Hoboken Has A Sweet Tooth

If you live in Hoboken, you're probably proud to mention that you've sampled the pastries, cakes, and cannolis at Carlo's City Hall Bake Shop of The Cake Boss fame. That is, before it got so famous that you can't get in the door without waiting in a long line, that wraps around the block on weekends and holidays. 

If you do not have time to wait in line, because you're late getting to a friend's or family's house, but you promised Italian pastries from Hoboken, here are some other options for you.

Giorgio's Italian & French Pastry Shop, located at 1112 Washington Street, has been run by the Castiello family for 35 years. And they still live in uptown Hoboken.

Mary Grace Castiello, Giorgio's daughter, was working the day I stopped by. She laughed when I asked if she got much spillover from people who couldn't get into Carlo's. "Some," she said. "We've been asked for bizarre cakes more than usual."

But she also noted that Hobokenites "tend to be provincial." People who live in downtown Hoboken, usually go to Carlo's and sometimes don't realize Giorgio's is there, or don't think of it because it's outside their normal pathway to work and home. Giorgio's regular customers live uptown and they keep them busy. Last March the bakery was mentioned in New Jersey Monthly as having the best cannolis in the state. 

If that's not a good enough reason to venture to 11th and Washington Streets, you should try their sfogliatelle, their pignoli cookies, and their apple turnovers. Yum, yum delicious!

When you walk into Giorgio's, the delicious aroma of cookies wafts in the air. Mary Grace said that's because the kitchen is right behind the store.

"You can smell them baking," she said.

The store's bread and butter—no pun intended—are the cookies and pastries, but they also make birthday cakes, wedding cakes and ice cream cakes upon request. Next time you're craving Italian pastries, Giorgio's is the place to go.

However, what if you're not necessarily looking for pastries, but something sweet, other than pre-packaged oatmeal cookies? Crumbs on 409 Washington St. is your answer. The cupcakes chain has had its location on Washington Street for a little less than a year. Although they do not bake on the premises, fresh-baked cupcakes and cookies come in every day from Long Island City, said one of the store's employees. 

Crumbs also has a large and varied coffee selection, which includes lattes, teas, and hot chocolate. Store employee Stephanie, who said she usually works in the Ridgewood store, mentioned that Crumbs' pastries are kosher. The store offers more than fifty different cupcake flavors as well as a cupcake of the week and of the month.

January's cupcake is the Elvis: vanilla cake filled and frosted with banana cream cheese frosting, topped with a swirl of real creamy peanut butter and edged with peanut butter chips. Stephanie's favorite is the grasshopper, which is rich chocolate cake filled with chocolate fudge and topped with mint flavored cream cheese frosting with chocolate cake crumbs, edged in mini chocolate chips with a vanilla buttercream rosette.

"I get excited when people choose it without me encouraging them," she said.

Store employee Fariva, who lives in Hoboken, said that the red velvet cupcakes are the most popular. Although it's a chain, Crumbs is still a family business and there are currently three locations in New Jersey.

"I like working here," said Stephanie. "You're selling cupcakes, so you can't be upset." This became clear when I spent some time in the store, watching customers leave with smiles on their faces, eagerly anticipating their cupcake delights.

Last, but certainly not least, in my quest to find delicious desserts without having to stand in line, is desert café  Sweet, on the corner of 4th and Garden Streets, across from 7 Star Pizza and Demarest School.

Angela Park, who lives in Hoboken about a block away from Sweet, opened up about a year and a half ago because she "saw a need for it."

She bakes everything from scratch and on the premise, from fabulous mocha cupcakes, chilled ganache cupcakes with coffee buttercream, garnished with a chocolate covered espresso bean, to a buttermilk pana cotta, key lime bars, and even crème brûlée.

Park said she actually melts down chocolate for a cup of hot cocoa. She said she uses the best chocolate there is, "because customers appreciate quality."

The morning I was there, she was busy making pudding. She said she wants to eventually make her own marshmallows and learn how to make her own chai tea. It's that attention to sweet detail that keeps the kids coming in to Sweet after school, and adults stopping by on their way home from work. 

So now, when your sweet tooth is holding you hostage, you don't have to battle the lines at Carlo's, three other local shops can come to your rescue with friendly service and delectable desserts.