The Aesthete

A Serious Message, Said Sweetly

Pastry mavens Massimo LoBuglio and Arden Wohl raise awareness for the environment, one cupcake at a time

by Tarajia Morrell

When I think of cupcakes, I hardly think of saving the planet. For me, the image conjures up bake sales, youthful grins coated with icing and sticky fingers.

Yet protecting the environment is exactly what the Little Cupcake Bakeshop works toward in its own small scale, but nonetheless significant, way. Opened in 2005 by Massimo LoBuglio and three of his brothers, the original Little Cupcake Bakeshop in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, conveyed a serious message in and amongst the sweets: that a carbon-neutral bakeshop with organic ingredients and sustainable practices could thrive in a Republican-leaning neighborhood of traditionalists. The LoBuglio brothers were so successful that in 2010 they opened a Nolita outpost on the corner of Prince and Mott Streets with sustainability in mind. Their philosophy is simple and essential. Everyone, every business, every individual and hey, every cupcake, can make a difference.

It's a clever notion: making a statement with something as easy to swallow as a cupcake. The LCB confections prove that organic ingredients are every bit as sweet as their artificial counterparts. Icebox cakes, red (and blue) velvet cakes, tiramisu cake and, of course, every type of dense, delicious cupcake your sweet tooth hankers for await you at the cheerful denim-insulated, low emission-windowed Nolita shop where you can also purchase FEED bags to combat the hunger crisis.

Tonight (Oct. 23), LCB co-owner Massimo LoBuglio and Arden Wohl, the quirky New York scenester turned vegan pastry chef, will host an evening of cupcakes, cocktails and conversation to raise money for Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency. An unlikely combination? Not so much as you might think. Both Ms. Wohl and Mr. LoBuglio are committed to leading by example — effecting change through their personal and professional choices, creating a new more thoughtful paradigm toward eating and, consequentially, toward living. LoBuglio’s commitment to awareness and change caught the eye of former Vice President Al Gore, who hand-picked and trained LoBuglio in 2007 to be a climate control lecturer. For her part, Ms. Wohl — who has worked in the Aureole pastry kitchen and whose philanthropic interests include wildlife preservation and ending child sex trafficking — will be baking vegan cupcakes for the event. Together the duo make confections you can feel good, not guilty, about.

To purchase tickets for tonight's event, click here.