Red Rose Bakery brings taste of Brooklyn to Toms River — and soon Asbury Park

Susan Bloom | Special to Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Can New Jersey bread be as good as New York's? Baker Joe Leone says yes Joe Leone of Joe Leone's Italian Specialties in Point Pleasant Beach has introduced a New York Watermaker in his bakery.

TOMS RIVER - Growing up in Jersey City until his family moved to Howell in 1982, Joe Sernio was a modern-day renaissance man.

Whether building websites, acting (including long-running stints in soap operas "As the World Turns" and "All My Children," among other TV and film appearances), producing films, or running Shoreline Media Marketing, the award-winning, Asbury Park-based digital marketing and SEO company he launched in 2010, Sernio enjoyed pursuing a range of different professional opportunities.

So the energetic entrepreneur was excited about the diverse nature of his latest venture — partnership in Red Rose Bakery in Toms River.

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“Red Rose Bakery was opened in 2011 by Walter McCloskey, who’d been a friend of my father’s in Jersey City, and his grown children, Melissa and Michael,” said Sernio, 37, a resident of Asbury Park. “While Walt had owned various pizza places and delis over the years, he also owned a successful painting business and no matter what venture I undertook, I always had Walt paint for me.”

While having Walt paint his new Shoreline Media offices several months back, “I asked him how the bakery was doing and he told me that he wanted to sell it so that he could focus on the painting business,” said Sernio, whose wheels immediately began turning.

“It was a great bakery that had done well for seven years without a website or social media presence, so I decided to visit the operation,” Sernio said. “I tasted their outstanding products and saw the dedication that Melissa, a talented baker formerly with Gian’s Bakery in Howell and the creative director in the kitchen, and Michael, who handled a lot of the bakery’s operations, put into the business,” he said.

“Using my other ventures, skills, and experience, I wanted to rebrand Red Rose,” Sernio said. In early 2018, he partnered in the business with Walt and set about doing just that.

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Fresh and homemade

At Red Rose Bakery, “everything is made fresh from scratch on the premises,” said Sernio of the range of assorted crumb cakes, cookies, pastries, cupcakes, breads and more for which the bakery has built a large following.

“We also offer custom-made and themed cakes for birthdays, weddings, graduations, communions/confirmations, holidays and other special events, and our cannolis — which feature our own homemade filling prepared fresh onsite — are among the best in the area,” Sernio said.

Since taking part-ownership, “it’s been about broadcasting the passion that Walt, Melissa and Michael have for the business,” said Sernio, who revamped the bakery’s logo, color scheme and tables, refaced the exterior of the store, and upgraded some equipment while creating a new website, online retail capability and social media presence.

Understanding the value of appealing product images, “we have a photographer who photographs our products and posts them daily to create a following, which has drawn a lot of new customers,” he said.

Sernio said some consumers want gluten-free products and that the bakery can cater to certain food allergies.

“But we mostly stick to the products that people love and which we’re best at, and more and more people are looking for a traditional Italian bakery,” Sernio said.

“So many bakeries have gone by the wayside over the years at the hands of big supermarkets, but their quality doesn’t compare to a bakery like ours, where products are 100 percent fresh, homemade, and made to order," Sernio said. "People love coming in here because it smells so good and they can see everything and sample it – it really makes their mouths water.”

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Taste of Brooklyn

Those are among the many reasons why customer Rosina Romeo has been such a loyal fan of Red Rose Bakery since the beginning. A native of Brooklyn who’d heard about the bakery through friends and passed it on her way to and from the Ocean County Mall, “I was so happy when I found Red Rose because I didn’t have to go back to Brooklyn for my baked goods,” Romeo said.

“Melissa’s products are the best and the closest I’ve found to the quality and taste of Brooklyn and I go to Red Rose at least twice a week to stock up; I especially love their seven-layer cookies and Italian bread and they make the best pignoli cookies I’ve ever tasted,” she said. “You can smell the aroma of the different baked goods and fillings as soon as you walk in and once you go there and taste it, you’ll be like ‘wow!’ It’s just an awesome experience.”

While Sernio said that the hours during holiday seasons can be extensive and that last-minute orders can be challenging, “we have a system in place to help manage the logistics of that and have a team of three full-time staffers along with plenty of back-up support for busy times,” he said.

Based on the buzz surrounding Red Rose Bakery, Sernio and the team are excited about the second location they’re scheduled to open in Asbury Park within the next couple of weeks.

“It will be more of a grab-and-go site where everything will be sourced fresh from our Toms River location and can be restocked within the hour if it runs out,” he said of their soon-to-open 716 Bangs Ave. location. “We’re excited to provide and build a brand around a product that everyone raves about in another shore location and may look at additional locations in the future.”

For Sernio, promoting Red Rose Bakery represents a culmination of many of his own interests and passions.

“I know what goes into building a brand and when I saw how devoted the McCloskey family was to this bakery and how good their products were. My personal favorite is the original-flavor crumb cake, which features more crumb than cake! I knew they just needed a little push to get it out there,” he said.

“When people bite into any Red Rose product, they’ll taste the hard work, commitment and pride put forth by this family-owned business,” Sernio concluded. “I just want to help their passion shine through.”

RED ROSE BAKERY

Location: 1843 Hooper Ave., Toms River

Phone: 732-503-4707

Opened: 2011 by Walt McCloskey; co-owned by Joe Sernio since early 2018

Website: www.redrosebakerynj.com

Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.