STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — Long before Messy Aprons & Company became one of the most talked-about bakeries in Strongsville—and before it earned the title of Best Cheesecake in Northeast Ohio from Cleveland.com—Melissa Simon was a kid in the kitchen, apron tied tight, baking beside her grandmother Betty Gibson.
“We always had to have aprons,” Simon said.
Those moments became the foundation for everything that followed. Baking wasn’t just about food—it was connection. Even years later, when her grandmother began losing her memory, Simon held onto those rituals…