When you think of cheesecake, most people think of New York, Chicago, or Milwaukee. Now, thanks to Muddy Paws Cheesecake, folks will start thinking about Snelling Avenue. Muddy Paws Cheesecake opening at 740 North Snelling Avenue marked the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for owner Tami Cabrera Weinmann.

Because the space was originally finished by Cookies By Barbara, who is also licensed by the Department of Agriculture, the space met the requirements that Weinmann needed.

"We sell her cookies on a daily basis," said Weinmann. "Every day we have 20 flavors of cheesecake. We offer 117 flavors people can order ahead of time. The 20 to 30 flavors of cakes are available either by the slice or whole. We have 9 to 12 flavors of slices and 20 to 30 flavors available for whole cakes."

Their top three flavors are Raspberry Swirl, Plain New York Cheesecake and Turtle Cheesecake or Chocolate Marble. Key Lime is a summer favorite.

The also offer Lactose Free Cheesecake (made with Tofutti), Sugar Free Cheesecake (made with Splenda), and Vegan Lemon or Plain (made with Tofutti and Granola Cereal crust).

A slice of cheesecake costs $3.75 at the shop. Whole 9-inch cheesecakes, which serve 12-16 people, start at $25.

Growing up in restaurants, Weinmann was drawn to the food business. Her parents owned three hotels with restaurants in them in Delavan, Wis., where she was raised.

"Dad was a real entrepreneur," she said. "He did all kinds of things. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism with an advertising emphasis and a minor in art and film from the University of Wis.-Oshkosh. I did in-house advertising for an architectural firm. But, I missed working with food. I wanted to get into my own thing."

Cheesecake has been a life-long love of Weinmann, who traveled around and sampled cheesecake in many different places.

"In Chicago, there are good cheesecake places," she said. "Milwaukee has a great cheesecake shop called Suzy's. The Twin Cities didn't have any cheesecake. I thought I had to do something about that. So, when I came here, there wasn't any great cheesecake. I thought someone had beat me to it. But, nobody had."

Weinmann actually brought cheesecake into the architectural firm where she did in-house advertising and marketing for people to try.

"I called them my guinea pigs," she said. "I always brought cheesecake in for testing. I would give free cheesecakes for people to try. I left the architectural firm and went and started the business."

At first, Weinmann found herself spending a lot of money on labels and other business related expenses.

"I kind of hung in there," she said. "Finally, it's taking off and going the direction I wanted."

Weinmann made up all the cheesecake recipes herself. It took her five years of research to come up with the flavors.

"I was looking at other recipes and changing them," she said. "We tested and tried all the flavors. It took me a long time to develop the flavors."

Different from the cheesecakes people buy at the grocery store, Weinmann's cheesecakes are made from scratch to order from the freshest, all natural, finest ingredients available. The use only the very best ingredients fresh grade AA butter and whole eggs, C&H pure cane sugars, pure vanilla extract, Ghiradelli Chocolates, fresh roasted nuts, fresh fruit, and real Philadelphia cream cheese.

"It comes down to the quality of the cheesecake," said Weinmann. "That's determined by what ingredients you use. We only use Philadelphia cream cheese. Cream cheese is very expensive.

Our base is all cream cheese. We don't add any fillers such as flour or eggs, which are less expensive, to make the cakes higher."

Cheesecake is not a modern invention. Ancient Greeks are credited as the originators. First made to fortify athletes during the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C., cheesecakes were later made by brides for gifts to friends of their grooms, thus commencing the wedding cake tradition.

Brides are Weinmann's primary customers of cheesecake.

"They're our number one customer," she said. "That's what really launched us. We're really the only one doing it. It's a big trend right now."

While brides, corporate meetings, retail, restaurants and coffee shops are still their target market, Weinmann is branching out. At the Basilica Block Party, on July 11 and 12, she will be selling cheesecake by the slice.

"We'll be making 1,500 cheesecakes in the next three weeks for the Basilica Block Party and 12 weddings," she said. "It's the busiest time we've had all year. We usually make 100-200 cakes each week."

With slogans, "Cheesecake is a way of life," and "More flavors than anyone else in the world ... 117 and counting," Weinmann feels eating cheesecake can be beneficial.

"If you treat yourself to something, it makes you feel happy," she said. "When you're treating yourself to something that's good and yummy, it can lift your spirit. It's an all natural product, and I think that's good for you."

Weinmann seems to be following in her father's footsteps.

"Dad was an entrepreneur," she said. "He put a lot of passion into everything he did. I was always wanting to do my own thing. Just having a product I believe in and love makes it all come together."

In the future, Weinmann will be doing national mail order at cheesecake.com. She would also like to open one or two other shops in the Twin Cities maybe on shop in South Minneapolis and one in the west or north.

"We don't want to get too big," she said. "We want to keep quality in the product."

Weinmann, together with husband Mike, have three children, Zoe, 3, Halle Eden, 2, and Ella Rose, 2 months.

"I still spend a lot of time with them at home," she said. "I always wanted them to [c]ome first. I have daycare two days a week. I work a couple days at the shop, in the evenings and on Saturdays. I'm so lucky to have a husband who is really supportive."

Weinmann says this has been a really big year for her.

"Dad was diagnosed with cancer in August," she said. "He died four days after I opened the business. He died after seeing me reach my dreams. It was symbolic to me."

Weinmann hopes more people in the Twin Cities will discover Muddy Paws Cheesecake.

"Basically, I hope they will make their way to our doorstep and find us," she said. "I hope everybody comes to try our cheesecake, love us and comes back."

Hours are: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. 651-458-1625.