided me with ample time to reckon with the place.

First off, they seem to have an enormous daily selection of expertly prepared and delicious cakes, cookies, scones, and pastries. And every day there’s something new: seasonal specialties, holiday treats.

Right now, the shop is chock full of Valentine’s lollipops, candies, heart-shaped cookies and more.

How and where do they do it all? Turns out they have a large kitchen on Bond Street in Carroll Gardens where they do all the baking.

We’ve now got a bright new sunny kitchen with lots of room to create.  Melissa is able to oversee the production of all of her recipes on a daily basis, and personally train her pastry assistants on new products.  Here we can ensure the quality of baking everyday, and know that our customers are receiving the pastries which meet Sweet Melissa’s high standards.  Central also has a take away counter and a few tables outside.

The website doesn’t even mention the new Park Slope shop, which is curious. Clearly, the website needs an update. The Park Slope shop is so above and beyond the original shop in Carroll Gardens. That shop is a tiny, lovely tea room. A special ocassion place — kind of hushed and precious.

The one in Park Slope is lively, cozy, and fun and it attracts a wide variety of Park Slope types:

–After drop-off parents reading the newspaper
–The stroller brigade,
–New  moms dining with stroller baby and grandma (I think it is THE place to bring your mother).
–PTA moms making plans
–Friends meeting for serious conversation
–Acquaintances meeting to network
–Solo types with a journal
–Studious types with a book
–Dad and kid afterschool

It is not, by design, a wi fi hangout for people who want to spend the day with their lap top and a coffee.

You can get wi fi in there — but it’s linksys or stolen from a nearby signal and it’s not reliable at all. It’s also not a great spot for cell phone talking.

All good. Sweet Melissa’s has a slightly vintage feeling. An old fashioned place to meet friends and eat sweets. When all is said and done, it’s not inexpensive. That said, you can sit there with a $3.50 latte and enjoy a nice respite from the cold.

Today I discovered that Sweet Melissa has a website, which I now hear needs a SERIOUS UPDATE. Reading it confirms my belief that they are making a big effort to brand themselves and make themselves known to greater New York City and maybe the nation (think Sara Beths and Silver Palatte).

Even before I read the website, I was getting the sense that they are  thinking big. BIG. Like maybe they have investors who want to see the shop reach the Sara Beth’s level or bigger. On the site I learned that they also have a shop in SoHo (woo). Here’s a blurb about the SoHo shop but now an OTBKB reader tells me that the SoHo shop closed when the Park Slope opened. WOW. That was fast. 

Sweet Melissa SoHo (NOW CLOSED) located at 75 West Houston Street (corner of West Broadway), is our beautiful new retail location.  A lot of attention was put into the design of the store, as we wanted to create a place worthy of showcasing our wonderful pastries, tarts and cakes.  Our talented designer and cabinet maker, Mel Jones of Myson Interiors, creatively incorporated our honeybee logo into the woodwork and cabinetry.  .

Interesting about the wood work, which is especially nice in Park Slope shop, which is full of clever details like a rolling pin for a door handle and other baking objects incorporated into the cabinetry.

If they continue to expand, the trick will be to sustain the level of quality. Melissa is still on site over-seeing all cake production. That’s a good thing. At this point, quality seems to be their middle name.