Indulge in W. Caldwell's New Sweet Treat

Cupcakes are fun, delicious and popular. The young and the young at heart love them. Lucky for all of us, there's a new cupcake place in West Caldwell—Cupcakes Galore and More II.

The store, located at 555 Passaic Ave., is spartan, by design. The cupcakes are center stage—and what a stage it is.

There are two 10-feet wide refrigerated cases holding approximately 800 cupcakes in all kinds of flavors (there are currently 70). Customers walk between the two cases to reach the counter. The cases are trimmed with mirrors in front of giant back walls—it's like entering Cupcake World. It's "galore" indeed.

The flavors are more like themes. Each cupcake has a vanilla or chocolate cake, with different flavors of icing and trimmings like sprinkles, candies, peanut butter cups and much more.

Some are even stuffed. I sampled the peanut butter and jelly cupcake; the grape jelly was the refreshing filling on the inside. Some creations look like Elmo and the Cookie Monster. All are made on a fairly large scale.

Cupcakes in Action

It's pretty busy for dinner time on a Thursday night just days after the store opened last month. It's clear there's a big buzz in town about this new cupcake Mecca.

Owner John Cifaldi is a renaissance man of sorts. He spent a long time in law enforcement as an investigator in Passaic County. He's owned various businesses, including pizzerias. He currently owns a contracting business and now he's also a cupcake man. 

"I opened up my first store in Totowa three months ago," said Cifaldi, who opened the West Caldwell location on Feb. 13. "It's been crazy."

Angela Fautz works at Flair, the ladies' accessories store across the street. She walked in and asked for a half dozen. She marveled at the varieties, and was open to suggestions.

Cifaldi told her about the "Devil Dream," which is a current favorite of his. "Remember Devil Dogs?" he asked, referring to the baked treats from childhood available in the grocery store.

I happened to be devouring one at the counter and I nod in approval. Without pause, Fautz said, "I'll take two of those."

She also took the last two red velvet ones, which led Cifaldi to ask, "where did they all go?" 

I then noticed a boy dancing behind me. Yes, dancing. Stefan Slawski, of Verona, couldn't believe what he was seeing. At his "little guy" height, the presentation of cupcakes must have appeared even more impressive. His mom Nancy laughed, "the cupcakes are making him dance," she said.

Another customer entered, Marvin Ginsberg, the owner of Quality Car Care in Verona. Kara, the counter girl, immediately packed up a cupcake for him.

But wait, he didn't even order!

"He's been in here every day so far," Cifaldi said,  "and he always gets the Heath one."

After the customers are all served, the crew continued to work. Steve, another counter guy, filled in the holes left by the recent rush and Cifaldi got some paper towels.

"I like to keep it really clean," he said. 

While he worked, I asked some questions.

Caldwells Patch: Why West Caldwell?

John Cifaldi: I like the area ... I love it here, just everything. The store, the parking—the town made it very easy for me to open up a business.

CP: What are your plans for the future?

JC: I plan on opening 10 more of these in the next year. We do the baking out of Totowa, fresh every single day and brought right here. I have 4,000-square feet there, so there's room to bake.

CP: What is it about cupcakes that makes them so popular?

JC: Right now, there's a fad going on .... I myself was going into New York City to buy them! (In wanting to sell them) what I said was, 'I have to do something better.' Bigger, tastier, fresher ... try to make them a little better. 

CP: Do you eat them a lot? What's your favorite?

JC: (shakes head as if perhaps to say he eats them too much) Oh, God. My favorite one is right here (he points to the top center of one of the counters)—the "Average John." It's vanilla cake with chocolate ganache ... we buy really good stuff for the ingredients. 

CP: What are some of your brainstorms for future varieties?

JC: We're doing an Andes mint one.

His enthusiasm is like a Willy Wonka of cupcakes, but more personable and infectious. It's been rubbing off on the staff and the customers.

As for the "and more" part of the store's name, joining the product mix will be cookies and other goodies like chocolate-covered pretzels.

There's another interesting "and more" item—giant cupcake cakes. They're works of art just like the smaller ones, with colorful icing and and rainbow sprinkles on the side. There are only two in their own dedicated fridge.

"I've sold about 60 since we opened," said Cifaldi, whose Totowa location is at 181 Union Blvd." They're $17.95 and serve 10 people."

There are also cupcake-based sheet cakes available, featuring icing on top of a bunch of single cupcakes.

As this writer leaves, so does a customer, who turned and said to the staff: "this store is adorable—good luck."

It's also delicious.

At a Glance: Cupcakes Galore and More II

Address: 555 Passaic Ave., West Caldwell 

Phone: 862-264-4141

Fax: 862-264-4189

Offering: A wide selection of gourmet cupcakes in classic and unique flavors, cakes, "and more" soon. Bottled water also available. Be sure to pick up a menu!

Prices: Single cupcakes start at $3.25; stuffed ones are $3.75.

Be on the lookout for: An official grand opening event in the coming months.