Three Brothers Cheesecake shop a family affair

Running a restaurant can be a juggling act -- especially when you add homework to the mix.

Welcome to Three Brothers Cheesecake and Sweets in downtown Macon at 592 Cherry St.

Or, as Greg Wade says to new customers: “Welcome to the home of the youngest entrepreneurs in the state of Georgia.”

Wade, a certified chef, has the business license -- “They’re too young,” he explained -- but he lists his sons, Gregory, 12, Garrian, 10, and Gevontae, 4, as the owners. The cheesecake shop was the oldest son’s idea, their father said.

“I had lost my job last year, and we were doing yard work and Gregory asked me, ‘Daddy, can you teach me how to bake a cheesecake?’ I said, ‘Why do you want to do that?’ He said, ‘We’re going to start our business so you won’t have to work for anybody.’ ”

The guys were open for a while at the indoor flea market across from Macon Mall but decided to move downtown because customers at the market thought the cakes were too pricey.

“They looked at us like we were crazy,” Wade said. “Here, people don’t blink an eye when we say $8.”

The cheesecakes come in nine flavors, all created by the boys.

Of course, each thinks his favorite is the best.

Gregory picks his Lemon Sunrise.

Garrian favors his Chocolate Chocolate Chip.

Gevontae, the youngest, recommends his Banana Pecan.

Gregory, who attends Ridge Elementary, is a natural in the kitchen, “a helluva baker for a 12-year-old,” according to his dad.

The key to baking a good cheesecake, Gregory says, is the “right flavors” and making sure “employees are doing everything right.”

Garrian is “the businessman,” his dad says.

The Wells Elementary student says his career goal is to be “CEO of this business.”

“I run the register because I’m good at math,” he said.

He’s also taken the lead on advertising. At school, he enlists a buddy, Darien Patterson, to help drum up business.

“We tell teachers and students to come around and stuff,” he said.

On a recent sunny afternoon, it’s little Gevontae who’s bringing in the business. He’s hard to miss, running around the sidewalk outside the store in a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet, tossing an unsharpened pencil into the air and catching make-believe touchdowns for “the best team ever.”

At one point, he sprints into the store and asks, “Daddy, how much money is the bread pudding?”

“Six dollars,” his daddy replies.

Gevontae runs back out the door.

“Six dollars!” he tells the customer, who’s already within an earshot of the counter.

Another customers asks, “Does your daddy make good cheesecake?”

Gevontae quickly sets the customer straight. “We do,” he says.

Wade says the downtown restaurant was a Christmas present last year to the boys. He started renovating the location at the beginning of this year.

“It was a shell,” he said. “We worked the whole month of January. We had no lights, no running water. We worked with a generator, as cold as January was.”

The restaurant offers other cakes, along with sandwiches, soup and gumbo. Wade admits there are a few kinks to work out, especially with the Cherry Blossom Festival coming up. The shop already has a festival recipe in the works, a Cherry Pink Chocolate cheesecake.

Wade, who was born and raised in Harlem, said he had a catering business in New York before moving here six years ago.

He is using the restaurant to pass on culinary and business skills to his sons.

“I’m teaching them every step of the way, whenever I feel they’re ready to learn something else.”

They’re also learning life lessons, too.

The boys have started an anti-bullying campaign and have a collection jar on the counter near a sign that reads, “I Am NOT a Bully.”

Wade said he was unaware of any area campaign, so the proceeds will be given to an anti-bullying effort run by comedienne Ellen DeGeneres.

“Dad was talking to us about bullying. Somebody was bullying somebody at school. That’s when I got the idea,” said Garrian.

The boys’ mother, Adrenna Wade, said she’s proud of them for “really doing something positive.”

Their dad is proud, too.

“I’m glad I got fired,” he said.

To contact writer Rodney Manley, call 744-4623.

This story was originally published March 6, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Three Brothers Cheesecake shop a family affair."