Lisa Siroti, owner of Papa Ganache, Keyport, is also a licensed social worker. The shop features desserts that suit all different needs, including animal-free, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free and wheat-free sweets. PHOTOS BY JACQUELINE HLAVENKA KEYPORT— Sweets, style and substance are all part of the mission of a new vegan bakery in Keyport’s business improvement district.
Papa Ganache, 25 Church St., Keyport, offers traditional dessert classics with an alternative twist, featuring sweets that are free of animal products, wheat and gluten, cholesterol, dairy and eggs.
“We really pride ourselves on trying to make things as mainstream tasting as possible, because not only do we service the vegan community, but a very large community that is lactose intolerant, people with celiac and Crohn’s disease and people with high cholesterol, because nothing [we make] has cholesterol,” said Lisa Siroti, owner of Papa Ganache.
“It’s all healthy. You don’t need to be a vegan to eat Papa Ganache cupcakes because the stuff is extremely mainstream wherever we could possibly make it so.”
Siroti, a Matawan resident and native of Brooklyn, N.Y., is not only a selfproclaimed foodie and antique enthusiast, but a licensed social worker who runs a community social service internship program, the Papa Ganache Project, right out of the shop.
Papa Ganache partners with Monmouth Cares, a private nonprofit that is part of the New Jersey Division of Child Behavioral Health Services (DCBHS) system, a care-management agency that serves children throughout the county.
“We are working with kids in the kitchen and helping them on anger-management issues, peer interaction, confidence, feelings of connectivity to the community because we are also a rehabilitative agency,” she said. “We have a shelter, a food bank here and some group homes here [in the borough], so through the [DCBHS], there is a system of care we are a part of.
“Weworkwith at-risk youth and their families to help them be more connected to the community and deal with their behavioral concerns.”
Mentors from area universities work with teenagers to redirect their behavior and create a positive place for youth to go in the community. The services run the gamut from interventions, self-esteem building, conflict-resolution skills and strategies for managing anger and anxiety.
“They [the interns] are really in the trenches,” Siroti said. “We do interventions here. Obviously kids having these behavioral concerns can somehow display their behaviors here and they learn firsthand how to do those interventions.”
Siroti said that working in the shop helps generate enthusiasm and pride and develops strong connections to the neighborhood as well as lifelong friendships.
“It’s a very untraditional program,” she said. “With teenagers and younger children, traditional treatment and socialization programs sometimes are not as effective for these kids.
“Here, it’s very casual. If you want to come in and make a cupcake, you can. It’s fun. We try to have a very casual though appropriate environment where we are able to be real and genuine. It’s amazing how you have a 17-year-old kid working [appropriately together] with a 7-year-old kid with developmental disabilities.”
After completing the program, children from Monmouth Cares have the opportunity for employment or volunteer hours for college.
“It’s unique certainly in this area, if not the county,” Siroti said. “The other really positive aspect of our program is that once children are done with the program, they have the opportunity to possibly come and work here, because it is really hard to find part-time jobs.”
Siroti said the Keyport community has welcomed the bakery’s programs, mission and food philosophy with open arms. Papa Ganache previously had a location in Red Bank but found more success in the Bayshore area of Monmouth County.
“The vegan and lactose-intolerant communities are small, but they network with each other,” she said. “We chose Keyport because Keyport has a really good vibe to it. The water is right here and we have a sliver of the river, as they call it in New York. The rents were doable. We are a grassroots company and agency, so we are taking a shot.”
As word continues to spread in the vegan and natural food community, the bakery is currently developing a website and exploring wholesale opportunities. Papa Ganache’s clients range from Ocean Township, Shrewsbury, Bradley Beach, Belmar, Princeton and New Brunswick and include children with food allergies who can have treats for the first time.
“Kids are coming in here for the first time ever, and this is the first time they have been able to come into a bakery and eat a cookie or a cupcake,” Siroti said. “Believe it or not, I have witnessed mothers buying their kid two cupcakes, a brownie, three cookies for the first time because they have never been able to have those things.”
Head baker SueAgnello is reformulating her favorite dessert recipes to suit all different needs, from gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, dairy-free to wheat-free.
“We are in the process of trying to take some old favorites and doing a new vegan spin on it,” saidAgnello, who started her career working as a pastry chef in bakeries throughout Manhattan. “Every day is a science project.”
From orange-almond biscotti, lime-raspberry tarts, vegan cheesecake, to pies, cupcakes and cookies, Agnello and assistant baker Jordan Mulvey are continuously finding new ways to make treats that are both all-natural and flavorful.
According to the staff, the bakery’s most popular cupcake is the “Drenched Elvis,” a banana cupcake with peanut butter vegan butter cream, a chocolate ganache drizzle, peanuts and a banana chip on top.
“Throughout my whole pastry career, I can honestly say that a lot of the products here are healthier for you because there are no animal products and the taste is even better than some of the things you know from years ago,” she said. “There’s a lightness to it… a very, very lovely lightness to it that in mass-produced products, you’re not going to get.”
The bakery will celebrate its one-year anniversary in Keyport during March. For more information, visit the Internet website at http://www.papaganache.com.