Robicelli's

Flavors: Friday, July 29th

So…..just because our apartment flooded, we have to live with my parents, we’re opened a new store and Matt was rushed to the hospital with a severe kidney infection DOES NOT MEAN WE DON’T STILL BAKE THE CUPCAKES!!!!  BOOYAH!!!!

However, this does mean an extraordinarily short blog post today. It’s one of those weeks where the universe piles as much as it can onto your shoulders just to see if it can break you, and you have to push back in hopes that if you survive you end up with a big bag of gold or your own private unicorn or something.

I’m going to try and post a few more things today if I can carve out the time, but right now I’m going to sleep.  In the event the posts I want to write don’t happen, just know that Matt and I love all of you very, very, very much.  Thank you for being there for us this week.

Clockwise from front: Key Lime Cheesecake, Bananas Foster, Liddabit, North Fork

The North Fork:  Chocolate cabernet cake, blackberry cabernet buttercream, cabernet simmered blackberries

Key Lime Cheesecake:  Graham cracker cake, key lime curd, key lime cheesecake buttercream, graham cracker crumbs and lime zest

Bananas Foster: Banana rum cake, rum-salted caramel buttercream and drizzle

Liddabit: Chocolate cake, salted caramel & nougat buttercream, peanuts, ganache, caramel drizzle

Available at:

CAFE AT SAM’S BAKERY- 94th Street off 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

BAGEL SCHMAGEL:  Third Avenue btwn Bay Ridge Pkway & 76th Street, Bay Ridge

THE CUPCAKE STAND: Fifth Avenue between 60th and 61st, Sunset Park

CRESPELLA CREPE & ESPRESSO BAR- 321  7th Avenue at 9th Street, Park Slope

BLUE APRON FOODS- Union Street off 7th Avenue, Park Slope

TAZZA CAFES- Henry off Atlantic and Clark off Henry, Brooklyn Heights

COURT STREET GROCERS: 485 Court Street, Carroll Gardens

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

EASTERN DISTRICT- Manhattan Ave off Eagle St, Greenpoint

BROOKLYN STANDARD:  Nassau Ave & Jewel St, Greenpoint

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook and Roving Food Truck *Whoopie Pies only*

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side 

BATTERY PLACE MARKET:  77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

Flavors: Wednesday, July 27th

I’ve gotten about a million billion questions this week, so instead of writing something quirky about time travel or something equally awesome, you’re getting some FAQs.  That’s what happens when you ask too many questions, nosypants.

“How often is the store at DeKalb open?”

Seven days a week, folks!  This is NOT the Flea or a weekend only dealie or a pop-up. We are there every single day…..except Christmas. And Thanksgiving. Probably closed for New Years, too.  And Good Friday.  But if you guys need us on Arbor Day or Cinco de Mayo, you bet your ass we WILL be open!

“What are your hours?”

Right now, Sunday from 10-7, Monday through Thursday 11-7, and Friday and Saturday from 10-10.  If we decided to change the hours we’ll let you know- we’re still figuring this out.

“Are you baking at the store?”

No- the store is a little over 140 square feet, meaning that even if we wanted to do it, there’s no way it could happen.  Our kitchen just happens to be about a 10 minute drive away, so this is what we do: we go in during the night shift, bake til the wee hours of the morning, then go home and go to bed.  Early morning, our neighbor Mike wakes up, drives to the kitchen and picks everything up, then drops it off at the store right before opening.  Andrew stock the cupcakes in the case and runs the shop, while we go back to the kitchen to bake.

“Who is this ‘Andrew’ you speak of?”

This guy:

Andrew is a good friend of ours, a father of two kids the same ages as our boys, and the holder of a Master’s degree in quantitative statistical something something I forgot.  Anyway, he’s one of the smartest (and funniest) guys we know, but he finished his degree right after the economy went to hell, so he graduated into a world with zero job prospects.  But did Andrew sit back and complain, and just idly wait until something that met his ridiculous qualifications came along? HELL NO! Andrew isn’t one to sit back and do nothing, and so he came to work for us at our old store, and was without question one of the greatest people we ever worked with.

It’s funny that when a store closes, we just look at it as a “thing”- as if it had no human impact. When we closed, like the many Bay Ridge businesses that have shuttered in the past 3 years, a lot of people lost their jobs, and Andrew was one of them.  We are so, so lucky that we were able to hire him back, because he’s been such an important part of Robicelli’s since the very beginning, and it wouldn’t feel right if anyone else was running that store.  

And remember, the more you support not only us but ALL the small businesses in your neighborhood, the more jobs you create.  That does a lot more good for the economy than just bitching about the government on Facebook all day.

“When will you and Matt be there?”

For the first month at least, we’re going to try and ensure one of us is there on the weekends while the other one stays in the kitchen and bakes.  However, we didn’t plan for the near-destruction of our apartment when we drafted up the plan for the store, so we’ll more than likely be plotting our schedules on a day to day basis until the flooding situation has been resolved.  But you will have to believe me that Andrew is just as good, if not BETTER then Matt or I, so you’ll definitely want to go down and spend lots of time with him.  

“How are you deciding on what flavors to do?”

We are making this up as we go along.  Right now we’re buying a bunch of inventory for select flavors, and making them for a few days until we run out of the correct ingredients.  We keep picking up different things during the week to work with, so even though you’ll see our usual rotation flavors there, we’ll have those flavors for more days than our wholesale shops do, and you’ll be seeing lots of off-rotation flavors as well.

We’re also going to be sending most of our new flavors to DeKalb first rather than just releasing them straight to the public so we can see how they play out.  Also, all our “wilder” flavors, like El Guapo, The Iona and Chicken n’Waffles will be at DeKalb on a semi-regular basis (in fact- the Elvis is returning for this weekend!).

“How do I know what flavors you’ll have at DeKalb every day? Will you post them here?”

I’m working on setting up a new site specifically for the DeKalb store, and by working on it, I mean putting it on my to-do list and then sleeping in front of my computer with my eyes open.  In the interim, all flavors will be posted each day on our Facebook page, so make sure you’re a fan (and remember there’s a link right below our name on this page).  

“Will you be having some sort of Grand Opening party or something?”

I promise you that we’re going to have LOTS of great events not only at our shop, but at DeKalb as a whole.  We’re going to have something pretty spectacular come next Thursday, so keep your eyes peeled…………..

“Where are the pictures of the shop?”

I haven’t had any time to upload them. You got some? Show us on Facebook. Besides- stores not done yet…….I still have to get artwork together, install the baseboards, install the back counter………..IT NEVER ENDS!!!!

“This is an FAQ, but you didn’t A my Q! Was it not F enough?”

Again, head over to Facebook and ask me.  I’m taking questions all the time over there.  And screwing around a little.  Come on, it’s ME we’re talking about.

“What are today’s flavors?”

I’m glad you asked!!!

Clockwise from front: The North Fork, S’Mores, Estelle Getty, Key Lime Cheesecake

The North Fork: Chocolate cabernet cake, blackberry cabernet buttercream, cabernet simmered blackberries

S’Mores: Chocolate cake, speculoos pudding, toasted marshmallow buttercream, ganache, graham cracker crumbs

Estelle Getty: Almond cake, cheesecake buttercream, crushed imported Amaretti cookies from Sicily

Back After Two Years in the Vault! Key Lime Cheesecake: Graham cracker cake, key lime curd, key lime cheesecake buttercream, graham cracker crumbs and lime zest

AVAILABLE AT:

ROBICELLI’S AT DEKALB MARKET: 332 Flatbush Ave Extention off Willoughby, Downtown Brooklyn

HOM- Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge

BLUE APRON FOODS- Union Street off 7th Avenue, Park Slope

BATTERY PLACE MARKET:  77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

JOE: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY-  W. 120th btwn Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook and Roving Food Truck *Whoopie Pies only*

Flavors: Friday, June 23rd

Well it’s official………all you jerks on Twitter who have been complaining about getting sick during the summer have given me your sinus mumbo jumbo, and I want to die.  GYYYAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Fortunately, I didn’t have to bake tonight- Matt and the apprentices covered it perfectly.  So I did the only logical thing one can do when it feels like your eyeballs are about to explode out of your face and rattle around the room like a couple of ping pong balls filled with killer bees on methamphetamines- I scheduled as many meetings as I possibly could and ran around the city all day.

I finally got to pop my head into our new location downtown- Battery Place Market- and holy crap is it nice in there! (how’s that for an endorsement, huh?) Delicious Stumptown iced coffee, free wi-fi…..AND I learned that not only do they deliver breakfast lunch and dinner downtown, but they will also deliver cupcakes!  Take note of THAT next time you’re ordering lunch, Financial District!

Then in the early evening I was invited to Google headquarters to hear more about their new service Google Places.  I was really stoked about this, because we never get invited to ANYTHING fun where we don’t have to work a teensy bit, nor are we ever given appetizers or complimentary pens, which are pretty much our two favorite things ever.  However, right when I got there was when my sinuses blew up, and then during the important part of the presentation I got a phone call I really had to take, so I’m still not entirely sure what went on.  Important part, however, is I got to chill with Danny Macaroons, who’s one of our favorite people in the whole world and destined to become our BFF whether he likes it or not.  

Now that I’m home I’m popping some Mucinex and going to spend an hour or two poking around Google Places to find out what’s up.  So if for some reason when you get to work all of Google has mysteriously crashed, it’s probably because of me. Apologies in advance, Google.  But thank you for the lovely tote bag!

Time for cupcakes!  TWO flavors returning from the vault from last year- working on ways to make them year round flavors if they take off.  If you like them, let us know what you think!

Clockwise from front: Dom DeLuise, Chocolate Cheerwine, Apricot Chardonnay, The North Fork

FLAVORS:

The North Fork:  Chocolate cabernet cake, blackberry cabernet buttercream and compote, cabernet reduction

Apricot Chardonnay:  Apricot chardonnay cake & buttercream, chardonnay simmered Turkish apricot

Chocolate Cheerwine:  

Chocolate Cheerwine cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate Cheerwine ganache and Cheerwine simmered cherries

Dom DeLuise:  Pistachio cake, ricotta buttercream, roasted pistachios, candied citron, miniature chocolate chips

Available at:

CAFE AT SAM’S BAKERY- 94th Street off 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

NEW! BAGEL SCHMAGEL:  Third Avenue btwn Bay Ridge Pkway & 76th Street, Bay Ridge

THE CUPCAKE STAND: Fifth Avenue between 60th and 61st, Sunset Park

CRESPELLA CREPE & ESPRESSO BAR- 321  7th Avenue at 9th Street, Park Slope

TAZZA CAFES- Henry off Atlantic and Clark off Henry, Brooklyn Heights

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

EASTERN DISTRICT- Manhattan Ave off Eagle St, Greenpoint

BROOKLYN STANDARD:  Nassau Ave & Jewel St, Greenpoint

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook and Roving Food Truck *Whoopie Pies only*

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side 

BATTERY PLACE MARKET:  77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

JOE: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY-  W. 120th btwn Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue