On Sunday night, employees invited friends and family members for a test run—the kitchen turned out pastries at near full steam and the wait staff went through their paces for the first time.

“Afterwards there were extra desserts, so we had a field day,” Hsia said.

At last night’s festivities, Allston resident Neyran Sen said she is glad to have a Finale closer to home. Sen, who is from Turkey, recently received a certificate in marketing from the Harvard Extension School and says she wants to open a Turkish restaurant in the Boston area. But she’s also a fan of rich desserts.

“We used to go [into Boston],” she said. “This is more convenient, since my apartment is only a mile from here. More chocolate now.”

In addition to desserts, guests were treated to a trio of a cappella tunes performed by the Radcliffe Pitches.

“We had been to the location downtown, so we contacted the owners when we found out about this place,” said Pitches President Lara A. Setrakian ’04. “It’s a jazzy, Pitch-y place. We knew this would be a home base, so we thought it would be great to greet the public.”

—Staff writer Katherine M. Dimengo can be reached at dimengo@fas.harvard.edu.