{"id":216210,"date":"2015-12-09T06:06:54","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T20:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=216210"},"modified":"2015-12-09T06:06:54","modified_gmt":"2015-12-08T20:06:54","slug":"sweet-escape-operation-is-finally-back-in-full-swing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/sweet-escape-operation-is-finally-back-in-full-swing\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweet Escape operation is finally back in full swing"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
Sweet Escape, run by manager and main baker Malyssa Castro, center, and partners and cake decorators Seiji Sonoda and Jessica Sonoda pose after their re-opening. (Daisy Demapan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThe island\u2019s finest dessert boutique, Sweet Escape, finally reopened Tuesday last week after a few months\u2019 hiatus due to Typhoon Soudelor.<\/p>\n

The boutique, run by manager and main baker Malyssa Castro with partners Seiji Sonoda, Jessica Sonoda, and Erica Thornburgh, said the closure in the last few months was a trying time for their business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been closed for months but we couldn\u2019t open immediately because our appliances were damaged\u2026due to the humidity and power outages. We had to throw everything away\u201d and basically started from scratch, said Seiji Sonoda, who is also the outlet\u2019s cake decorator.<\/p>\n

The business originally opened on Nov. 11, 2011, with sisters Jessica Sonoda and Thornburgh taking the lead, but Seiji Sonoda said it felt like they were opening for the very first time again.<\/p>\n

When asked how it all began, he said that business has always been in their blood. \u201cWe\u2019ve always had this desire from our parents since the time of the Chamorro restaurant they opened many years ago located on the strip [now called Paseo De Marianas] but the whole concept for the boutique started with my sisters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Seiji Sonoda went to the famed culinary school Le Cordon Bleu and returned home to take part in the business, which all started with cupcakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was Seiji who shared all his techniques with us and so we kept experimenting with our recipes,\u201d said his sister, Jessica Sonoda.<\/p>\n

After much trial and error, they came up with a recipe for delicately crafted fondant cakes that conforms to the weather of Saipan without taking away the decadence of the dessert.<\/p>\n

Everything is made from scratch and custom cakes are done entirely freehand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does take us a little longer,\u201d Seiji said, but that\u2019s one the reasons behind the boutique idea. \u201cIt\u2019s a very intimate experience and we like to get to know our customers by name,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually, people were asking us to make cakes and so our primary business became orders and a lot of our flavor ideas were inspired by our customers,\u201d he said, stating that over 85 flavors have been concocted since their opening four years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now compiling a list of these flavors for our customers to choose from,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The siblings would like to start soon with made-to-order dessert dishes for dining.<\/p>\n

Today they offer a wide variety of pull-apart cakes, 3D cakes, custom cakes, and tablescaping services to bring out the character and personality of their cakes for any event.<\/p>\n

According to Seiji Sonoda, one of their biggest supporters in the success of the business is their cousin Malyssa Castro, who serves as the main baker and the front service where customers have a chance to taste their best selling flavors. \u201cShe has been supportive of the business since day one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sweet Escape is inviting everyone to drop by for refreshing teas, cookies, one-of-a kind cupcakes and cake creations available daily. It is located behind the former Jollibee restaurant building in Garapan.<\/p>\n

For more information, add them on Facebook, call 233-3657 or log on to www.sweetscape670.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The island\u2019s finest dessert boutique, Sweet Escape, finally reopened Tuesday last week after a few…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":216213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[56,8594,3573,8595],"class_list":["post-216210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-business-3","tag-jessica-sonoda","tag-malyssa-castro","tag-seiji-sonoda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}