A Cow At Carlo's City Hall Bake Shop?

A man disguised as a cow was helping deliver lunch and made for a slightly awkward moment with customers at Carlo's City Hall Bakery Tuesday. 

Last month, "Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro made a celebrity appearance at the annual Chick-fil-A corporate meeting in Washington, D.C. In addition to delivering a custom-made cake Valastro had baked for the company, the appearance involved the Cake Boss engaging in a Question and Answer session with Chick-fil-A employees. When Valastro was asked if he'd ever sampled the Chick-fil-A menu, he responded that he had never tried the fare because there aren't any Chick-fil-A restaurants nearby.

Ken Walsh, the owner of a Chick-fil-A franchise in Paramus, seized the moment. He stood up and informed Valastro that there's a store about 25 minutes from Hoboken and then promised Valastro that he'd personally deliver a Chick-fil-A lunch to Carlo's for the Cake Boss and his staff.

Yesterday, Walsh, one of his "Eat Mor Chikin" cow mascots and four employees made good on that promise when they delivered an array of Chick-fil-A food and beverage items to the downtown bakery.

Valastro, who is celebrating his 33rd birthday today, took a few moments to speak with Patch this afternoon and confirmed Walsh's claim. "I thought it was delicious," Valastro said of his tasting. "Especially the lemonade."

Customers on hand were momentarily surprised by the spectacle of a man in a large bovine costume walking into the bakery surrounded by people wearing maroon shirts. Some customers chuckled and said that "you never know what's going to happen in Hoboken anymore," before whipping out their iPhones to snap a photo of the scene. Others seemed plain confused.

But for Walsh, who's owned the Paramus store for 23 years, the stunt was a success. Walsh said Buddy ate an original Chick-fil-A sandwich, tried some chicken strips and chicken nuggets and washed it all down with fresh-squeezed lemonade. "He loved it!" said Walsh, who is the consummate salesman.

Walsh and his crew also brought some baked desserts to the bakery: cheesecake and lemon pie. Valastro said he didn't get a chance to try either dessert item, but Mauro Castano, Valastro's brother-in-law and top pastry chef, gave a glowing review of Chick-fil-A's baking prowess. "The cheesecake was good," Castano declared. "I liked the crust."

Grace Valastro, Buddy's sister, said she used to visit the Paramus Chick-fil-A "all the time" when she lived in Bergen County, but since moving away doesn't eat there anymore.

"The waffle fries are to die for," said Grace Valastro, who savored the complimentary lunch yesterday.

Walsh said the chain's trademark cow has been serving as the company's silly mascot for the last 15 years and that the ad campaign has received numerous industry awards. The cows were even inducted into the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame in 2007. The cow's ardent promotion of chicken (over beef) as a meal is supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek act of self-preservation.

"Anybody who knows Chick-fil-A gets excited when they see the cow," Walsh said.

Even though Hoboken got its first 7-Eleven store in December of last year and numerous other chain stores and restaurants conduct business here, don't look for a Chick-fil-A to open in the Mile Square anytime soon. According to Walsh, Hoboken doesn't meet Chick-fil-A's highly specific demographic requirements, but he didn't rule out the possibility altogether. "As corporate revisits its 5- and 10-year plans, that could change," Walsh said.