French/Italian Pastries in Nyc?

[habsfan110]

Are there any real French/Italian pastries in the city?

[michelleats]

Il Cantuccio makes authentic Italian biscotti in the West Village and bready, dense, Italian style croissants.

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Il Cantuccio
91 Christopher St, New York, NY 10014

[citykid426]

Patisserie Claude on W. 4th street. Great quiche and great croissants.

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Patisserie Claude
187 W 4th St, New York, NY 10014

[michelleats]

They DO make great mini quiches.

[habsfan110]

are there chocolate cakes there?

[erica]

What kind of Italian pastries are you seeking?

Agree that the best will probably not be in Manhattan...

[habsfan110]

Then where would the best probably be?

[erica]

Well, unfortunately, I have not tried all the possibilities in Manhattan, or anywhere else, but I can tell you that every couple of months I make a pilgrimage to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx where there is a large concentration of good bakeries, along with all sorts of great food shops. My main goal there is Borgatti, for fresh pasta, but I do a quite a bit of damage at the assorted bakeries and cheese shops...

The best ones for you would depend on the type of baked items you are seeking; I am currently in the throes of an addiction to Madonia chocolate biscotti (they are also strong on breads and are but one of many meccas in this stretch of blocks) but I am am always open to new ideas--faithful I am not, in this regard..

Please see the wonderful ideas here:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/679219

I have a mild infatuation for Palermo Pastry in Mill Basin, Brooklyn (pignoli cookies) but that is a bit far for me to put in regular rotation (you should have a car, I think)

Villabate not too very far away also gets raves for Sicilian style sweets.

http://www.villabate.net/index.html

And then you have the Court Street area---look here at a recent thread I started--not limited to Italian baked goods, but full of good tips:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/737915

[kathryn]

French pastry: Payard, Claude, Madeleine, La Bergamote, Ceci-Cela, Petrossian, Financier, Lady M, Balthazar

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/668364
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/427572
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/714016

Italian pastry: Veniero's (though they are hit or miss), Rocco (good cannoli), Bruno (mini-cakes and the sfogliatelle have been rec'd here), Stuffed Artisan Cannolis, DeRoberti's. But overall Manhattan isn't as strong in Italian pastries. Try Villabate, on 18th Ave and 70th Street in Brooklyn's Bensonhurst.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/446213

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Ceci-Cela
55 Spring St, New York, NY 10012

Veniero's
342 E 11th St, New York, NY 10003

Petrossian
182 W 58th St, New York, NY 10019

La Bergamote
515 W 52nd St, New York, NY 10019

Stuffed Artisan Cannolis
176 Stanton St, New York, NY 10002

[Striver]

I'd add Bouchon Bakery in the TWC to the French list, although I'd say they're more "French style". They're good, whatever you decide to call them.

For Italian, I'm with Kathryn - the best is in BX and BK - and since we're in the Bronx, we normally get our fix at De Lillo's or Morrone's in the Arthur Ave. area.

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Bouchon Bakery
10 Columbus Cir, New York, NY 10019

[kathryn]

"French style with heavy American influence" perhaps? Bouchon's selection doesn't really align with what people think of when they think French pastry. I think also Bouchon is pretty hit or miss dependent upon what you get.

[Striver]

Had a lemon tart from Bouchon last night that was excellent, but agree that everything is not always that good (and yes, they're not truly French - in fact, my favorite item is their completely non-French bacon/cheddar scone which makes a nice weekend breakfast, although not as good as Sullivan Street's savory brioche - which I guess is also "French-syle" but not French :)).