Dessert Shop Opens With Private Party

Finally there’s a Finale just around the corner.

The decadent desserterie’s new Holyoke center space formerly occupied by Ma Soba location celebrated its grand opening yesterday evening, feeding a decidedly excited crowd of guests invited by the management. The restaurant will open to the public on Sunday.

Tempting guests with 16 varieties of mini-pastries, kitchen manager Erik Hance said the restaurant prepared 1,200 desserts for the occasion. An open bar served wine, champagne and soda.

The sumptuous treats—including chocolate tarts, pecan pie, cheesecake and mousse cups—were served in the main dining room and on the front patio. Desserts last night were on the house, but when the restaurant opens to the public they will run from $8 to $30 apiece.

General Manager Ferenc Auer, a restaurateur from Hungary, said the Finale concept is the first of its kind he has seen in the United States.

“It’s a very European, Old World conception, which Finale transferred into a New World approach,” he said. “It’s a beautiful, upscale restaurant and it’s a cafe taken to a new level.”

Like the original Finale in downtown Boston, the main focus will be on cafe desserts and its bakery, but the restaurant will also offer an extended light fare menu.

“We offer a ‘prelude’ menu with 16 items, so people can have appetizers or a full dinner,” he said, “as long as they save room for dessert.”

Finale will keep its bakery counter open from 10 a.m. until closing but will only offer table service in the evenings, after 5 p.m.

“Customers are welcome to sit at the tables during the day, but we want a relaxed approach,” Auer said. “But we have an elegant scene at night.”

Along with the 70-seat dining room, Finale also boasts a small patio for when weather permits. Cushioned red velvet booths and dark wood tables match the exquisite desserts.

Co-owners Kim Moore and Paul Conforti opened the original Finale four years ago after developing the concept while students at Harvard Business School.

“Our intention all along was to have multiple locations,” Moore said. “When the Boston location was so successful, we started thinking, where else should we go? It was nice to come back to where the idea had come from.”

The owners say they are trying to build a strong relationship with Cambridge. Half of the restaurant’s staff are students, including several from Harvard.

Anna Hsia, a student at Harvard Law School, said the atmosphere of Finale made for an excellent working environment—and already she’s seen some unexpected perks.

On Sunday night, employees invited friends and family members for a test run—the kitchen turned out pastries at near full steam and the wait staff went through their paces for the first time.

“Afterwards there were extra desserts, so we had a field day,” Hsia said.

At last night’s festivities, Allston resident Neyran Sen said she is glad to have a Finale closer to home. Sen, who is from Turkey, recently received a certificate in marketing from the Harvard Extension School and says she wants to open a Turkish restaurant in the Boston area. But she’s also a fan of rich desserts.

“We used to go [into Boston],” she said. “This is more convenient, since my apartment is only a mile from here. More chocolate now.”

In addition to desserts, guests were treated to a trio of a cappella tunes performed by the Radcliffe Pitches.

“We had been to the location downtown, so we contacted the owners when we found out about this place,” said Pitches President Lara A. Setrakian ’04. “It’s a jazzy, Pitch-y place. We knew this would be a home base, so we thought it would be great to greet the public.”

—Staff writer Katherine M. Dimengo can be reached at dimengo@fas.harvard.edu.