Business Buzz
By Rich Baehrle
A dream is coming true for Stacy Wu, the owner of the new successful Boba Works, restaurant and bakery, located at 960 Asbury Ocean City.
She had a grand opening on May 2, and if the crowd at the block party is any indication, it’s going to be a huge success.
Asbury Avenue in Ocean City has evolved into a fabulous outdoor mall with a large variety of retail stores and food establishments. It seemed to have it all until Boba came along and added a totally unique blend of quality food offering the choice of eat-in and take-out.
Stacy is a South Jersey native who brings more than a decade of experience to her new business. She graduated valedictorian from the prestigious Academy of Culinary Arts at Atlantic Cape Community College. She then went on to graduate summa cum laude from Rutgers Business School.
She has an impressive background, working at such places as Epicurean Events in New York, L’Apicio in East Village, L’Artusi in Greenwich Village, Carlo’s Bakery, Shorebreak Café in Sea Isle City and Bally’s Bake Shop.
Locally, she was the head chef, executive pastry chef, and frozen treat confectioner (ice-cream maker) at the Chatterbox in Ocean City. Stacy has spent a lot of time working in high-stress environments and wanted to create space where creativity and imagination could truly take flight. Thus, Boba was born.
Stacy encountered various setbacks including the pandemic of 2020 where she originally set out with a ghost kitchen with all of the orders coming from ordering platforms and her own Shopify store. Ultimately a ghost kitchen was only going to be a temporary thing. She really wanted her customers to see them working and have a more intimate experience with their staff and products.
On April 21, 2021, they moved to The Exchange in Linwood. It was a small location, situated in the middle of the seating area. Unfortunately The Exchange was sold to AtlantiCare, leaving Stacy to look for a new business home.
The birth of Boba tea was chosen as a theme for the new location in Ocean City. It goes along with food being fun and creative. Boba tea as its core concept is simplistic. It’s flavored tea with a tapioca (boba) topping. Once you master the core fundamentals, it is something that you can be creative with. You can choose new ingredients and implement them in a way that is visually stunning, to address the individual needs of the customers.
Boba tea aside, Stacy is going to place a big emphasis on their freshly baked pastries and deserts. Being creative in baking is more difficult than drinks, but it is also her background and something she wants to share with the community.
She is creating baked goods that you can’t easily obtain on the East Coast, much less South Jersey. Stacy spent much of her career making various kinds of French, Italian, and American desserts. She will blend those with Asian desserts to create a unique experience.
The customers will also be able to experience an awesome blend of coffees and espresso selections to go along with all of the tasty treats. The bottom line is stop in Boba and I guarantee you will be impressed with the varieties of treats, from custom cakes, to baked goods that you will not find anywhere else.
Ocean City lost Ward’s Pastries a couple years ago, but it looks like Boba is going to fill the void with even more delicious cakes, pastries, ice cream and donuts. There are simply too many unique items to list all of them. You are going to have to stop in, and tell them Rich from Business Buzz sent you.
Remember to support small local businesses. They are the lifeline of our communities
Rich Baehrle, of Berkshire Hathaway Fox and Roach, can be reached at 609-266-6680
or 609-641-0011. Email richardbaehrle@gmail.com or see www.getrichinrealestateSJ.com
