For: Zebu Forno Franchise
LLC, Red Bank, N.J.
From: Parness &
Associates, Aberdeen, NJ
For Immediate Release
ZEBU FORNO OPENS NEWEST LOCATION IN HOBOKEN, N.J
HOBOKEN, N.J. (4/3/08)—Zebu Forno, the European-style bakery and café, has opened its third New Jersey location in Hoboken.
Located on the street level of Marineview Plaza, a five-story office building at River and First Streets, the 2,500-square-foot café offers a wide variety of meals, snacks and desserts from early morning until late evening. The Hoboken Zebu Forno opens each day at 7:00 a.m., and closes at 10:00 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, 11:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 9:00 p.m. on Sundays. The café is just two blocks from the PATH rail transit system’s Hoboken station and The South Waterfront ferry terminal. New Jersey Transit’s Light Rail service is also nearby.
Zebu Forno’s menu includes fresh-baked breads, muffins, bagels, and pastries; breakfast sandwiches; omelets; homemade soups; handmade thin-crust and Focaccia pizzas; Panini sandwiches, wraps and other hot and cold sandwiches served on home-baked breads; fresh salads; quiche; gelato; fresh fruit cups; espresso drinks; a variety of coffees and teas; and a soft drink selection that includes Boylan’s soda on tap. All menu items and baked goods are available for takeout, augmented by a selection of pastas, sauces, olive oils, other grocery items, and Zebu mugs and accessories that are merchandised throughout the store. Catering services are also available.
With its oven and baking preparation area situated at the front of the store to allow patrons and passersby to view the baking process first-hand, the new café incorporates the comfortable, relaxed atmosphere that Zebu Forno has become known for. Seating for 56 patrons is offered at conventional tables, stool-height tables and at groupings of Indonesian roll back leather easy chairs.
Walls are adorned with original murals by New Jersey artist Gregg Hinlicky, including a major piece celebrating great artists of the past, all with ties to New Jersey or New York. The work features the likenesses of Aaron Douglas, Mark Rothko, Alfred Stieglitz, John Sloan, Alex Raymond, Roy Lichtenstein, Lee Krasner, Winslow Homer, Frederick Church, and Tamara de Lempicka. Numbered guides to the artists depicted on the murals are provided on colorful bookmarks available at the counter. The store’s other murals are whimsical replications of famous works. Hinlicky’s take on George Bellows’ “Dempsey and Firpo” depicts Luis Angel Firpo knocking Jack Dempsey out of the boxing ring. In Hinlicky’s version, the spectators are drinking coffee from Zebu coffee cups. Another mural, based on Degas’ many ballerina scenes, features a ballerina pouring coffee into a Zebu coffee mug. The final work of art is Hinlicky’s depiction of “Nude Descending a Staircase” by Marcel DuChamp. Hinlicky’s version, which he titles “Waitress Descending a Staircase,” shows a waitress carrying a tray with Zebu coffee cups on it.
The eclectic atmosphere is rounded out by such features as rustic wood plank floors, a ceiling design that is two-thirds exposed, low voltage track lighting, exposed brick walls, flat screen TVs, satellite music, and free Wi-Fi.
Zebu’s Hoboken location is owned and operated by northern New Jersey foodservice industry veterans Gallucci Associates. Through its primary entity, Suzon Dining Services, Gallucci currently operates corporate dining facilities in Bergen and Essex counties, including the headquarters buildings of Columbia Bank and Kearny Federal Savings.
Gallucci Associates was founded in 1985 by construction and development industry veteran Glen Gallucci. In addition to corporate food management services, the firm’s holdings included Soup’s On, a retailer and wholesale purveyor of high-end soups, whose accounts included such specialty grocers as Balducci’s, Burke & Burke, Dean & Deluca, and Gracies Market Place. Jeff Gallucci joined his father’s company in 1997. Since that time, he has worked in all areas of the business, from manning the counter to menu planning, purchasing, facility design and managing on-site teams. He was named president in 2002 and was subsequently joined in the business by brothers Paul and Michael.
While Jeff Gallucci and other family members will take an active role in all aspects of the Hoboken Zebu, the café’s day-to-day operations will be directed by general manager Danielle Kapner, formerly a pastry sous chef for four years at the Gotham Bar and Grill in New York City. She will lead a team of 15 to 20 full- and part-time employees.
“We are excited to introduce Zebu’s great food, drink and relaxed atmosphere to Hoboken,” said Jeff Gallucci. “Residents of this vibrant city and daytime workers will find Zebu a perfect place to gather for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or unwind for mid-afternoon or late-night snacks. And for those heading to the PATH, ferry or any of the nearby office buildings, we also offer the ability to grab a quick cup of coffee, bagel, muffin or pastry to-go. We look forward to greeting our new neighbors in the weeks ahead.”
Hoboken is the third café for the Red Bank-based Zebu, whose network currently includes a company-owned location that opened in 2001 in downtown Red Bank and a franchised location at The Commons at Holmdel lifestyle center that was unveiled in 2007, marking the company’s move into franchising. The company plans to develop into a regional chain with 15 to 20 franchised locations in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania over a three to five-year period.
“With their strong foodservice experience and passion for the business, the Gallucci’s are a perfect example of the types of franchisees we are recruiting to develop Zebu into a regional brand,” said Andrew Gennusa, president of Red Bank-based Zebu Forno Franchise LLC. “Given the quality of this location and our operator here, we anticipate big things from our new Hoboken café.”
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Press Contacts: At Parness & Associates Public Relations: Bill Parness or Lisa Kreda, (732) 290-0121, parnespr@optonline.net; at Zebu Forno, Andrew Gennusa, president, (732) 245-2320.
NOTE TO EDITORS: High resolution store photos are available from Parness & Associates.
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