I have been lucky enough to have known the Wu’s now for 5 years. They’re a really down-to-earth, artsy family full of bruisers and badasses.
But I especially wanted a chance to sit down and talk with Eve, as, if she has something that enables her to make and bake things at the extraordinary level she does, it’s certainly worth telling people about. Baking isn’t just a job you show up for 40 hours a week to punch a time clock and solve mundane problems: baking is a labor of love that stays constantly on the brain, and is unwilling to settle for something other than what you envision. It’s a job driven by self-fulfilling passion that can’t be taught. It’s a commitment, and a respect you have deep inside of you that drives to succeed.
This is what I love seeing in our community, and why we’re talking about it.
Our chat was funny and light. Allow me introduce one especially talented St. Paul neighbor:
Eve Wu is a mother of 3. Her husband, Eddie Wu, is owner of Cook STP, a popular eatery along St. Paul’s Payne Avenue. She is baker and cake-maker extraordinaire, running her own small boutique bakery all by herself from the back of the restaurant.
How did you start baking/cooking?
“5 years ago I wanted a cake,” she tells me as we enjoy a few Saisons at one of my favorite artist hangouts. “I looked everywhere for something good and was a bit underwhelmed at my options, no one made stuff I wanted to eat.”
From local grocery stores to small bakeries Eve couldn’t find something organic; something without layers of toxic food colorings and artificial flavors. It seemed that most commodity cakes and baked goods that were available over the counter were often mediocre and, well, simply no good. She wanted something special. Something other than a mix from a box or a cookie cutter sheet cake.
And what happened? She decided to make her own cakes. After a few youtube videos (and plenty of hard work), Keikeu Cake Boutique was born.
Here are a few pictures of her work (try not to drool):
Where does your inspiration come from?
“Perseverance. I think it’s other children and adults who make or do anything. People out there doing it. Fucking up and still doing it. It helps me get through cakes I might not love but finish; keeping at it. Not giving up on things that are not perfect to me.”
To this day, one of Eve’s greatest influences remains her high school art teacher. The teacher played a big roll in enabling Eve to be more humble and confident in her work; less critical and more relaxed. Eve says these lessons haven’t left her and continue to help her through the tedious art of baking and decorating cakes.
Any big goals for the future?
“Simply staying steady.”
While she has tried expanding; taking on more/larger jobs, and hiring an apprentice, she has found that this hasn’t worked for her, and doesn’t see herself trying it again.
Keikeu can deliver an outstanding, one-of-a-kind product with how her business works now. Why jeopardize that integrity?
So often people think expanding and growing is what’s always next. But what happened to people wanting to deliver a consist and and great product, every time?
This is, of course, a lot of work.
So what do you do in your free time?
When she’s not making 152 couple-cakes for a wedding, keeping the youngest daughter from terrorizing her older sons, and keeping her husband Eddie’s kimchee obsession fulfilled, Eve runs, reads… and works on revenge?
Revenge?
“I spend a lot of time thinking about how I will avenge people,” she says. “I have a kind of rep on revenge. Like long-game Count of Monte Cristo-type shit. Koreans also have Han.”
Han, which can be described simply as a sense of bonding for all Koreans based on suffering and hardship, but is much more complicated and much harder to describe without the right context, is one of the most unique pieces of Korean culture.
But, every once in a while, Eve manages to relax and do nothing at all.
“I lock myself in the bedroom and just try and do nothing,” she says. (Although I picture her devouring, with her hands, some organic masterpiece of a cake that took her 2 days to make.)
She even manages to find the time to cook at home. Though the hubby runs a Korean-inspired diner (Cook STP), she tends to lean more toward American staples when she is in the kitchen: tuna noodle casserole, tacos with pulled chicken or ground beef, and, a south-of-the-border version of the Sloppy Joe known as the Sloppy Jose.
If she had more time she would travel more, she tells me, as well as attend live music/shows, float tank at the wellness center, practice origami, and sing Korean karaoke (Noraebang).
But, of course, there’s always a little time for a cocktail or two:
What is your favorite local brewery/distillery?
“Skaalvenn Distillery. I like the way their booze tastes.” The distillery, owned by a few friends of hers, doesn’t quite have their own space yet. But make great Rum, Vodka and Aquavit, which she also uses for her cakes, like her Mojito Bundt Cake (pictured above).
What are your favorite restaurants in the TC?
Hello Pizza, Sole Café, Sassy Spoon, Cook STP, and El Burrito Mercado.
And, most important question, favorite side of the river?
“STP for Life,” she laughs. “You date MPLS, you marry STP.”
Keikeu Cake Boutique | 1124 Payne Ave, St Paul | (612) 889-1013 | eve@keikeucake.com
