Many of us grew up watching "Cake Boss" on TLC -- spending hours after school on cold wintry days watching Buddy and his big Italian family bake gravity-defying cakes. Now, we'll be able to take a nostalgic bite out of Cake Boss's creations at Canada's first Carlo's Bakery, located in Port Credit at 167 Lakeshore Road in Mississauga.
The partners behind Carlo's Bakery in Canada are Chris Zownir and Gino Tomaro; they are also the minds behind the Carlo's Bakery colourful cake vending machines in Canada (25 now in service!). They combined their retail background with their passion for tech to bring us the Cake ATMs, and the cake machines' wide success led them to work with Buddy to bring us the experience of having hot and fresh treats right from Carlo's Bakery.
The Port Credit location has two separate lines: a quick-service takeout window (which will open when it's warmer) and one to enter the bakery. Inside, you'll be dazzled by the gelato counter, full-service coffee bar, bakery counter, a savoury counter (unique to Carlo's Bakeshop Canada!) and a glass-walled viewing of the bakery kitchen where you can watch the chefs prepare the treats right on site. You can buy Carlo's Bake Shop merchandise and take a seat on their pretty patio to finish your cannoli and coffee. Be prepared to wait in line; however, Carlo's Bakery is bringing a new buzz to the Port Credit community, and people want in!
Their new location is an Instagrammable heaven, with details like a neon-signed selfie wall, vintage brass accents and a cake-display wall. The amazing head baker piped the cake-wall display at Carlo's Bakery Canada, and if that isn't enough of a "wow" factor for you, a giant media screen looping episodes of Cake Boss is located beside the savoury counter. Expect a few cameo appearances from Buddy checking in, as a webcam is connected to the media station.
After a few delays, Carlo's Bakeshop had its soft opening on January 4 for the local Port Credit community, and now they are officially operating from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The grand opening (when Covid-19 restrictions lift) will be happening in the near future, and expect a potential appearance from Buddy himself! There will be VIP ticket options to attend, and you'll be able to take photos with the Cake Boss.
Chris and Gino want to maintain the values Buddy built with the original Hoboken bakery. They consider their team their family (in fact, many family members work at Carlo's Bakery!) and want to evoke that family-friendly atmosphere synonymous with Buddy's Bake Shop. They chose to build their flagship location in Port Credit because it's a family-oriented neighbourhood with a lot of warmth and support. One day, expect expansions to other parts of the GTA, but at the moment, their focus is perfecting their first location.
The team at Carlo's is local, and they had the opportunity to train in New Jersey with the OG Hoboken staff, so you know they're bringing us the best experience possible. They are all super knowledgeable about the complete offering; Chris and Gino actively serve customers and have their own list of recommendations that they can vouch for that will definitely "take the cake."
You will never have to travel to New Jersey again! "Hoboken in the North" has their famous rainbow cake, cannoli and mozzarella cheese that is made in-house in Mississauga every day. The recipe for this mozzarella, used to top their bakery-style pizza squares and Jersey-style sandwiches, is Buddy's grandpa's 50-year-old recipe; undoubtedly they make Buddy Valastro, the "cake boss" proud.
At the current moment you can purchase their 6-inch cakes, and later in 2022 expect to be able to purchase 10-inch cakes, as well as some of the unique creations that took center-stage in "Cake Boss" -- consumers will be able to choose from a variety of unique templates to custom-order their own Carlo's Bake Shop masterpiece.
