Husband-and-wife team Christopher Banham and Adriana Gamboa Olalde opened a tiny cheesecake shop a year ago in January, offering a luscious line of cakes and coffee.
Husband-and-wife team Christopher Banham and Adriana Gamboa Olalde are celebrating the first anniversary of their Banham’s Cheesecake shop. Customer favorites include the Oreo and strawberry cakes, pictured (photo by Marjorie Rice).
Nothing unusual about that, except neither had a day of experience in the food service business. And neither was professionally trained in baking or other food preparation. Banham had worked in finance and liked to bake cheesecake, and Olalde was a nurse from Mexico who hadn’t even tasted cheesecake before she met her husband.
“It was definitely a high dive,” she said. “And it’s going swimmingly.”
Their shop, Banham’s Cheesecake at 28th Street and Indian School Road, next to a Sprouts market, is a neighborhood favorite, also drawing customers throughout the Valley and as far as Tucson, Olalde said.
It’s a tiny place, light and airy, with a large cold case packed with whole and sliced cakes, a couple of small bistro tables and a wall-size line drawing of Paris rooftops with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
The décor reflects the couple’s love of Paris — especially the city’s casual-chic culinary culture — dating from their honeymoon there four years ago.
When Banham left the finance world more than a year ago, the couple decided to open a shop like ones they enjoyed in Paris, this one specializing in cheesecake.
Banham comes from a family of avid bakers.
“My dad is a very successful Silicon Valley professional, but he’s always wanted to career-switch and build a bakery around his famous carrot cake,” he said. “By same token, I had always had that in the back of my heart, if I ever did something, cheesecake has got to be it.
“I always had made traditional cheesecake, with a classic graham cracker crust. We like to keep our recipes really simple and direct with a very well-balanced flavor. We pulled back on the sugar so it’s not so sweet and allows the cream cheese and additional ingredients to be the star.”
The result is a light, fluffy texture, with a tangy undertone.
“A lot of times, cheesecake is slightly off-putting because it’s so dense,” Banham said. “Some people aren’t so keen on that.”
Banham also takes pride that he doesn’t add food coloring or other additives to his cakes and prepares them with all-natural ingredients and toppings made from scratch.
The menu offers customer favorites — strawberry, key lime and Oreo — along with other seasonal fruit toppings, dulce de leche, lemon curd, coconut, brownie and more. In February they’ll add red velvet cheesecake for Valentine’s Day. It’s a bow to his sister, who, Banham said, makes a “killer” red velvet cake.
They’re also planning to add his father’s “super delicious” carrot cake, Olalde said, taking their first turn from an all-cheesecake menu. And they’re perfecting a banana cheesecake.
In addition to their airy, piquant departure from the usual dense cake, they added another twist, deciding to stay open till 10 at night on weekdays, 11 on weekends.
That decision stemmed from Olalde’s experience growing up in Eastern Mexico, where businesses stay open until 9 or 10 at night, and from their own frustration late one night when they had a craving for dessert and couldn’t find a place that was open.
The couple is looking at additional locations in the West Valley, possibly Glendale, and in Gilbert in the East Valley, but plans are flexible right now.
Wherever they decide to open next, their aim will be to maintain the level of quality and service they’re setting with this original location.
“Our priority is freshness and the quality of the product,” Olalde said. “I want people to know that we’re a small business and we are giving our customers everything that we have.”
“We want to build a café where, when you walk in, you’re taken to another place,” Banham added. “We want to have a place that’s an elegant but casual place to have a fantastic dessert.”
Banham’s Cheesecake, at 2836 E. Indian School Rd., is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 602-824-8657 or visit www.banhamscheesecake.com.
