Idea for New Tuckerton Bakery Came From 'Stranger Things' Actor

When Joe's Bake Shop opens in May in the Seaport Plaza on Route 9 in Tuckerton, it will have a definite Stanger Things connection.

The store is a combined effort of Nicolette Jillson, 29, from Stafford Twp., and her Uncle, Gaten Matarazzo Jr., at the suggestion of Matarazzo's son, Stranger Things actor Gaten Matarazzo.

The younger Matarazzo has always been a big fan of his cousin Nicolette's cookies.

Nicolette was encouraged to go into business during one of her family’s weekly dinners when the Stranger Things actor commented on how delicious her cookies were and suggested she open a bakery.

“My cousin looked at his dad and said, ‘Let’s make this work", Nicolette told The Sandpiper.

The store will occupy the corner unit in the former T-Mobile location.

The bakery is named for Nicolette's brother, Joseph Olivier, who died in a car accident in 2020.

A self-professed foodie, Nicolette took online courses in baking and decorating, and taught herself to made cakes, cookies, cupcakes and candy bars.

But Jillson's specialty is stuffed cookies. According to the Asbury Park Press, the bakery will offer her half-pound stuffed cookies, including:

- The Monster's Cookie, a Nutella-stuffed chocolate chip cookie

- Get Toasted, a double chocolate graham cracker cookie stuffed with a s'more

- Red White and U, a sweet cream cheese-stuffed red velvet cookie with white chocolate.

Joe's Bake Shop will also feature as well as cupcakes, cakes, breads, and more traditional pastries and cookies "because we're Italian," Matarazzo Jr. said.

In Olivier’s honor, Jillson and the Matarazzos will donate proceeds from bakery sales to a memorial scholarship fund at Pinelands Regional High School.