Fearing for his future, he convened with wife Rachel before they came up with a radical idea which changed their lives
Lee is originally from Liverpool but settled in Wales around 20 years ago(Image: Josh Renz Visuals)
A chef from Newport took a chance on opening his own small business alongside his wife having realised he could be close to losing his job. Five years on he can’t make enough cheesecakes from his front room at his home in Brynglas, such is the furore around the desserts.
Lee Rogers, 52, was trained at the prestigious restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire. Launched by Raymond Blanc, the restaurant has retained both its Michelin stars for four decades and has become one of the UK’s most cherished fine dining spots.
Lee went on to become a chef at Cardiff Council, where he was told during the pandemic in 2020 that he was at risk of redundancy. Fearing for his future, he convened with wife Rachel, 47, before they came up with a radical idea which changed their lives. For the latest restaurant news and reviews, sign up to our food and drink newsletter here
Lee, left, with wife Rachel, right, outside the hatch where customers collect their orders.(Image: Josh Renz Visuals)
“Before the pandemic we had always hosted for our friends and everyone loved Lee’s cooking,” Rachel told WalesOnline. “As everyone was in lockdown we had so many messages to say people missed coming over and enjoying Lee’s food.
“So with all the spare time on our hands Lee started to make little treats that we would drop to our friends’ houses, and this is where it all started really. Around Christmas time in 2020 we thought: ‘What if we made this into a small business?’
“So that’s exactly what we did. We created a Facebook page and we started selling cheesecake and other desserts to people across our local community in Newport. Then things just started to expand thanks to word of mouth and the power of social media. At the start we made around five orders per week and now we do anywhere between 50 and 70.”
Lee shows WalesOnline around his kitchen, which has a 5 star hygiene rating.(Image: Josh Renz Visuals)
Lee recalled how he set up the business having believed he might lose his job, only to keep his old job for a few more years which left him in a tricky position. From the lockdown in 2020 up to being made redundant in 2025 Lee juggled the business alongside his full-time role as a chef.
“It was a few years after that the council actually got around to looking for people to take voluntary redundancy,” he remembered. “So by that point both me and Rachel were working two full time jobs.
“The business had grown to where I was waking up at 5am to make the desserts and cheesecakes before going to work 8am to 4pm in Cardiff, and then working from 5pm to 10pm at night to get all the orders done.
“We sacrificed a lot of time together. At one point, we were like passing ships in the night, balancing work and childcare. I look back now and think: ‘How did we do that?’
“It was exhausting but I loved it. It took me back to my days of training as a chef where there was no such thing as working hours or clocking in and out. You were done when the head chef told you you were done.
“As the business had been doing so well, I opted to take voluntary redundancy. It was incredibly daunting, the prospect of leaving a secure 9-5 job, and the bond I had created with my colleagues over nearly two decades. I was happy at the thought of not having to sit in the M4 traffic anymore on the way home, though.”
Their business, The Classic Cheesecake Guy, now has over 14,000 followers on Facebook, with thousands of customers. Rachel, alongside her full time job in social services, takes all the orders, runs the social media and sorts out any admin, while Lee does the baking.
Rachel recalled: “I remember at the start just feeling so excited to get a notification on my phone that I’d shout: ‘Somebody has ordered!’ Then we hit 100 followers, and again, we were both so excited.”
As the business grew the pair converted their front sitting room into a full industrial grade kitchen to facilitate the demand, with stainless steel appliances and worktops. Lee says he uses only the top of the range ingredients and that’s why their customers always come back.
Their customers collect their goods from kiosk window where they get passed through the window, usually on a Saturday. They also have a weekly kiosk on a Saturday where smaller desserts, not just cheesecake, are sold and distributed to customers who have placed a pre-order on the Thursday.
Customers collect their orders from this window at the front of their Newport home.(Image: Josh Renz Visuals)
Both Rachel and Lee agreed that the best part of it all has been the community they have created. “You meet someone once, and then you get to follow them through life,” Rachel added.
“Birthdays, weddings, graduations, Christmas, baby showers, everything, we get to be a part of it. You create such a bond with people over the years. That’s the best part of it all for us.”
They don’t have a menu, every cheesecake is bespoke, and you can request anything you like. The most popular include Lotus Biscoff, white chocolate and raspberry, Battenberg and black forest.
The Classic Cheesecake Guy can be found on both Instagram and Facebook, and are based in the Brynglas area of Newport. You can also find their desserts in Be Kind Risca, and Gregory’s Coffee House in St Julian’s, Newport. Click here for more information.