Welcome to Luscious

[Editor’s note– We’ve been posting about our delectable desserts for ages, but it’s time we let you hear directly from our Founder and CEO, Sandy Solmon. Just as our products have long been distinctive in the world of desserts, Sandy is becoming a distinctive voice in the wider and wilder world of food. Stay tuned as Sandy shares her thoughts on flavor and taste, innovation, chocolate, sourcing, additives, and the secret of life.]

Back in the tumultuous early 1970s, in the quiet morning hour before dashing off to an assignment as a photojournalist in Berkeley, California, I found almost mystical solace in making and serving my cinnamon swirled sour cream coffee cake. It was a touchstone then as it is now. My friends and I were young, footloose adventurers, but when we came together in my kitchen for much needed conversation and coffee, it was as if I’d brought ‘home’ to the table. Everything about that cake was grounding for me – the baking process, the aromas, the buttery crumb, and the way it reminded everyone of their grandmothers, only better.

A few years later, in 1979, I founded Sweet Street Cookie Co., baking giant sharable cookies in a 2-bay garage and selling them in my little shop out of big glass jars. For me, this was a profoundly satisfying way to share my passion for all things delicious, and I like to think we’ve been making the world a sweeter place ever since, with our products now served in restaurants, cafes and hotels in 65 countries across the globe.

I believe the pleasure we all get from sweet, luscious food should be honored with well-crafted treats made with honest ingredients and shared with people we love. Whether I’m mixing up a batch of nostalgia or pushing the boundaries of innovation, I have learned that desserts open doors, hearts, and conversations. Show up at a friend’s house with one of my desserts in hand and you’ll see what I mean.

The doors keep opening. As soon as the snow melts, we’ll fire up the motor on our Mobile Art Kitchen^™ (M.A.K.^™), an amazing phenomenon some might call a “food truck,” but we call it a collaboration of artists, videographers, chefs and bakers bringing American food to the streets of Paris and … Milan.

Yes, Milan. I’ll tell you more about our M.A.K. truck in a future post – and more than a few fantastic innovations – but it the meantime, we have some very big news:

Sweet Street is joining the James Beard Foundation and other culinary illuminati in the USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015, where our desserts will be offered at Food Truck Nation. The Mobile Art Kitchen will be stationed on the streets of Milan to delight the locals, tourists and Expo visitors from May through October. Buon appetito!

Stay amazed,

P.S. I was so proud of the coffee cake I put my own name on it.