Ronald Paden and Aaron Wesley.
“You always hear that you can’t have your cake and eat it too,” says Chestertown resident and entrepreneurial chef Aaron Wesley. “I think of it differently. If you have enough cake, you can share it.”
Wesley’s expansive view on the old adage even applies to his notion that cake “ingredients” are perfect metaphors for the successes in life. Like opening a restaurant.
“Things come together with the right ingredients. For me, it’s the support of family and friends and my crew working with me. Each of them gave up something to share this goal with me.”
The goal is a unique addition to Chestertown’s growing restaurant scene: high-end take-out on the front end, with a parallel catering business, and a niche specialty—prepped dinners for future meals.
“We’re working on a name for these prepped dinners, ” Wesley says. “Think of them as high-end healthy TV dinners perfect for kids getting home from school or for when you might be too busy to cook. We’ve done all the work for you.”
And there are some delicious looking meals on his planned Menu: Broiled Crabcake Sandwich, Gourmet Fresh Cut Roast Beef Hoagie, Oysters Rockefeller, Stuffed Oysters and Woodsmerfs Ribs to name a few. Of course, Wesley will also be offering his pastries
“Life of Cake” will also offer delivery within Chestertown as they expand their business.
Wesley learned much of his baking skills from his mother and found enjoyment making cakes.
At a low point in his life, while at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore majoring in sports medicine, Wesley was inspired by athletic trainer Mike Hall, billed as “The World’s Strongest Drug Free Man” to honor the athlete’s many steroid-free accomplishments. In a 2007 WBOC article by Weijia Jiang, Hall was quoted as saying, “Anything can be accomplished. You have to have the solution to any problem. There is no dream too extreme, and no challenge too great for me.”
“Mr. Mike, as we called him, was kind of a spiritual angel who came along at the right tome for me,: Wesley says. “I started making pastries and taking them to school. He was amazed by them and I realized how much I liked to bake so one thing led to another.”
Next, the young baker was asked to make 25 pies for a market in Middletown—apple, peach-7-up—and sold out. The he sold batches of his pies to Molly Mason’s in Kennedyville and knew he was onto something good.
At one point, Wesley decided that a food truck might be the answer to marketing his pastries and meals. He even acquired one but as he was refitting it the shop on High Street—formerly Herb’s Soup and Such— became available and he saw it as a better idea.
He worked non-stop at other jobs to support his dream and with his family’s help is on his way to officially opening “Life of Cake” this Friday, although it has been offering its menu for the last few days.
“It’s really great to have another choice in Chestertown. I’m excited about this,” a customer said on Thursday.
A self-taught baker and chef, Wesley is a voracious reader and researcher. Every new meal he concocts goes through a “trial and error” phase before it can appear on to his menu.
“Look around and see where cake is—it’s at weddings and funerals and every social occasion in between. It brings friends together and makes for a better time.
And the logo? Wesley’s sister helped with that. And rather than explaining the philosophy of cake to you here, just visit “The Life of Cake” and ask Aaron yourself. It’s worth it.
The following samples will appear as specials as business progresses.
Fresh churned ice cream, homemade sugar bowl and a strawberry rose.
Stuffed shrimp with crab imperial.
Stuffed lobster tails.
Theron Wright, Aaron Wesley and Ronald Paden. Open for cake!
“Life of Cake” is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday, 10Am-2PM, 3PM-6PM. 827 High Street, 410-778-9727
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