When Drew Rogers went back to school 11 years ago to follow his culinary dream, the Italian pastry chef never envisioned making cupcakes. However, an appearance on TLC's "Bakery Boss" a year ago changed the owner's perspective.

"['Bakery Boss' star Buddy Valastro] came in and basically said, 'You act like you're too good to make cupcakes,'" Rogers said. "And I said, 'That's how I feel. I didn't go back to school at the age of 40 to make cupcakes.' I wanted to make authentic Italian pastries."

Over the course of nine days with Valastro, Rogers began to develop his own spin on the pint-sized sweet, working with the TV show chef to craft the cannoli cupcake, something even the television star had never seen.

"Now we sell the heck out of cannoli cupcakes," Rogers said. "We had lines out the door when the first show aired. We brought in a lot of new customers that never knew we were here, and they lived around the corner."

The Italian pastry shop offers a variety of cupcakes now in addition to the wide array of pastries, breakfast and lunch options. Using fresh ingredients, the pastry chef bakes fresh sweets throughout the day, including cannoli, cheesecake, tiramisu, cobbler, bread pudding and a variety of Italian cookies, including rainbow cookies, a favorite of Valastro.

"When people come in here [who] are from up north, they walk in and they see the cases full of the cookies they grew up with, it's like it brings them back to their childhood," Rogers said.

More than a pastry shop, Drew's offers breakfast items, including quiches, muffins and kolaches as well as sandwiches and pizzas for lunch. Rogers said the pizzas have become so popular, he began serving them three nights a week.

"We make our dough fresh every day," he said. "We make our own sauce. I make my own mozzarella cheese for the Margherita pizza, and the meatballs we put on everything, that's my uncle's recipe."

Eleven years ago, Rogers said he was running a direct mail business but had bigger dreams for himself. With the help and support of his wife, Carla, Rogers took classes five nights a week for 51 weeks at The Culinary Institute of Alain & Marie LeNotre in Houston.

Rogers graduated and quickly received a job offer to work with master chef Fritz Gitschner at the Houston Country Club. Rogers left in 2007 to help open a shop in Katy but ultimately still wanted to open his own business.

"My folks saw how much I was working and they said, 'You need to open up your own shop. It's what you always wanted to do, and we want to help you financially,'" he said.

The New Jersey native said his passion for food came from his Italian family, which was always in the kitchen.

"It's exciting," Joan Rogers said of her son's pastry business. "It doesn't really surprise me, because of the passion that we have and that he's always had. My biggest thing is that I just wanted him to succeed, and I know how much of a passion he has for [baking]."

Rogers said the shop opened in 2008 at the heart of the recession and struggled initially. Since the airing of the "Bakery Boss]" episode featuring Rogers in January, he said business has seen a significant uptick. He said he hopes to expand the pastry shop with some space next door and grow the catering business.

"[Running Drew's] is just like a dream come true," Rogers said. "I always wanted to do it, and now here I am doing it for a living. It's like not even work coming here. I truly enjoy [it]."

From the menu

Cannoli: The famous Italian pastries are served individually or by the dozen ($3.50, large), ($13 per dozen, small).

Breakfast: Drew's offers muffins, quiches, kolaches and croissants (costs vary).

Pizza: Drew's serves a variety of fresh pizza options for lunch ($6–$8).

10300 Louetta Road

Houston 832-717-3530

Hours: Mon. 6:30 a.m.–6 p.m., Tue.–Thu. 6:30 a.m.–8 p.m., Fri. 6:30 a.m.–9 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.–9 p.m., Closed Sundays

www.drewspastryplace.com