Inspired by an 11-year-old girl’s passion for baking, a popular gourmet cheesecake shop is ready to open in Jacksonville, which is its first location in Florida.
Sweet Emmaline Cheesecakes debuts with an Aug 16 grand opening at 11111 San Jose Blvd., Unit 14, in Riverplace Shopping Center in Mandarin. The homemade dessert shop is between Panera Bread Co. and Carter’s, a children’s clothing store, in the shopping center.
The family-owned bakery is known for its innovative flavors of freshly made-from-scratch cheesecakes — available in bite-size, individual slices and 4-inch to 9-inch whole desserts. Signature cheesecake cookie sandwiches also top the menu of sweet treats.
So far, the Jacksonville shop is the only Sweet Emmaline Cheesecakes store outside of the company’s home state of Tennessee. It’s the third in the cheesecake chain headquartered in Cleveland, Tenn.
Husband and wife Joseph and Jennifer Russo, along with their son Nick — all cheesecake aficionados — are the franchisees bringing Sweet Emmaline Cheesecakes to Northeast Florida.
Local family introduces Cleveland-style cheesecake to the Jacksonville area
The Russos, who live in St. Augustine, also operate a Sweet Emmaline Cheesecakes dessert truck, which is available for catering.
The food truck has been on the road since November, introducing the artisan cheesecakes to Northeast Florida, according to its Facebook page.
Nick Russo told the Times-Union the family got into the cheesecake business unexpectedly — after his dad discovered Sweet Emmaline Cheesecakes while they were in Tennessee.
On the spur of the moment while shopping nearby, they stopped into the flagship Cleveland shop for a slice. And they were hooked, he said.
“We’re from New York, so we have always liked cheesecake … but when my dad tried their [Sweet Emmaline] cheesecake, he loved it. He thought it was the best cheesecake ever, better than anything,” said Russo, who is the manager of the Jacksonville franchise.
Russo said that “pretty much inspired” his dad to begin investing in the business.
“Once he found out that they wanted to branch out a little bit and franchise, he wanted to jump on that opportunity. Now we’re the first franchisees anywhere, and we’re pretty excited about that,” he said.
Rich, creative flavors, light texture, and fluffiness showcased
Russo described Sweet Emmaline Cheesecakes as being similar to New York style but with subtle differences.
“The texture is very light. It is fluffy too, which is good. It’s very light, easy to eat. It’s creamy and has good taste, just like New York cheesecake,” he said.
He said that Sweet Emmaline Cheesecakes stand out because “we offer a lot of variety in cheesecake and the way you can eat cheesecake in terms of cheesecake bites and the cheesecake sandwich.”
Overall, the Jacksonville shop will feature more than 100 flavors, including gluten-free and no-sugar-added options.
“We’ll do cheesecake bars, slices, personal (4-inch) cheesecake pies, cheesecake bites, cheesecakes in a cup, and the bigger, family-size 9-inch cheesecakes,” he said.
Among the most popular flavors are the classic original, Oreo, and strawberry. Other customer favorites include Turtle, Reese’s, banana pudding, pina colada, key lime, and white chocolate raspberry, he said.
Also popular are their sandwich cookies, which have a classic cheesecake filling in the center.
The Russos chose the Jacksonville area for their store because of its relatively high population of folks who relocated to the area from up north. In addition, there are relatively few cheesecake bakeries in Northeast Florida.
“Cheesecake is one of those things that a lot of Northerners love. There are not many cheesecake bakeries in Jacksonville,” he said.
Pre-teen baker launches cheesecake chain from Cleveland home kitchen
Sweet Emmaline Cheesecakes took root in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic when Emily Caroline Patterson — then 11 — was stuck at home. She watched a lot of kids’ baking competitions on the Food Network. Soon, she was creating her own recipes and baking cakes in her grandmother’s kitchen, according to the company website.
She started making cheesecakes when her younger brother asked her if she could make one. Her first cheesecake — featuring her “one-of-a-kind recipe” — ultimately became the foundation for Sweet Emmaline Cheesecakes.
Her specialty cheesecakes’ popularity with family, friends, neighbors and others led her baking hobby to become a business.
In August 2021, when Emily was 12, she and her parents, Brian and Laura Patterson, opened their first Sweet Emmaline Cheesecakes brick-and-mortar store in Cleveland. Their second shop followed in October 2022, and they added a food truck, the company’s website said.
More cheesecake shops on the horizon?
Russo said the Jacksonville shop has a small seating area — about five tables inside, and plans for two outside in front of the store.
As they focus on opening that store, the Russos are also looking ahead at the possibility of future expansion.
“We’re always open to that. Jacksonville is huge. We would love to open another store in Jacksonville or close to it. St. Augustine would be great, especially downtown St. Augustine, the historic area,” Russo said.
Sweet Emmaline Cheesecakes will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, he said.
Teresa Stepzinski is the dining reporter for the Times-Union. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @TeresaStepz or reach her via email at tstepzinski@jacksonville.com.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Say cheesecake! A popular artisan cheesecake shop is ready to debut in Jacksonville
Reporting by Teresa Stepzinski, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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