Talking shop with Kevin Stanfield, co-owner of My Daddy's Cheesecake

Q: You've been in the restaurant industry a while. Give me a little background on your journey up to now.

A: I've been in a variety of businesses throughout the years. I co-owned and operated three Blimpie restaurants for 10 years. In 2002 one of my Blimpies was named Franchisee of the Year by Blimpie International. I sold those restaurants in 2006. I've also owned some convenience stores.

Q: Obviously the restaurant has to be somewhat stable because of the opening of the Clayton store. What does the future hold for My Daddy's Cheesecake?

A: We expanded because we felt we were ready to tackle the St. Louis market. We've supplied Dierberg's grocery stores with our cheesecakes for the past four years. There's a lot of notoriety with our name there, so we decided this was a good time to open. We'll have the same menu as we do here in Cape Girardeau. We're happy to be here in Cape Girardeau and know we're a landmark. But we're looking to franchise throughout the Midwest, starting in St. Louis. The states that touch Missouri are the ones we'll focus on and some of the cities we might go into include St. Charles, Mo., and Paducah, Ky. But we want to get the Clayton location off and running first. We'll give it six months before we venture out.

Q: What are your most popular kinds of cheesecake and what's the process you go through to make them?

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.comKevin Stanfield of My Daddy's Cheesecake.

A: Our best sellers are turtle, berry swirl and forbidden fudge. We also sell lots of wraps, salads, Reubens and soups. We're always trying to incorporate new products and there's always a new flavor of cheesecake introduced. It takes Wes [Kinsey] about a week to work with the ingredients and flavoring compounds to incorporate a new flavor. Some of the newest ones that come to mind are rum, margarita and raspberry. By the time we mix, cool, depan, freeze and slice the cheesecakes, it's about a three-day process from beginning to end.

Q: The economy continues to effect businesses throughout the U.S., and the restaurant industry isn't immune. One example is Arby's, which posted a drop in sales of 8.5 percent in North America at restaurants open at least a year, according to the Associated Press. How has your store been affected?

A: We're down a little bit in sales but not as bad as a lot of businesses are. Our cafe and catering continues to grow. We cater to staff meetings, hospitals and schools. We just continue to operate every day and please our customers. One new approach we started this year is online ordering. That's another avenue for sales. A lot of people are using the Internet because they know we can deliver products to them quickly and offer them outstanding food that is second to none. This summer we'll revamp the menu, which we try to do each year to change things up.