MeMe's Treats to Exit Mt. Kisco, Move to Yorktown

MeMe's Treats will close its Mount Kisco bakery and move it to Yorktown's Shrub Oak hamlet. The plan is to open the new location next month.

The new location is the result of a merger and joint venture forming. Anthony Farroni, Yorktown resident and owner of Paradise Bake Shop in Shrub Oak, has partnered with Dawn White, who has built up her own following and developed a brand through MeMe's Treats Bakery in Bedford Hills. The Mount Kisco location provided baked goods for the Bedford Hills store.

A second-generation baker who was inspired by his Italian father, Farroni is hoping to continue the tradition of providing great quality authentic Italian baked goods and expand his business. 

The two will bring the best of both worlds to create the "ultimate bakery experience" in Yorktown. Paradise Bake Shop will change its name to match MeMe's. 

Farroni, who opened Paradise Bake Shop in 2006, said his store would be getting a new look, add new services and treats, but the quality and service his customers have come to love would remain the same. 

"In addition to all the wonderful confections you've come to know at Paradise, we are bringing our own homemade 'crazy delicious' desserts along with a full espresso bar and our own homemade gelato for the ultimate bakery experience," MeMe's Treats Bakery said about the changes. 

Besides the 'crazy delicious' treats, the store will be transformed into a 'bakery boutique' and visually upgraded. Every little detail – from the curtains, to the cabinetry and custom labels – will have the pink, green and brown touches of color of MeMe's brand. Artwork will also be displayed on the walls – close up picture shots of the cookies and baked goods the owners have created with their own hands. 

There will be no limit to what the two power bakers can do, White said. Besides already offering custom-made cakes and children's birthday parties, they also hope to expand the business to offer baking classes for adults. 

White told Patch earlier this year she tries to do things a bit differently – offering some unique flavors like chocolate linzer tarts, and black and white cookies with a red velvet base. She also makes homemade doggie biscuits.

The woman, a Granite Springs resident who worked as a graphic designer for 20 years, made a career change to follow her passion of baking delicious cookies.

"This is fulfilling my heart," White said. "I just feel like I'm doing what I've always wanted to do."

She is still able to out in her creativity in her work – she is involved from start to finish, from the raw ingredients to the customer walking out the door. 

A dark chocolate walnut chunk cookie started the whole MeMe's enterprise.

"I used to eat that cookie back when I was in high school, at my boyfriend's house," White told Patch when she opened her Bedford Hills store.

Now her high school sweetheart is her husband, and his mom—the baker—is her mother-in-law, one of the women in her life who inspired her to start her own business. The name "MeMe" is a term of endearment that she says embodies the spirit of her female support network.

Farroni, in turn, has always been surrounded by bakers and worked in the field. His father Antonio grew up in Bari, Italy, before coming to America. The man worked as a baker for 36 years before realizing his dream of opening the original Paradise Bake Shop in Yonkers in 1992. His son Anthony continued the tradition by opening the bakery in Shrub Oak.  

For the holidays, Farroni said they are open and taking orders. Their most popular items on the menu include holiday cookie trays, strufoli, profiterolle, as well as gift baskets, custom fondant cakes, cupcakes, canolis and more.

For more information on Meme's Treats Bakery, which offers children's birthday parties, call914-358-5299 or 914-528-3300. Paradise Bake Shop (or the soon-to-be MeMe's Treats Bakery) is located at 1402 E Main St. in Shrub Oak.