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Wellesley Business Buzz: What Susu is up to; Babson taps commencement speakers; behind Door No. 7

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Here’s a roundup of the latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

Susu rises at Nantucket bakery

Just last summer we were dismayed to hear from Suzanne Aylward, owner of Susu Bakery & Cafe, that after 17 years at her 575 Washington St. location she would no longer be firing up the ovens and turning out her much-loved brownies, butter cookies, and special occasion cakes. The entrance and oven doors at that space remain shut, but Aylward recently contacted me with the news that her heart is full and it’s all because of a few twists and turns that ultimately led her to sweeter pastures on a little island off Cape Cod. Sugar, butter, and flour are still part of her life, but now she’s mixing it all up as the Creative Director of Petticoat Row Bakery, open year-round at 35 Centre St. in the heart of downtown Nantucket.

“It’s a small shop and it’s adorable. Ultimately I came here to run a small business without the headaches. It all happened very fast and furious. I met up with some cool women over here and here I am on an island,” Aylward summarized.

Petticoat Bakery was launched in 2010 by ReMain Ventures, an island-based organization established by Wendy Schmidt, President of The Schmidt Family Foundation. After renovating buildings to reflect ReMain Nantucket’s commitment to the wiser use of energy and natural resources, the organization provides space in those buildings for local businesses that serve as gathering places and for educational programing. The ultimate goal: to give more people more reasons to come to downtown Nantucket thus supporting local businesses.

Some of the 19-seat shop’s menu offerings: breakfast sandwiches; croissants straight up or filled with ham and cheese, spinach and cheese, or chocolate; coconut key lime bars; snickerdoodle cookies; peanut butter cupcakes; baguettes, and focaccia.

If you find yourself on Nantucket this summer, as so many Wellesley-ites do, send a pic to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com. Good luck in your new venture, Susu.

Babson commencement speakers revealed

Babson College has announced that President and CEO of UNICEF USA, Caryl M. Stern, and Co-Founder and CEO of Endeavor, Linda Rottenberg, will be honored at this year’s commencement ceremonies on the Wellesley campus on Saturday, May 19, 2018.

Stern will be receiving an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree and will be giving the commencement address at the undergraduate ceremony at 10 a.m. Rottenberg will be receiving an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree and will be giving the commencement address at the graduate ceremony at 3:00 p.m.

Babson College 2018 commencement speakers, Stern, Rottenberg
Babson College commencement speakers Caryl Stern & Linda Rottenberg

Behind Door No. 7 in Linden Square

Work has behind on the front of a new Wellesley restaurant in Linden Square that’s currently being referred to as Door No. 7. The new chef-driven business from the operators of The Cottage is slated to open in late summer.

Door No. 7, Wellesley

MORE: Past editions of Wellesley Business Buzz

Got other Wellesley business tips on openings, closings or whatever, feel free to email us here: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

You can also email us if you’re interested in sponsoring our weekly Wellesley Business Buzz roundup.

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Wellesley business buzz: Farewell Terrazza; Susu replacement; Pressed Juicery & Sweetgreen update; B/Spoke branches out

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Here’s a roundup of news from around Wellesley’s business community this week:

*Terrazza Church Square, the fine arts and crafts gallery that opened its Wellesley shop in 2014, has announced a store closing sale starting on Thursday, with everything 20%-50% off. Terrazza also has a location in Franklin, and that shop will remain open.

We hear a pizza joint will move into the 32 Church St., space. Because yes, Wellesley does need another pizza joint.

Terrazza has offered a unique collection of wares during its run in Wellesley, and we did enjoy those cheeky “Not Going Out of Business” sale signs that graced the store’s windows to poke fun at a few waves of nearby going-out-of-business sales. Terrazza even brightened the surrounding area with a colorful flowery bench that we’d love to see stay as a reminder of the shop’s time here…

Church St. bench, Wellesley
The Terrazza bench

 

*While we have no official word on what will take over the former Susu Bakery & Cafe at 575 Washington St., the scuttlebutt is strong that a high-end Mexican restaurant will be moving in, and possibly taking up at least some of the former Lyn Evans space that sits adjacent. Anyone hearing a restaurant name?

 

*Pressed Juicery, the cold-pressed juice shop that will fill Pinkberry’s old spot in Linden Square, will look to open either this week or next. As you can see here, things are looking pretty ready to go inside the shop. As for Sweetgreen, the salads and grain bowls eatery that will soon have more than a dozen locations in Massachusetts, its Linden Square spot next to Pressed Juicery should be ready to do business by year-end.

Inside Pressed Juicery, Wellesley
Inside Pressed Juicery, Wellesley

 

*Even B/Spoke, the cycling studio that opened in Wellesley Square this past spring, acknowledges that too much of a good thing isn’t ideal. The business this month has opened “The Training Lab” at it 50 Central St., spot to host a variety of fitness classes incorporating everything from pilates to martial arts to anaerobic bursts. The first new off-the-bike class, called TRAIN, “will focus on movements matched to music that will build strength across all major body systems,” according to a statement from co-founder Mark Partin. The studio has some special offers available to entice sign-ups:  www.bspokestudios.com.

B/Spoke, Wellesley
Bikes? What bikes?

 

Got other Wellesley business tips on openings, closings or whatever, feel free to email us here: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

You can also email us if you’re interested in sponsoring our new weekly Wellesley Business Buzz roundup.

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Susu Bakery in Wellesley saying bye-bye

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Susu, WellesleyWe were dismayed to receive the following from Suzanne Aylward, owner of Susu Bakery & Cafe, a goodbye letter as beautifully crafted as one of her many baked goods:

To my loyal customers, friends and neighbors,

As my Dad, Paul, was fond of saying, “It’s simple but it’s not easy.” Truer words were never spoken…It’s time to say goodbye to Susu Bakery and Cafe. It’s simple but it’s not easy. We’ve had some wonderful times and were fortunate to work alongside some great, talented cooks and bakers and formed life long friendships through this shop. Working alongside with my Mum and Dad, we had lots of fun and made lots of happy memories.

I’ve enjoyed watching your kids grow up and was honored to make their birthday cakes, communion cakes, graduation cakes, and even some wedding cakes.  I am humbled to have been part of your lives and memories. I will cherish that as I move on to my next chapter.

Susu Bakery will be closing it’s door on Saturday, July 15th.

Everything will be for sale – furnishings, art, pots and pans… our delicious brownies and baked goods all of next week through Saturday at our beautiful Church Square location.

Please stop by. If only so I can tell you thanks in person for the past 17 years! And as for me, sugar, butter and flour will always be in my future. We’ll be in touch!

Thank you,

Susu

We’re sorry to see you go, Susu. Thanks for the great French dinner, when you partnered with La Voile Boston Brasserie, and for the countless cups of coffee, tea, cookies, and cupcakes you kept in steady supply. All the best to you on your next venture.

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Wellesley’s Susu Cafe partners with La Voile to bring French food to the ‘burbs

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The dining room at SuSu.

Why go all the way into Boston when you need a little bon appetit when a new pop-up French restaurant has arrived in Wellesley at Susu Bakery Cafe, 575 Washington St? Open on Friday and Saturday nights for dinner, the prix fixe menu put together and executed by La Voile Boston Brasserie offers a three-course menu for $55; you can add a wine pairing for $30. The partnership between Susu’s and La Voile is a welcome addition to the Wellesley Square dining scene, made all the more tempting by being oh-so-close.

La Voile, located at 261 Newbury St., is no stranger to resident foodies who know all about the brasserie’s authentic cuisine and are now delighted to learn that some of its knowledgeable staff have been dispatched out to the suburbs to provide an authentic French dining experience. According to cafe owner Susu Aylward, the partnership is going strong, so the two restaurants will keep suppling Wellesley diners with all the foie gras, leek soup, and fish pappillote they can eat.

Susu La Voile
The beautiful pea soup was so fresh and bright tasting it was as if the peas had been released from their pods just moments ago.

We made our reservations and tried it out, impressed by the transformation from cozy cafe to casually elegant brasserie. The hospitable, unrushed service and French Riviera-inspired offerings were the perfect antidote to a long week of cheeseburgers at home and on-the-run fare.

Some of the items that have been on the always-new menu the past couple of weeks: tuna tartare with fresh mango, herbs, and lemon oil; pea soup so fresh and bright tasting that it was as if the peas had been released from their pods just moments ago; braised beef shoulder in red wine; seafood and lobster risotto; and dessert, of course, typically a choice between something chocolatey, and something fruity or custard-like.

Call for reservations, 781-237-7977.

Susu and Maitre D’ Jerome, on loan from La Voile for the weekend, confer.
Call and Haul, Wellesley

Wellesley restaurant archives, Susu Bakery Boutique

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The dining room at SuSu.

Susu Bakery Boutique, 575 Washington St.

OPENED: 2000
CLOSED: 2017

What we posted about the sweet spot over the years, which served lunch and baked goods, including muffins and breads:

There was that memorable partnership with Boston-based French restaurant Va Voile Brasserie

We enjoyed a couple of concerts there.

We liked her cool chandelier.

 

Then there was the sad farewell, when Susu said bye bye

MORE: Where to eat in Wellesley

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Wellesley book news: Couple takes part in Nantucket Book Fair; Journalists coming to town to tout books

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Our roundup of Wellesley, Mass., book news:

Wellesley couple takes part in Nantucket Book Fair

Wellesley’s Jane Pirozzolo introduced her second mystery novel “Island Justice,” about a racially charged murder that takes place on Nantucket one cold January night. Writing under pen name JP Lathrop, her new novel reprises detective Quinn Callahan and other characters from her earlier mystery, “The Key West Affair.”

Pirozzolo’s husband, Dick Pirozzolo, co-author of “Escape from Saigon,” also took part in the event, which featured best-selling authors like Dave Barry, Alice Hoffman, and James McBride.

Meanwhile, no rest for Jane: She’s working on a third book that takes place on the South Shore.

Jane Pirozzolo (pseudonym J. P. Lathrop
Jane Pirozzolo (aka, J. P. Lathrop) and Dick Pirozzolo at Nantucket Book Fair

Journalists coming to town to tout books

In-person author visits are back, and Wellesley Books has a couple coming up at 82 Central St.

Sportswriter Sean McAdam will discuss “The Franchise: Boston Red Sox: A Curated History of the Sox” on Tuesday, July 19 at 7pm. Hope he curates out that awful ALCS Game 7 at Yankee Stadium from 2003.

This is a ticketed event ($5, which can go toward purchase of the book).

Reporter Jen Maxfield will visit on Thursday, July 28 at 7pm to discuss “More After the Break.” This is a free event, but you’re asked to RSVP.

No word yet on whether Swellesley Report editors are plotting a book. We can’t get them to call us back.

Wellesley Business Buzz: Terrazza offers most sophisticated, curated, bespoke condo oasis ever; live music in Wellesley Square; Needham Bank adds loan officer; Vanguard Renewables taps CEO

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Our roundup of the latest Wellesley MA business news:

Terrazza offers most sophisticated, curated, bespoke condo oasis ever!

The once proposed 95-unit 40B development dubbed Wellesley Crossing at Delanson Circle/Linden Street, across from the Wellesley Square commuter rail lot ,is now an emerging 35-unit complex called Terrazza. We mean TERRAZZA—not to be confused with fine arts and crafts shop called Terrazza that closed its Wellesley store in 2017.

That was the year, coincidentally, that the condo complex now called Terrazza (sorry, our “caps lock” key broke) started its path through Wellesley’s various approvals. By the end, Delanson Circle was no more, and 100 Linden St. rose from its ashes, providing new housing stock in the middle of town.

At a groundbreaking ceremony, “Wellesley townspeople were on hand to applaud this milestone for the town,” according to a press release. Just folks being folksy.

terrazza
The old homes are gone, the new ones are on the way

 

You can now sign up to get info on the priority list for more info about the project, which will stand 3 stories high and encompass 82,000 sq. ft . Terrazza will offer 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom condos ranging from 770 to 2,400 sq. ft., and is slated to open in spring of 2023.

Pricing hasn’t been disclosed, but the marketing pitch might give you a clue: The public relations team clearly was getting paid by the Swellesley buzzword in an over-the-top press release that features the term “bespoke” no less than 4 times, along with  “oasis,” “luxury,” “curated,” and “unparalleled sophistication.”

Architectural Kitchens, WellesleyThe kitchens is closed in the Hills

Architectural Kitchens in Wellesley Hills has closed its 310 Washington Street location (across from Clocktower Park). The high-end design resource, known for its custom craftsmanship and cabinetry, continues to maintain a robust online presence.

It is not known at this time if the 25-year-old business plans to open another storefront here in town or Beyond Wellesley.

Live music in Wellesley Square

Wellesley Merchants

Peter Conrad Lavenson, local guitarist/singer and frontman for The Wayland Daddios band, will perform soulful, high energy tunes from Frank Sinatra to Maroon 5.

DATE: Saturday, June 26
TIME: 12pm-2p,
LOCATION: Central Park (by the Wellesley  Square Post Office).

Teal Tie Affair raises funds for Wellesley Theatre Project

Generous theater lovers turned out in force for Wellesley Theatre Project‘s recent Teal Tie Affair Virtual Soirée fundraiser. During an evening filled with outstanding student performances, camaraderie, and fun, WTP surpassed its event goal reaching over $105,000 in donations. The proceeds will help WTP weather the effects of the pandemic, enhance classes and productions, and continue to offer tuition scholarships to those in need.

Needham Bank adds Residential Loan Officer

Matthew Chen, Needham Bank
Matthew Chen, Needham Bank

Matthew Chen has joined the Needham Bank Residential Lending team as vice president, residential loan officer. He will perform a range of residential lending functions with a particular focus on meeting the borrowing and deposit needs of the Chinese American community.

“I am looking forward to utilizing my Chinese language skills to help develop relationships with Chinese-speaking clients and
applicants. It is important to serve diverse communities, and my skills will be able to aid Needham Bank in this area,” Chen said.

Needham Bank maintains a Wellesley branch location at 485 Washington Street.

 Vanguard Renewables taps new CEO

Joel-Gay-CEO
CEO Joel Gay

Vanguard Renewables, a Wellesley company that specializes in converting food and dairy waste into renewable energy, has named Joel Gay as its CEO. Founder John Hanselman vacates that role, and now serves as chief corporate development officer.

The company says it is aggressively expanding anaerobic digester projects across the country.

New CEO Gay had been president and CEO of a company called Energy Recovery.

Vanguard was founded in 2014.

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