Delco Profile: Tess Wofford Bakes and Brings People Together at OsoSweet

Owning a bakery was Tess Wofford’s dream since she was in second grade. All throughout middle and high school she cooked and baked for people as a hobby.

 

“I fell in love with nourishing people,” Wofford says. “That was the way I made new friends.”

 

The Chadds Ford native, who spent a few years of childhood in Germany with her family, considered going to a liberal arts college or majoring in a different field, but when it came time for college applications in her senior year of high school, she remembers her dad gently pushing back.

 

 

“My dad was like, ‘Why are you looking at all these other options when you know what you want?’” she remembers. 

 

She applied for, and was accepted to, The Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio, Texas, where she studied for two years. As part of that program, she also spent a semester working at a restaurant in Curaçao, a small island off the coast of South America. 

 

The experience was an important moment for Wofford; traveling and exploring different cuisines are important parts of her family’s values.

 

“My parents have always instilled food, and travel in conjunction with that, for me,” she says. “My dad, brother and myself all took our junior years in high school abroad in different countries.”

 

 

Wofford’s junior year abroad was in Germany, where she had the good fortune to live with a host family who owned a bakery. There, she learned the German baking style, with a focus on different grains, various types and mill sizes of flour, and various hydration styles. 

 

All of this experience came together when an unusual opportunity crossed Wofford’s path in 2020. She’d just come home from culinary school because of the pandemic lockdown, and was living with her family in Chadds Ford. She heard from a childhood friend that a cafe down the road in the Chadds Ford Barn Shops was closing and was for sale.  

 

Wofford and her family went to go see the space, and, even though it seemed like a huge risk to take in the midst of COVID-19, they decided to go for it.

 

“I thought the space was so beautiful, and it had all this outdoor space—it felt serendipitous, like here is my dream right in front of me,” she says. 

 

 

Wofford’s parents pitched in and she hired her friend’s boyfriend to help set up shop. The cafe, which they named OsoSweet, after the Spanish word for bear, soft-opened in August of 2020. Right away, it was a hit with the community. The large outdoor space became a socially distanced gathering space and a group of regular customers quickly formed, showing up again and again for Wofford’s cookies, brownies and breakfast sandwiches.

 

 

Wofford had also heard that the old cafe in the space, Chadds Cafe, was beloved for its scones, and was able to connect with the owner who generously shared their scone recipe. 

 

 

Despite the reality that many restaurants and cafes were struggling—and some even closing—during that time, OsoSweet thrived despite the odds.

 

“It was weird to open [during COVID], and maybe I was too young to understand that was a bad idea, too young to be afraid,” Wofford says. “We just went for it and it worked, which is crazy!”

 

Now, with nearly six years under her belt, Wofford has come into her own as a business owner. In the beginning, at the tender age of 19, her lack of experience made it hard to feel confident in her role. 

 

“When I first started, I felt like ‘I don’t actually know anything about business, this is just my big lemonade stand,’ she remembers. “But over the past few years, and this year especially, I’ve made so many new friends and connected with other business owners. I’ve made a new network, I feel so invested in my community.”

 

One of the highlights of Wofford’s week is OsoSweet’s Friday Pizza Night, which takes place from late spring to early autumn. The cafe stays open late, dishes up homemade pizza and local musicians perform, while the outdoor space twinkles with lights and buzzes with energy. 

 

 

Recently, the child of some regulars came to the pizza night to celebrate her fourth birthday. It struck Wofford that evening that she had baked every one of that kid’s birthday cakes, starting with her gender reveal cake before she was even born. The specialness of her neighbors celebrating these moments at her cafe is not lost on her. 

 

“There are so many lovely people that like coming to my bakery, and I get to be part of their lives,” she says. “Running this business has shown me that I pursued this passion because there was something there, and now all these people see that and want to share in that with me.”

 

When she looks to the future, Wofford hopes to keep OsoSweet going for a long time. Her lease is in effect until 2029, but envisions it continuing beyond that date.

 

“I don’t see Oso going anywhere,” Wofford says. “I’m very proud of what I created and I’d like to foster it for as long as I can.”

 

 

OsoSweet is open every day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Fridays between May and October, from 5:30-9 p.m., weather permitting. For more information, or to order a custom cake, visit its website.

 

Find OsoSweet at 1609 Baltimore Pike, Suite 500 in Chadds Ford, PA; (610) 880-8118.

 

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Want to know more about everything Delco? We’re more than just your source for good eats — we’re your source for where to stay, what to do and more in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. We’re Visit Delco, PA. They say we’re A LOT…and they’re right! Contact us at (610) 565-3679, by email or online.

– Emily Kovach  

 

All photos courtesy of OsoSweet