Buddy Valastro Opens Carlo's Bake Shop, Sweet Room Inside Mohegan Sun

Connecticut's Mohegan Sun offers a stellar array of dining options, and this weekend brought one more, with the opening of New England's first Carlo's Bake Shop, the Hoboken, New Jersey bakery that rose to fame (along with owner Buddy Valastro) on TLC's Cake Boss. We had the opportunity to visit for the grand opening, as well as sit down for a chat with Valastro.

Fans of the show will definitely recognize the bakery, with its familiar red signage and array of cakes, cupcakes, cookies, pies, and Italian pastries. But what they won't recognize is a brand new concept adjacent to the bakery, called the Sweet Room.

With 15 tables draped in white tablecloths, the Sweet Room "is a place to come after dinner to have fancy, over-the-top plated desserts and drinks with your family," Valastro told me. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

Eight plated desserts are available at the Sweet Room, including The Roman (caramel-semolina budino, angel wings, chocolate), Amore Mio Bombe (Rosolio rose petal liqueur, lemon mousse, almond cake, and white peach), Anteros (saffron-vanilla panna cotta, blood orange, mascarpone pop), Playing Rhummy (baba, pistachio terrine, Florentine brittle, berry bubble, pictured below), Italian Stallion (chocolate hazelnut crostata, pear, mousse al San Marzano, and milk chocolate), and Limoncello (limoncello-passion fruit tart, caramelized cake, sorbetto crema). A cheese plate, trio of gelato and sorbetto, and five-course dessert tasting are also available. All desserts cost $15, and the tasting is $65.

"When I first looked into this space, we knew that we had a ton of frontage, and had a vision for what we wanted to do with the space, but this is just spectacular," Valastro told me. "This has been five years in the making, and Mohegan Sun has been amazing. The kitchen is humungous, there's so much space. It's going to be a lot of fun."

At the ribbon cutting, which was held at noon on Saturday, Valastro was presented with a tribal blanket by representatives of Mohegan Sun, who explained to the crowd that because Mohegan Sun is a family-oriented establishment, the new family-family bakery is a perfect marriage of both brands thanks to their shared values.

This Carlo's location joins six in New Jersey, two in New York, and one each in Las Vegas and Philadelphia, and it can be found in Mohegan Sun's Casino of the Earth near the Winter Entrance, on the second floor.