Sisters serve up coffee, dessert and a place to go
E.B. natives put years of planning and research into Via Dolce, Rt. 18

JEFF GRANIT staff Jennifer Plumser (l) and Kim LoSacco, sisters from East Brunswick, recently opened the Via Dolce Cafe and Gelateria on Route 18 in the township.

EAST BRUNSWICK - The Via Dolce Café & Gelateria has been a long time in the making for Kimberly LoSacco and Jennifer Plumser, but the two sisters believe they're satisfying a long absent niche in the community.

"Growing up in East Brunswick, there was never any place to go after a movie," said LoSacco, 29, now of Spotswood. "And as we got older, we found there was no place to go for coffee, such as a coffeehouse or a dessert place. There was nothing to do after dinner and a movie with your friends."

The decision to do something about that came while on vacation in Florida, when the family members tasted a gelato on the beach that LoSacco described as "amazing" and like nothing they'd had before. They immediately wanted to know more about how the Italian ice cream was made, and started to ask questions that would begin four years of planning and preparation to open up their own shop.

"We said, 'You know what, we've got to bring it up here,'" LoSacco recalled.

She and Plumser, now 24, began the business out of their house, selling wholesale gelato products to Italian specialty stores. Meanwhile, they continued to do research, traveling over the course of a year-and-a-half to places like Las Vegas, Florida and Long Island, where experts from Italy would teach the making of gelatos, LoSacco said.

The sisters also did business research and began looking for a place to open a shop. After an initial location fell through, they would find their future storefront one night last year while eating dinner at Shogun 18, noticing that a lease was available at the former location of Sharlene's Shoes.

Opened in March at 1020 Route 18, Via Dolce is the product of not just years of work, but of a quest to provide all things original. The murals on the wall, for example, were all done by hand, and the venue features live music from local guitarists on Saturdays; open mic night on Tuesdays.

"Everything took time. We took a year getting the place ready, which was frustrating, but also well worth the wait," LoSacco said.

Of course, the greatest emphasis was on the products being served - from breakfast and light lunch items to desserts, which of course include the gelato. The shop offers the Italian ice cream in 30 flavors, some fat-free and sugar-free.

"We import all our flavor ingredients from Italy," LoSacco said.

Freshness is a key with the products, and LoSacco noted the great care that is taken for the coffee.

"We use a direct trade company, so the bean goes from the grower to the roaster then to us, and has a 10- to 14-day shelf life," LoSacco said. "Everything is fresh."

And the community's response over the first two months?

"I've heard on a constant basis that the town has needed something like this," LoSacco said, noting that business has been particularly good on weekend nights, when the shop stays open until midnight.

The shop, which has couches and tables and can seat up to 65 people, also does catering and private parties, LoSacco noted. For more information and hours of operation, visit www.viadolce.com or call (732) 238-7619.

- Brian Donahue