PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Picture it, Millvale, 2020 — Lisa and Kyle Rozycki, a mother-and-son team from Berks County, PA, launch a cheesecake company in Millvale during a global pandemic, and it takes off like the jumbo jet in the title sequence of “The Golden Girls”!

“I worked 87 hours last week and it’s not even busy season yet,” says Kyle, who was born a decade after my favorite NBC sitcom debuted in 1985.

As a GGs devotee, I know cheesecake made a lot of cameos during the show’s seven-year run. Late stars Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty and Betty White devoured the rich dessert when times were tough, which is also my preferred form of therapy.

The motto at Kyle’s Cakes N’at is “Life is short. Eat cheesecake,” but the products are so delicious they could bring all four Golden Girls back from the dead.

Growing up, Kyle spent a lot of time in the kitchen with his aunt, the foodie family’s best chef. When he was in sixth grade, he won a countywide baking competition with a family cheesecake recipe.

While studying history at the University of Pittsburgh, Kyle waited tables at Fuel and Fuddle in Oakland, my favorite gastropub that closed in 2023. I’m still not over it.

Kyle stashed his homemade cheesecakes in Fuel’s freezer and, with Lisa’s help, sold them at farmers markets from Bloomfield to Greensburg. The company attends more than 100 events a year.

In 2020, the Rozyckis began renting prep space from Millvale’s Duncan Street Sandwich Shop. When the North Avenue lunch spot closed (I’m still not over that one either!), the Rozyckis transformed the storefront into a mom-and-tot cheesecake factory.

It opened to the public last July and churns out approximately 120 cheesecakes a day, with varieties ranging from classic, key lime and banana cream to peanut butter buckeye, caramel apple and mint chocolate chip. Gluten-free items are available by request.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Kyle, my new pal and confidant, is very particular about the baking process, so he runs the operation to ensure that each cake has the same signature smoothness. The handle on his “My Kitchen, My Rules” coffee mug is a knife.

Cheesecake is known for being so dense a few bites can soothe any savage beast with a sweet tooth. Kyle’s cakes are dense and airy. I’m not a scientist, but I think he’s invented a new form of matter that’s somewhere between a liquid, a solid and a gas. Although he won’t divulge his baking secrets, he says he doesn’t give his cheesecakes a traditional water bath.

Stop in for a to-go slice, a 4-inch mini or a 2-inch mini mini that’s small enough to fit in Sophia’s purse. You also can order online or find products in the wild, including a new line of cookies that are bigger than Blanche Devereaux’s ego. Please help me convince Kyle to make Rose Nylund’s famous Sperhüven Krispies and Genugenflurgen Cake!

If you threw a Golden Girls-themed party on your lanai this summer and invited everyone you knew, it would make sense to have it catered by Kyle’s Cakes N’at. Lisa, who handles the finances from her Eastern Pennsylvania home, drives to Pittsburgh several times a month to help her kid keep up with demand.

Since I live in nearby West View, I simply travel down the road and back again to get my cheesecake fix. Thank you for being a friend, Kyle!

Kyle’s Cakes N’At is at 543 North Ave., Millvale. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.