7/15/24 UPDATE: We popped by Popovers today, but they haven’t opened yet. A sign on the door said they are waiting on a final walkthrough by the Town of Wellesley.
Popovers at 16 Church St. in the Wellesley Square area is ready to open on Monday, July 15, at 7am. “We just finished our final Board of Health approval, and that was big,” Carl said.
When husband-and-wife team Carl Parisien and Morgan Schaffrath signed the lease last August to open in the former Cachet space, it was cause for celebration. Their dream was one step closer to coming true. Finally, after many additional steps from renovating to ordering equipment to passing inspections, the dream has come to life.
In all, getting to this point has been a three-year process, one that involved lots and lots of recipe testing in their home kitchen. “We came up with the idea to center our place around a popover. We bought a commercial- type oven, brought it home, installed it in our kitchen and just started working on popover recipes,” Carl explained.
Small business, small batches
Although popovers have only four ingredients (flour, milk, eggs, butter or oil, and salt), to develop a recipe that produced nice, big popovers with consistency took time. We are popover makers ourselves and can attest to the high-rising roll’s sometimes mercurial nature. Too much non-stick addition to the sides of the special high-sided popover pans, and the batter can’t get enough purchase to rise during the baking process. Not enough, and you can’t get the finished product out of the pan. Over blending the soupy batter doesn’t help. But pouring a lumpy mess into the tall, narrow cups won’t do, either. Popovers have got to be crisp and golden-brown on the exterior. And they must be moist on the inside, but not underbaked. Who knew something with only four ingredients could be so persnickety?
“We went down a long path to figure this out. We were so frustrated in trying to get a consistent popover. We made thousands of these things,” Carl said.
Now that the recipe is solid (and secret) they’re ready to make thousands more, and customers will hopefully be lining up for service at the 24-seat shop. Carl and Morgan use what they refer to as regular popover pans, and when we asked to see one, it looked just like ours at home. The difference is that their kitchen has six commercial-grade convection ovens allowing them to bake multiple batches.
The menu includes 15 popover signature sandwiches such as the Avocado Jack (warm popover, melted pepperjack cheese, air fried chicken, garlic herb spread, romaine lettuce, tomato, avocado); the Blackened Shrimp and Pineapple Po’Boy (warm popover, baked blackened shrimp, tartar sauce, romaine lettuce, tomato, crushed pineapple); and the Perfect Square (warm popover, melted American cheese, pesto, baked chicken, warm bacon, romaine lettuce, and tomato). All popover sandwiches can also be made as wraps.
There are also breakfast items with egg options; oatmeal; and more. Savory stuffed croissants, bowls, cookies, waffle fries, mac and cheese, and over 10 salads (Roasted Potato Salad; Greek Orzo; Asian Sesame Noodle; Caesar Salad; and Greek) also are available.
A kids menu and coffee, tea, espresso, lattes, and soft drinks, rounds things out. Expect pricing to be in the $5-$15 range.
RESTAURANT: Popovers
ADDRESS: 16 Church St. in Wellesley Square
OPENING: Monday, July 15, 7am
HOURS: 7am – 4pm. Closed Mondays going forward (consider this a starting point—Carl and Morgan may tweak the hours)
HELP WANTED: There are openings for a couple prep chefs. Contact Popovers here.
Wow, interesting story. My brothers and I worked at Popovers for probably 10 years with Angie Adams, his wife and daughters in the 70’s. Every day after school and on Saturdays we were the ones making the popovers, cooking, washing dishes and cleaning up. I’m sure we made thousands of them over the years. We didn’t come up with the recipe, we just mixed the ingredients and baked them.
Good luck to the new Popovers!
I was the Bank Manager at BayBank in Wellesley Square a door or two away from Popovers in the mid to late 1980s. Popovers was a frequent stop for breakfast for many who worked in the square.
So excited about this opening! I used to go to POPOVERS on Central Street for years, with Angie, and Paula and Deede, such wonderful people. My father in-law was Bob Decter, I’m married to his son Harlan, and I used to work at CENTRE TRAVEL owned by the wonderful Deely’s (John and Mary). The menu for this new place looks amazing, and I wish them much success. I think Wellesley needs a place like this, with delicious food and a family atmosphere. The menu has so many yummy and affordable options. Can’t wait to visit!!!
Your father in law made shoe shopping a wonderful experience for my 3 children! I was always certain that he “fitted” them properly. It was a joy and he ran a fine retail store.
This new Popovers doesn’t really look like a nod back to the original Popovers on Washington St. next to Olken’s, where I used to work in the late 70’s and early 80’s. I’m sure this new restaurant will be great for popover fans, but the original had amazing square burgers, sandwiches and salads with their homemade dressing kept in empty Hienz ketchup bottles. Good memories and Good Luck to the new owners!
Now bring back Goobellinis! And the Dandy Lion! And Saint Moritz sporting goods! And Chin’s Village Restaurant on Route 9! And the Wellesley Playhouse, Danny’s Pizza and Bailey’s Ice Cream! 🍨
Thanks Dave: What was Goobellinis all about? Bob
I loved the old Pop Overs Restaurant in Wellesley and can’t wait to try this one!
I can’t wait.
BTW, do they even know that there was a very popular restaurant here (where Juniper is now) called Popovers? It did a huge lunch business. My son learned to cook there where he was a short order cook. Well, at least he learned how to make burgers.
Yes, they do know about the old Popovers, which we wrote about recently…We’d mentioned to them that they might even find some photos of it at the Historical Society.