Fratello Brings Traditional Values to Baked Treats

When people see the name “Fratello Bake Shop” they tend to think it’s named after someone, owner Joe De Vita said. However, that is not the case, as the name is meant to evoke two key ideals of the bakery – family and its Italian heritage.

“In Italian, ‘fratello’ means ‘brother,’” De Vita said. “Like everything else I seem to do, there is a heavy level of family involvement here.”

Wyckoff’s newest homemade bakery, which sits on Main Street and overlooks the proposed Shop Rite development, has been open since April 15 and aims to serve fresh quality baked goods while also being an active member of the community, De Vita said.

Every morning at 6:15 a.m. De Vita, a Wyckoff native, gets to the store walks past the giant decorative cakes and bushels of bread in the window and awaits his drivers to arrive with certain baked goods that he is unable to make in the bakery on site. These goods, which range from pizzas to large breads, are baked by his brother-in-law, Frank DiPaulo, in Newark every morning.

This feeling of family, which is one of the foundations of the store, is something De Vita hopes translates into the food they sell.

“All of this is because of ideas and support of my mother, father, brother and sister,” De Vita said. “The name is meant to inspire a sense of family.” 

De Vita said the shop offers custom cakes, fresh breads, baked goods, cookies, pastries and one of their most popular items – pizza. 

The pizzas, which are baked in the bread ovens in Newark each morning, are ordered the day before and are served at room temperature. The idea is customers can order the large pies and bring them home for parties or other occasions, De Vita said.

“It’s not like the pizza you get at a pizza place,” De Vita said. “They are large Sicilian-style pies, people tend to heat them up and treat them as an appetizer.”

While the store’s pizza options are popular, De Vita said he believes the stores custom cakes are what truly make Fratello Bake Shop unique.

Instead of the standard two sheets of cake and one layer of filling most cakes have, Fratello’s cakes come with three sheets of cake and two layers of filling in between. 

“We’ve got excellent cake decorators,” De Vita said. “We do anything from a simple happy birthday with flowers on it to the most elaborate cakes people see on TV, and anything in between.” 

Besides the family aspect of the store, De Vita said the bake shop gives back to the community both in donations to various institutions and by providing the community with a homemade bakery option that he believes was lost when Wyckoff Bakery moved to Ramsey.

“We thought after Wyckoff Bakery closed there was a need for something like this in town,” De Vita said. “Twenty or 30 years ago there was a bakery on every corner in the city and every town had their own. You don’t see that as much anymore.”

Employees of Fratello Bake Shop agree with De Vita and said they believe customers have been receptive to the new business popping up. 

“A lot of customers come into the store and say how happy they are Wyckoff has a bakery since the other one closed,” Kelly Cunningham, an employee at Fratello said. “They are happy to have a place like this in town.” 

Ali Reap, another employee at Fratello echoed this, saying customers seem “excited” when they enter the bake shop and she notices a lot of repeat customers.

De Vita said the bakery also aims to give back to the community in a variety of ways besides being a homemade local option for baked goods.

Bread and other items that are not sold at the end of each day is picked up by St. Elizabeth’s church three times a week and delivered to Eve’s Village, a shelter and soup kitchen in Paterson. 

“Rather than just throw it out, we donate it,” De Vita said. “We can’t make use of it anymore but someone else who needs it can.” 

Also, De Vita, who served in the 1st Squadron, 4th U.S. Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division of the United States Army, donates money every year to the Wounded Warrior Foundation, which supports wounded members of the military and their families.

“My time in the army is something that is close to home,” De Vita said. “I have a lot of friends who are still active and [donating] is the right thing to do.” 

As for the future, De Vita said he hopes to involve the bake shop in the community by integrating themselves in the local schools – through boosters and other types of advertising. By doing so, he hopes word-of-mouth will spread and more people will learn about the shop. 

“Customers have an impact on our business,” De Vita said. “We listen to their suggestions… it's fluid. It’s a happy business here; it’s not like going to your accountant or something.”