Bovella's Celebrates 60 Years of Baking

Bovella's Bakery Shoppe is a business that has succeeded throughout its existence by relying on a personal touch and quality products. 

Evidence of this personal touch can be found throughout the local landmark. The exterior is covered by a fine-striped awning and flanked with wrought iron tables and chairs. Inside, customers are greeted with the scent of powdered sugar and fresh dough, the sight of fluorescent colored cupcakes and stacked anisette cookies. 

While Bovella's Bakery Shoppe has sat on the corner of  Prospect and East Broad streets in Westfield for over 30 years, the actual business has thrived for 60. 

In 1949, Harry S. Truman was president, Hawaii and Alaska were not yet states, and the average price of a gallon of gasoline was 27 cents. In 1949, Michael Bove, having returned home from serving in World War II, first swung open the door to his bakery in Plainfield, NJ. Bovella's would remain at this location until 1978. When Bove moved the business to Westfield, he took on Ralph Bencivenga, a local teenager, to help out around the store. 

Bencivenga originally took the job without any interest in the baking business, in time he'd soon find himself apprenticing under Bove, acquiring the family recipes that made the bakery so unique. Bove found such promise in his charge that he sent Bencivenga to pastry school. 

Bencivenga sharpened his trade and worked as a full-time baker for Bovella's until he eventually purchased the shop from then owner, John Mastroiani. By 2007, Bovella's had changed location once, ownership twice, and had undergone a series of renovations, during this time Bovella's flourished, not due to its changes, but its choice to evolve. Bove's original vision of a bakery transformed with Bencivenga's acquisition of a gelato cart and an espresso machine. The bakery now had the trappings of an authentic cafe as well.

"I can't tell you how many people coming in here saying 'this place reminds me of a cafe in Rome," said Brian Buldo, the store's manager of the impact of the changes.

Bovella's has also managed well throughout the years due to its catering, which supplies half of the shop's business. The bakery delivers any one of its goods, from a mere platter of black and white cookies to its rum cake, one of its most sought after products.

The deliveries have caused a few interesting anecdotes, including one which almost ruined one woman's special day.

"We dropped a wedding cake once, right in front of the bride, we had to remake it during the ceremony," Bencivenga said.