Shetice Jackson has been a chef her entire life. She cooked throughout high school, and then she attended Emerson Vocational High School for Culinary Arts, where she graduated first in her class. From there, she graduated from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Her experience includes being a sous chef for a number of restaurants, working for Emeril Lagasse at the MGM Grand Hotel, and earning her bachelor’s degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management from SUNY Buffalo State. She also did an 8-year stint as chef-instructor of Campus House – a teaching laboratory – on the grounds of SUNY Buffalo State.
It was only when she wanted to purchase a birthday cake for her mother that she ventured into the world of baking. It turns out that her mother’s birthday is on New Year’s Eve. She went to Wegman’s, to purchase “a sparkly cake,” but all they had were cakes with balloons on them. Instead of purchasing a cake, she bought all of the ingredients to make a cake, and went home to teach herself how to bake.
“It was so bad. I even forgot to use oil,” said Shetice [laughing]. “So I had to do it again. The next cake – a sheet cake – I put in a box and gave to my mother. We were poor, and none of us knew anything about fancy bakeries at the time, so she was so happy with the cake. That’s when I became obsessed with learning how to bake and decorate. I began YouTubing everything – my mother called my favorite aunt and said Shetice is cake crazy!‘ That’s how I came up with the name Cake Crazy Bakery. At one point, we were in Wegman’s and five other locations, but I wanted to focus more on cooking, so I ended those relationships.”
Cake Crazy Bakery and Gourmet Catering is located in Cheektowaga. As you can imagine, the premise is on baking, but at one point, a few years back, Shetice began to serve up soups and sandwiches. It turns out that the location (for an eatery) was too far out of the way. She realized that if she was going to serve soups and sandwiches, it would have to be at a different location.
When Shetice announced to her employees that she was going to take off for six months, to enter a body building competition, she asked them to keep Cake Crazy Bakery running smoothly. While she did end up talking to the staff each day during those six months, the break from the business signaled that she could dedicate more time to cooking, as her staff was able to take care of the bakery end of the operation.
“I didn’t want to lose the bakery,” said Shetice. “Buffalo has a lot of great restaurants, but not a lot of great bakeries. When an opportunity presented itself to open a restaurant, I knew that I had to take it.”
That opportunity turned out to be opening a fast casual restaurant called Crazy Good Eatz, located at 2285 Main Street (the former location of Tony’s Ranch House).
When Crazy Good Eatz opens in September, it will have a heavy focus on soups. Shetice told me that there will be six different scratch made soups each day, along with salads, sandwiches, specials, and “amazing desserts provided by Cake Crazy Bakery.” Not only has the interior of the restaurant been completely updated, the restaurant grounds have been spruced up very nicely, which is great to see at this high profile intersection.
Once open, the neighborhood will, once again, have a reliable restaurant, operated by a professional team that is dedicated to perfection. And with cooler weather on the way, it’s going to be nice having a place to depend on for some delicious homemade soups. Not to mention the rest of Shetice’s menu items, which will reflect her passion and personality.
“My specials will show my personality and creativity as a chef,” said Shetice. “I’m excited to show off my culinary skills for Buffalo.”
Crazy Good Eatz | 2285 Main Street | Buffalo NY | Facebook
