Founded in 1998 by CIA-trained chefs Geoff and Debbie Camire, Biscotti Café & Pastry Shop makes Italian pastries, cakes and gelato in Syracuse’s Little Italy. After its original café burned down, the couple rebuilt on North Salina Street and grew the business into a community bakery known for traditional Italian recipes, American spins on Italian classics and custom celebration cakes. Syracuse officially recognizes Biscotti Café Day each April 17.
Alfonso's Pastry ShoppeFounded by Alfonso in 1970 after he honed his craft in Italy and worked as a baker at New York’s Plaza Hotel, Alfonso’s Pastry Shoppe makes fresh Italian pastries, cakes and custom celebration cakes on Staten Island. The shop moved to Victory Boulevard in 1978, where Alfonso’s son Anthony Campitiello has preserved his father’s techniques while running the business since 1996 and expanding it to a second location. Traditional pastries share the counter with contemporary cake designs, including detailed specialty cakes made for weddings and family milestones.STATEN ISLAND, NY
Circo's Pastry ShopSince 1945, Circo’s Pastry Shop has been making Italian and French pastries, custom celebration cakes, and its famous cookies from its Bushwick bakery. The family business traces its craft to Nino Pierdipino, who came from Sicily and now runs the shop with his sons Salvatore and Anthony, both Culinary Institute of America graduates. Circo’s retains an old-neighborhood feel—one distinctive enough to attract movie crews—while shipping its baked goods nationwide.BROOKLYN, NY
Vaccaro's Italian Pastry ShopFounded in Baltimore in 1956 by Palermo-born Gioacchino “Mr. Jimmy” Vaccaro, Vaccaro’s Italian Pastry Shop makes Sicilian pastries and other Italian desserts using the Old World recipes he brought from Italy. Now led by his son Nick, the family business has grown from its original shop into a pastry operation with a production facility, cafés across Greater Baltimore, and nationwide shipping. Cannoli and rum cake remain its signature Baltimore favorites.BALTIMORE, MD
Civitello's Italian Pastry ShoppeSince 1921, Civitello’s Italian Pastry Shoppe has made Italian cookies, pastries, spumoni, ices and other treats in Schenectady. Founded by Ralph Civitello after immigrating from Alvignano, Italy, the shop remains a family tradition, with the Angerami sisters carrying its homemade recipes into a third generation. Its old-fashioned storefront still serves as a gathering place, and its cookies are baked without preservatives, hand-packed to order and shipped across the continental United States.SCHENECTADY, NY