Social Success by the Slice

Meet Anthony’s Cheesecake & Restaurant. Srsly. 

They say “never meet your heroes” and I call bullshit. Because anyone who says that has never met Anthony Lauro. From a marketing perspective, that guy is my hero. Why? Because he is a living example of entrepreneurial embodiment. And the reason I even know that is Facebook. 

For you see, two months ago, I did not know Anthony Lauro. 

I had never heard the story of how he threw proverbial raspberries at the suit-n-tie desk career he was educating himself to pursue and went hard on a restaurant instead or heard about his mother’s sage career advice in the wake of it all: “We’re Italian. We feed people. It’s what we do.” 

I was woefully unaware about how that restaurant only stayed afloat a calendar year; my man got his ass handed to him as a barely 20-something first time restaurant owner. It wasn’t even on my radar to get inspired by the fact that instead of declaring defeat, this aspiring restaurateur rolled up his sleeves and got back in the game, mastering every position in the front and back of the house until he had the clarity and the confidence to hang out another shingle. 

I hadn’t yet been walked down memory lane about the old deli in the heart of Bloomfield NJ, where hundreds of high school kids got their start and now revisit as cops, firefighters, and parents of the next generation. I didn’t know about the early days of the quaint street-side destination eatery he now calls home. 

I did not know Anthony Lauro, community pillar, family friendly, and innovative culinarian, balancing life between running a peak business and digging his toes in the sand at his place “down the shore,” but I did know Anthony’s Cheesecake and Restaurant. 

And therefore, I made a pilgrimage there, sight unseen, and got to hear these stories and meet the man behind the springform pan. 

Why did I book a hotel and make it my mission to taste as many things on the menu at Anthony’s? Because the algorithm is gonna algorithm and one day, on my daily scroll, I started seeing cheesecakes. 

Cookies and cream cheesecakes, creme brulee cheesecakes, basque cheesecakes. Lemon blueberry ricotta. Turtle cheesecake and peanut butter cup. Cinnamon roll mashups and <GASP!> pistachio. 

Whilst cheesecakes may have caught my eye, but it’s the heart that got me hooked. 

For you see, the more I noticed posts from this place, the more I was curious. And the more I was curious, the more I was compelled. And the more I was compelled, the deeper and deeper I moved into "The Anthony’s Cheesecake and Restaurant Appreciation Society" (not a real thing, but should be.) 

These guys have heart. 

I feel qualified to make this assessment because I worked in restaurants for what seemed like hundreds of years. I was married to a fine dining chef. We lived and breathed restaurants. We made a go out of buying one, consulting for others, and dreaming of a little spot where our customers felt like family and the creativity flowed like salted caramel down a mountain of perfectly steam-bathed whipped cream cheese, sugar, and eggs. 

I know what it takes to maintain a culinary spirit, days after day, hustling tables, the economy and food cost. I understand how hard it is to drag your physically broke-down mind and body to yet another day of barely controlled chaos. 

Ain’t nothing like it in the world. A thrill, really, to fly by the seat of your ability to wow ‘em with service, style, and epicurean enchantment. It is not for the weak of spirit. 

So to see the Anthony’s Cheesecake and Restaurant Social, always alive and teeming with happy faces, abundant desserts, and some of the most interesting and creative dishes on any Italian-inspired menu I have ever seen, made me sit up and take notice. And when I saw the massive artichokes in the steam tray, stuffed to the rim with breadcrumbs, herbs, butter, and parmesan, ready to poach their hearts out—like, literally…I was smitten. 

My bb, who is not on Facebook, got used to screenshot after screenshot of Anthony’s play-by-play. “Look at this,” I’d say, “Can you believe this place?” We’d scroll through incredulously, dreaming of going there for brunch. What a place! What a team! What damn fine dining, without being “Fine Dining.” 

We began to talk about the place as if we knew it well, or someone we respected had told us about it. Soon, we began to dream about going there someday. “We’d have to get a hotel room,” I’d say. “That way we can go there for dinner one night and lunch the next!” And if we didn’t like dinner….”HA!” he’d interrupt. “If we didn’t like it.” What a prosperous idea. The nerve. 

Despite never having been there, knowing no one who had ever actually been there, or even the town it was in, we were in. When an opportunity to drive from DC to Providence for a wedding arose, we rose to the occasion; a pit stop Anthony’s was an absolute must. 

And so we did. We had dinner at Anthony’s and lunch the next day. He offered to make us something off the menu, if we wanted, and sent us off with a dessert box stuffed with arguably the best cheesecake that I have ever had, and maybe ever will. He took pictures with us and we him and we ended up right there on that Facebook page, the very one that had turned us on to Anthony’s in the first place. 

Since then we’ve told everyone on our path about our adventures to Anthony’s Cheesecake and Restaurant, the place we’d only known on Facebook but were determined to try for ourselves. I am writing this article that you are reading right now.

THAT is how social media can work—and work wonderfully. 

I was surprised to learn that Anthony does not have a team of teenagers posting stories and shouting out events / occasions, posting pictures of Chef up to his elbows in cinnamon roll dough or vats of tomato sauce and piles of burrata. He does it all himself. (You know, in between waiting tables, mentoring teens, chatting up grandmas, bringing coffee to the boys in blue…) 

This is how social media can work. It doesn't take a sophisticated strategy or a bottomless budget for placement and pr, it just takes heart. 

Be yourself. Show your work. Include others. 

Don’t believe me? Just check out the dozens of comments on any given post and the genuine cheerleading that happens there; soon you’ll find that me + my bb + Intergalactic Intern aren’t the only ones making a pilgrimage to Anthony’s to taste the good life, people are coming from all over the world. And I can promise you, they are not disappointed. What’s more, they’re telling their friends all about the time they trekked hundreds or even thousands of miles for a piece of cheesecake they saw on Instagram... and it was absolutely worth the hype. 

 So let this be a marketing lesson to all of us: Be yourself. Show your work. Include others. In other words, when in doubt, be more like Anthony. 

🍑 

When you live the brand, it shows. In fact, folks won't be able to NOT notice. The vibe is absolutely contagious. Not sure who you are or how you want to show up? We can help with that.

 Don't let us have all the fun. Visit Anthony's Cheesecake and Restaurant in Bloomfield, NJ. At the very least, follow them on Facebook and Instagram. Your inner foodie will thank you.