Sweet Nostalgia Is Coming To Lacey

Though Denise Field grew up in the 1960s, it is the decade prior that she loves best. The decade of Elvis, Eisenhower and poodle skirts is associated with Field’s fondest memories.

“My passion for the fifties comes from my mother,” says the Lacey resident.

Together they listened to the fifties music on a victrola or on a jukebox in a pizzeria they loved, while her grandmother always had a special treat, from a charmed square – which Field describes as a kind of a square-shaped lifesaver, to chocolate cigarettes.  

“Whenever I got upset or down she’d give me one and say everything was going to be all right,” Field said.

Now, Field, 50, who is about to become a grandmother herself, wants to bring her favorite decade to Lacey Township. Formerly a Coles supervisor, Field, who says she’s always had a knack for business, is opening “Craving Cupcakes” on June 25 – a bakery, candy store and hangout for families and residents of all ages. Fields calls her store a “retro bakery soda shop with a twist.”

“The whole concept of this place is to bring back old times when life was easier,” Field said. “I expect grandparents to bring their own children in, to be able to talk about how the past was.” 

The store features a jukebox with music from the past as well as the present and shelves lined with jars full of retro candy, like Broadway licorice, chocolate cigarettes and candy sticks.

When “Craving Cupcakes” opens, in addition to the actual cupcakes which Field bakes, the shop will serve homemade sodas and cappuccinos, egg cream drinks and floats. And the sweets are just the beginning, Field says.

Field says she plans to hold all sorts of events, from night-café style Elvis impersonator performances and classic TV shows on a big screen, to birthday
parties and cupcake-decorating classes for mothers and children. Once the shop’s
website goes up, Field promises to post a regular schedule of events there.

With such big ambitions, Fields is now spending her days setting everything up, while already baking up huge orders. “it’s been hard to keep up.” Field said. She is now in the process of looking for another baker, “someone with a heart,” she says, “someone who would have fun working here. And someone who would bake around the clock.”

As she gets ready for the big opening day on June 25, Field is asking the local residents for a little bit of patience.  “I want to people to understand everything that we do we bake on premises, we don’t order it from other places like some other bakeries do, and the demand is already huge.”

Field says she is asking for a little time to set up, before she can throw open her doors and welcome the town into her perfect world of sweet nostalgia.

Address: 629-1 North Main Street, Lanoka Harbor. 

Telephone: (609) 971-7161

Opening: June 25.