Reward yourself in January by indulging your sweet tooth at Old Europe Desserts
Slices of creamy cheesecake, berry-topped tortes, tiramisu, and Black Forest cake cause customers’ eyes to light up when they enter Old Europe Desserts. “The pastry case is the main attraction,” acknowledges the shop’s owner, Bobby Daugherty.
By his own admission, Daugherty is not a restaurateur—or a baker. He majored in economics at Furman University—where he also played football from 1986–1990—and put his degree to work in the financial industry.
In 2014, he began informally offering business advice to Melinda Vetro, the Hungarian-born owner of the original Old Europe Pastries, whom the Black Mountain native had gotten to know during frequent trips to downtown Asheville. “That [relationship] morphed into a full-blown partnership with her in 2015,” he says.
In 2019, the partners discussed expanding. That’s when they separated the two businesses and Daugherty opened Old Europe Desserts in downtown Greenville. Here, and at his new shop in BridgeWay Station, he carries on the concept of offering European-style pastries that are lighter and less sweet than their American counterparts, owing to their Eastern European roots. All of Old Europe’s pastries, cakes, cookies, and pies are made fresh daily on-site; each location has its own kitchen and pastry chef.
Ironically, Daugherty doesn’t eat sweets. “I run the other way—if this was a steakhouse, I’d weigh 400 pounds,” he says, laughing. Nevertheless, he makes it a point to taste his way through the entire pastry case every month, three to four items at a time, to ensure the high quality that distinguishes Old Europe’s desserts.
Valentine’s Day Treats at Old Europe Desserts
As early as January, the shop starts rolling out special items for Valentines Day, predictably one of their biggest weeks of the year. Look for new flavors of macarons, cream puffs with pink strawberry icing, and heart-shaped chocolate Cupid Cakes for two. No matter the season, they always have chocolate bourbon pecan pie, “because that was my [late] dad’s favorite,” the owner says.
“It’s the quality of what we do and the freshness of our ingredients that pops out at you,” notes the former Furman running back. Old Europe aims to spread the sweet love by creating a traditional European experience, a place where customers come to sit and relax and enjoy coffee and cake with friends.
“When people walk through that door, their whole body language changes because of what we do, and I’m really proud of that,” Daugherty observes as he watches a couple of women enter the shop to check out the pastry case. They don’t buy anything this time, but promise to return. “They always come back,” Daugherty confides with a smile.
716-A, S. Main St., Greenville, and 2107 Via Corso Ave., Simpsonville; open daily, oldeuropedesserts.com
All the Pretty Things
Try these customer favorites:
Lemon Bavarian – Light as a cloud, Old Europe’s heavenly Bavarian tops yellow cake with lemon mousse and a halo of fresh blueberries and raspberries.
Rigó Jancsi – Composed of chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, and chocolate ganache, this traditional Hungarian dessert (named for a famous Hungarian Gypsy violinist) is a melt-in-your-mouth chocoholic’s dream.
Túró Berry Torte – Hungarian túró, a soft-curd farmer’s cheese, is an essential ingredient in this torte, along with a layer of fresh berries blended with house-made whipped cream.
