808 Cheesecake

808 Cheesecake
www.wherethepassionis.com

From owners Lori & Robinson Reyes:

“808 Cheesecake (Island Creations LLC) was born in 2007 as a result of experimenting with lilikoi (passionfruit). My husband had tried a Lilikoi milkshake at a 50s diner and liked it so much he wanted to duplicate it. We gathered as much lilikoi as we could and began experimenting. We had milkshakes for weeks so I decided to add the passionfruit juice into something else. I started with a cookie recipe I felt would taste good with the lilikoi. Our family loved them! Their enthusiasm inspired me to continue experimenting so I made a Lilikoi Pound Cake next. Everyone that tried it and said we would do very well selling them as not too many places make delicious lilikoi items. I was the manager for American Airlines at the time so I didn’t have time to do much baking. I continued to make the cookies and pound cake and casually sold them to whoever wanted to buy. Until one day in 2012 I got an idea for a Lilikoi Cheesecake. I instantly knew it would be amazing with the lilikoi added to it. I began experimenting again and after many attempts and adjustments to the recipe I had created the most delicious Lilikoi Mousse Cheesecake! It is our most popular flavor to date. I knew it was good when my husband (who doesn’t even like cheesecake) nearly fell off his chair with excitement at how good it was! I took them to work and several of my coworkers wanted to purchase them so I started selling small 4” cheesecakes to my friends and family.

I started experimenting with other flavors, such as Kona Coffee. After trying several variations, I came up with the perfect Kona Coffee Cheesecake. In 2013, I was encouraged to enter it into the Kona Coffee Dessert Competition and ended up winning a Silver medal for People’s Choice and a Bronze medal for Chef’s Choice! We went on to win more awards for our cheesecake, in fact, the last two years we are reigning Gold medalist for our Latte Cheesecake and our Kahlua Kona Coffee Cheesecake.

At that time I was still working full time for United Airlines, but the demand for my Cheesecake’s was becoming greater and greater. It left me with little time for family, rest, or any type of social life. I knew with our creativity and entrepreneurial drive (not to mention the joy we get from watching our customers faces) what I needed to do. So in May 2015 I decided to leave my full-time job at United Airlines to pursue our business full time.

Rob and I had built our business in one short year to two farmer’s markets per week plus special events. We also do catering, wholesale, and a few restaurants. We have been featured on KHON’s “808 Living” television program for our Savory Ahi Poke Cheesecake and had several newspaper articles featuring our various cheesecakes and won several awards! Our passion for what we do is what drives us to continue growing and creating!

We have been looking to expand into our own kitchen and retail space here in Hawaii, but with the high cost of real estate it’s been slow to materialize. An opportunity has come up in my hometown of Roscoe, Illinois to lease a bakery fully equipped with everything we need at a much lower cost. My daughter lives there and has the same passion for baking as I do so she will be the head baker and operations manager.

We are so honored to be part of 2 amazing communities so far!

In January 2018 we finally found the perfect home for 808CheesecakeHawaii! We moved into Kona Joe’s Coffee Farm! We celebrated our Grand Opening on the exact day that our Illinois store was opened the year before! At Kona Joe’s Coffee we are able to sell from our kitchen, thru their Coffee Bar and Gift Shop. We now have a place where customers can come enjoy a cup of coffee and an Award Winning Cheesecake while admiring the breath taking views from this beautiful place!

Expansion is definitely in our future! Two locations in two years! Where will 2019 take us? Stay tuned!

Mahalo to everyone who has supported and believed in us! This is all possible because of our amazing family, friends, and customers!