Carlee WrightThere was a time when alleys were places for questionable activities but not anymore…unless you’re cheating on your no sugar, low-carb diet and grabbing a slice of Pirates Booty (that’s chocolate cake made with Santiam Brewing’s Pirate Stout, coconut pecan filling and chocolate ganache) at 11 p.m. on Friday night. Part of Salem’s downtown revitalization includes actively transforming our alleys into central locations for arts + entertainment + culture and a major part of that is food, especially the sinfully delicious treats you can nab at Sweetsmith Desserts, a fork to mouth project from Amadeus chef/owner Diana Ramallo, and her daughter, Alena Stewart.
Despite saying her stay in Salem wasn’t going to be a permanent thing, Alena hasn’t left — that was 30 years ago — and there’s no chance of it happening in the next few years (if ever) especially since she’s got a lot of baking to do.
Alena’s restaurant experience has a history starting with fond memories of her grandmother’s restaurant, Via Florencia, a family business, which was in the Reed Opera House until it closed in 1992. Alena remembers as a nine or 10 year old in the kitchen eating pickled herring, and running around the Reed drinking Sprite out of a martini glass, and yes, it definitely had an olive in it. She also remembers how her grandma made chocolate pasta.
“It was the weirdest most delicious thing ever,” she said.
After the restaurant closed, Alena’s mom sold her decadent desserts while pursuing a degree from the Culinary Institute in Portland. Then, in 1996, Diana opened Amadeus in the Salem Public Library. Eventually, the restaurant moved south where it lived for a few more years, before heading to the heart of the city in 2013.
But things couldn’t stop there. About a year ago, Alena and her mom started talking about creating the next generation of the Amadeus vision: a bakery.
“I love baking, especially doing wedding cakes and birthday cakes, and the feeling of making someone happy for that moment,” Alena said.
Alena bakes every day but admits, “I’m not a great early morning baker. I’m usually here by 7, which is why we are a bakery that opens at 9 a.m.” (NOTE: Hours may be different due to COVID-19.)
Alena’s foundation of experience comes from her mom, but she is always seeking to learn, and try new things, which is why she is regularly online.
“I do what everyone else does,” she said, “I bake the way the recipe says, then add my own twist and end up with a recipe that works for me.”
She’s also got ideas of her own…like her wedding cake, for example. When her mom asked what kind she wanted, she was quick to announce: pound cake and crème brûlée. “That’s kind of obscene,” replied her mother. It’s been on the menu ever since. That was in 2004.
“The cake lasted longer than the marriage but I ended up with a great daughter and recipe in the divorce,” said Alena.
When asked of her favorite thing to bake, Alena is quick to respond: chocolate chip cookies.
“There’s this moment when the cookies are in the oven and you smell them…then the timer goes off. Perfectly crisp around the edges and barely set in the middle. Who doesn’t like chocolate chip cookies,” she said.
“….Oh and cinnamon rolls. It’s a tie. I love yeasted dough products. That’s my mamma jamma.”
PS: Sweetsmith also has baked options for special diets, too, such as keto, gluten-free and vegan.
Sweetsmith Desserts
In the alley at 135 Liberty St SE
www.instagram.com/sweetsmithsalem/
This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 5 (Feb/Mar 2019)
Anne Lapour
Ben Mah
