Sweetly Divine, a taste of Europe
Soup, salad, sandwiches and sweets.
Opened two and a half years ago by owner and chef Mark Grodkowski, Sweetly Divine, located on 1309 N. Main, Suite 90, started off as just a pastry shop but added homemade soups and sandwiches to its medley of goods.
Grodkowski, who started baking at 13, isn’t new to the bakery scene. He said he owned a wholesale bakery in Salt Lake for many years before inspiration hit while driving through Sardine Canyon and he then moved his family to Logan. After selling the bakery in Salt Lake, Grodkowski said he felt inspired to open the shop since there wasn’t anything like it in Logan.
Having immigrated to the United States in 1984 after finishing pastry school in Poland, Grodkowski said he didn’t speak any English besides yes and no.
“I knew this was the land of opportunity,” said Grodkowski. “You could live the American dream of a wife, kids, house and a dog. Now I have it all.”
Grodkowski said he has a wide variety of sweets such as his house originals like creme puff swans that he refers to as “creme puffs with attitude.” He also has creme brulee, chocolate croissants and fruit pastries.
The advice Grodkowski gives people about what to eat is to “start from the left of the display case and go to the right. Get something different every time you come in.”
Grodkowski said he often gets people in the shop who have traveled and he often hears them say, “Mark, this is the best creme brulee I’ve ever had.”
Grodkowski admits chocolate in the shop is his weakness but adds that a customer can never go wrong with it, especially with the chocolates that are ordered from Belgium and Switzerland.
Grodkowsk, doesn’t like to play favorites with his pastries but said he finds one which he enjoys more than others.
“For one week I eat one kind of pastry, then I get sick of it and I switch,” he said.
Aside from offering European pastries and a mix of house creations, Sweetly Divine offers a wide variety of sandwiches, homemade soups and light salads with fresh ingredients. Grodkowski said the sandwiches start with herb focaccia bread that is made in house. The bread is then layered with meat, vegetables, cheese and topped off with special sauce and jalapeno jelly for a sweet but sassy taste. Grodkowski said he recommends the roast beef sandwich.
Sweetly Divine’s soup menu is unlike any other soup menu offered in Logan. With rotating soups, Tuesday is the soup surprise day when Grodkowski often makes his Pickle Soup that he recommends everyone try. The soups range from chicken tortilla to clam chowder and creamy soups in surprising combination like bacon spinach which he said is not heavy and delicious.
Grodkowski loves the food at his shop but knows the consequences of eating to many sweets and advises, “Eat well, just don’t eat too much.”
–ch.jensen@aggiemail.usu.edu