Posé Bakery in Owings Mills is famous for its cheesecakes. This is the Black Bottom cheesecake. March 8, 2022 (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

A lot of things we think of as new trends in the food world are really just old ideas, gussied up. Take “ghost kitchens,” or restaurants that operate without a brick-and-mortar space. With the help of delivery apps, the concept has taken off in recent years, particularly during the pandemic.

Lois Posey Gibbons started a ghost kitchen before ghost kitchens were cool. The founder of Mrs. Posé’s Bakery in Baltimore, she began selling homemade cheesecakes at Love’s, the restaurant where she worked as a waitress in the 1950s.

Cheesecake was not a common thing in Baltimore restaurants at the time, and Gibbons’ dessert took off.

Posé Bakery in Owings Mills is famous for its cheesecakes. Here, Mitchell Tobias, a long-time employee, uses a crumb flattening machine to smooth the crumb layer of a Black Bottom cheesecake. March 8, 2022 (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

“It flew out the door, so she started making more,” said Susan Harris, Gibbons’ daughter, 66, who took over the business in 1995. “My grandfather bought her a station wagon to do her deliveries in.” Her cheesecake was soon on the menu at the Prime Rib and at restaurants in Little Italy. When she was swamped with orders, she paid friends to borrow their ovens, according to her obituary. Gibbons died in 2020 at age 93.

Mrs. Posé’s Bakery eventually found its own home in Milford Mill, and over the years expanded to offer several varieties of cheesecakes and black bottom cupcakes. It’s been primarily a wholesale business, with a small storefront where people could pick up individual cheesecakes.

Among the customers was Shelbie Wassel’s mother. “Anybody my age who grew up in the area, it’s a part of our childhood,” said Wassel, 66.

Last year, Wassel became one of the new co-owners of Mrs. Posé’s Bakery when she purchased the business from Harris. Wassel and her team moved the shop’s operations from the aging facility where it had been located since the 1970s to a newer space in an Owings Mills industrial park. There, staff are hard at work fulfilling orders for clients including Tark’s Grill and area Ledo Pizzas, the yummy smells of butter and chocolate filling the air.

In addition to the wholesale kitchen, the new owners are adding a cafe space that Wassel hopes will serve customers during the week and host weekend tea parties and bridal showers. Painted bright pink, it’s decorated with crafts from her home and an assortment of fine tea cups donated from friends. And Wassel, who previously ran a catering company in Owings Mills, is perfecting a new gluten-free cheesecake crust plus some possible additional flavors.

They’ve also changed the name. Now it’s just Posé Bakery.

Harris, who uses the last name Posey professionally, will stay on to help out with the day-to-day operations, but had some mixed feelings about giving up her role as owner. “It was emotional for me. I was happy to be done, but I was also sad to be done,” she said. “This was a family business since 1961, and I broke it.”

“But you sold it to such charming people,” Wassel said, smiling innocently. “Well, most of us.”

Vagrant Coffee shut down its Milk & Honey Market in Pigtown last week, in part due to a worker shortage, says events director Christopher Santiago. “It’s just been a struggle to actually get staffing,” he said. At the same time, Vagrant has been expanding its events operations, which include a traveling espresso bar that can be hired for weddings and corporate functions. “We’re focusing on that.”

Tyler James Williams stars as new teacher Greg Eddie - the character who's favorite pizza is Baltimore pizza - in ABC's 'Abbott Elementary.' (Prashant Gupta / TNS)

There was a bit of chatter on social media last week on the topic of “Baltimore pizza,” after a character on the popular new ABC comedy “Abbott Elementary” claimed to only like pizza from Charm City. A well-meaning colleague then surprised him by saying he’d gotten a pizza from Baltimore, “extra crunchy and wet.”

We’re not sure what that’s all about but we do have some favorite pizza spots in Baltimore. Here’s our most recent list of the Top 5. What’s your take on “Baltimore pizza”? And where can I sample it? Send suggestions to ctkacik@baltsun.com.