Authentic Italian bakeries

[retrofabulousity]

Hi all,

I am a new chowhound member and also new to Boston...I took a long read through the archives here and have a question about Italian bakeries or an old school panificio if it exists.

Are there any bakeries who make good Italian breads and/or sweets in the area? They don't have to be exclusively Italian..I in fact wonder if Iggy and Clear Flour will end up being the most suited for what I seek in fact and I should just resign myself to this...

I am not looking for cannoli for example but rather classic Italian crostate, cookies (lingue di gatto etc) and varieties of Italian breads ranging from the Roman rosetta to rustic loaves.

To my knowledge this sort of thing isn't available in the North End but I would be gladly corrected

Thanks!

[mkfisher]

My go to spot for Italian cookies is Fisichelli's in Lawrence. It's about a 45 minute drive north of the city. Since you're new to Boston, I'll warn you that some areas of Lawrence can be rough at night, so it's a trip best made during the day if you don't know the area.

[gourmaniac]

Not sure what part of town you are in. In Newton's Nonantum neighborhood off Watertown street is an Italian panifico. Authentic enough that there Tuscan bread has no salt (not to everyone's taste).T There are a couple of bakeries in North End with good bread at good prices. I don't know of a good patisseria that is Italian vs. Italian American. We have some great examples of the latter.

[retrofabulousity]

Thanks for the replies...I will check out Fisichelli's

I am in Cambridge and have a car so while close is nice, I will go anywhere if they have what I want. What would the name of that panificio be please as well as the bakeries you mean in the North End?

Are there others besides Maria, Modern, Mike and Bova?

Is Providence preferable in this regard?

-----
Bova's
134 Salem St, Boston, MA

[gourmaniac]

Magni Bakery on Adams Street in Nonantum. i was thinking Bova for bread, the three Ms fit your description of cannoli places but you should visit and check it out.
I've only been to Providence a couple of times. Some excellent shops and retaurants but find them no more authentically Italian than Boston if that is important to you.

-----
Bova's
134 Salem St, Boston, MA

[retrofabulousity]

Thanks...I will definitely stop into Magni Bakery whenever I can.

I stopped into Bova and had a bit of their stuff and it was very different from what I grew up with in Italy...I will leave it at that except to say that their arancini were almost unrecognizable for me; any recommendations on where to find those would also be appreciated :)

Thanks again

-----
Bova's
134 Salem St, Boston, MA

[gourmaniac]

If you are from Italy, things will be very different here. If that is what you need, you will be generally disappointed I fear. For dinner, try Trattoria Toscana in the Fenway neighborhood as the closest to Tuscan food. In Cambridge, try Punchinella (Huron near Concord), which does regional Italian. Arancini at Galleria Umberto on Hanover Street in the North End has its fans including me, but not sure how authentic it is.

-----
Trattoria Toscana
130 Jersey St, Boston, MA 02215

[yumyum]

For restaurants Gran Gusto in Cambridge is another good call for simple authentic Italian fare. In fact I'd ask the brothers there for suggestions as to bakeries since they are full on Italian and not Italian American.

-----
Gran Gusto
90 Sherman St, Cambridge, MA 02140

[retrofabulousity]

Thanks I have lived in the US and Italy both so I knew not to expect exact replicas etc but knowing what is in the ballpark will be helpful.

Thanks for the other recommendations. I will try Galleria Umberto next. I was surprised you didn't recommend Gran Gusto here in Cambridge; any particular reason? Trattoria Toscana is definitely on my list as well...is Maurizio's in the North End a decent Sardinian place?

By the way, I would really love to find Roman suppli which is like a smaller arancino with cheese inside....really good when you need that fix!

Ciao!

-----
Trattoria Toscana
130 Jersey St, Boston, MA 02215

Gran Gusto
90 Sherman St, Cambridge, MA 02140

[yumyum]

Jinx. Just mentioned above. I love Gran Gusto for the simple product-driven (read: simple) Italian pastas and pizzas.

Another one to add to your list is Erbaluce in Bay Village downtown. Chuck the Magic Dragon (chef Charles Draghi) is not raised in Italia but has spent much time with his family there and represents Piedmontese cooking very well. One of my top 5 places in the GBA, not just for Italian. Also, bonus ... if you get Chuck talking about food and sourcing products, you'll get an earful. In a good way.

-----
Gran Gusto
90 Sherman St, Cambridge, MA 02140

Erbaluce
69 Church Street, Boston, MA 02116

[gourmaniac]

second on Erbaluce. I didn't recommend Gran Gusto cuz I haven't been. i trust yumyum completely though.

-----
Gran Gusto
90 Sherman St, Cambridge, MA 02140

Erbaluce
69 Church Street, Boston, MA 02116

[retrofabulousity]

Thanks Yumyum!

I have been to Gran Gusto and found it to be solid and even located in exactly the kind of area such a place might be in a city like Rome so it brings back good memories for me too.

I also have Erbaluce on my shortlist of places to try...I was going to make a separate thread for restaurants but perhaps will just go with the flow in here and ask anyone for other recommendations.

What I have so far is: Erbaluce, Gran Gusto, Trattoria Toscana, Via Matta and perhaps Maurizio's...I was also told to try the seafood at Il Pescatore.

Any others of note?

Thanks again!

-----
Trattoria Toscana
130 Jersey St, Boston, MA 02215

Pescatore
158 Boston Ave, Somerville, MA 02144

Gran Gusto
90 Sherman St, Cambridge, MA 02140

Via Matta
79 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116

Erbaluce
69 Church Street, Boston, MA 02116

[yumyum]

I'm sure you've already discovered Salumeria Italiana in the North End. Fresh buratta, flown in weekly. All the products you need and want. Again, worth asking them about bakeries if that's your thing.

Sulmona Meat Market should also be on your list.

Closer to home, check out Capone's in Union Square for legit cheese and fresh pasta.

And welcome!

-----
Salumeria Italiana
151 Richmond St, Boston, MA 02109

Sulmona Meat Market‎
32 Parmenter Street, Boston, MA

[retrofabulousity]

Thanks Salumeria was actually the first Italian shop I went to and I have also been to Capone, Russo's, Dave's, Sessa, and Formaggio so far.

I haven't been to Sulmona so thanks for that! Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated

Take care

-----
Sessa's
414 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02144

[yumyum]

One more to add to the list when you're down checking out Sulmona. Polcari's Coffee has coffee beans but also whole spices, dry goods including farro and 00 flour if you're making pasta, cornmeal, lentils, etc. Nicest guys ever, and a cool place to poke around.

105 Salem Street

[9lives]

second Galleria Umberto. EATTV just wrote them up in his 30 day ethnic journey (which is great). They close for the month of July and go back to Italy, so you have til Sat or Aug to try them.

Parziale's is around the corner from Bova on Prince and I think a better bakery; which isn't too hard.:)

-----
Bova's
134 Salem St, Boston, MA

[tatsu]

Magni was empty and closed when I went yesterday.

[retrofabulousity]

Were they on vacation or no longer in business?

Thanks

[tatsu]

gone for good the store was cleared out except one dusty case and a generic italian bread poster.

[Science Chick]

THanks, gourmaniac! Never knew about this place. I would add Antoine's on Watertown Street if you are in the area. Great Italian cookies, cannoli and desserts, although I don't know about bread.

[tatsu]

The bread looked decent there, I tried the biscotti and cannoli, not bad. Nudo Gelato across the street (took over Bobalicious apparently) carries Modern with the same pastries. The lobster tail was noticeably bigger than Antoine's, enormous really. Like Vinny Testa big.

-----
Bobalicious
308 Watertown St, Newton, MA 02458

[bear]

Welcome to Chowhound and to our fair city! Lots of great suggestions so far. I'll add Tutto Italiano to the mix. It's a small local chain and much of their bread is made at their original store in Hyde Park. There are several local stores that carry some dry goods and some prepared foods. They vary in size and inventory, but have terrific sandwiches. Your jaw muscles get quite a workout from the chewy bread!

I'm sure you'll be searching the Southern New England board for Providence suggestions.. When you go, don't miss a visit to Venda Ravioli on Atwell's Avenue. Lots of frozen ravioli combos, and a huge case of prepared foods and imported meats in the middle of the store. They also bake their bread but I can't remember what it's like. It's really fun just to walk through the shop and drool.

-----
Venda Ravioli
265 Atwells Ave, Providence, RI 02903

[Guinness02122]

I don't know about authentic, but Arthur's in Medford is very good. I've had Christmas cookies and ricotta pie and they were both excellent.

[teezeetoo]

Salem in Waltham on Moody Street is an excellent source for all things Italian. De Pasquale for homemade sausages, in Newton's Nonantum area. And should you happen to be in Providence, shopping is very good, particularly for excellent Italian veal and such things as scungilli.

[Guinness02122]

Don't know Providence except for a pizza place I went to many years ago. Good square pizza, but I forgot the name of the place. Not a bakery.

[bear]

Maybe Caserta? Haven't had it in years, but it used to be a great Sicilian slice.

[lergnom]

Caserta's is the same as it ever was.

[teezeetoo]

go to federal hill area - sciallo's bakery is one good choice, but there are several. i haven't been for a while but i used to go to an excellent butcher whose veal was particularly outstanding. will try to remember name.. for small unpretentious italian restaurants with truly solid food, try cranston, r.i.

[retrofabulousity]

Thanks I may give this Sciallo's a try if you think it might be worth it.

I happened to stop in Modern just recently; is Sciallo significantly better and if so in what ways?

I was also wondering if I might be better off looking for an all purpose or other ethnicity bakery in the first place as a substitute?

[teezeetoo]

well you can't "taste" online, but Scialo's has a website and you can check what they carry (I think you can order on line but it's usually large things). I do think Providence is worth a visit in general, not just for Italian, but because it's a charming city in its own right. As to general bakeries, I'm a big fan of Clear Flour's bread and often get my Italian rusticos and foccacias at Clear Flour. Iggy's has very good bread and I like the bread and various pastries at Japonaise on Beacon and St. Mary's in Brookline,. Canto 6 is also very good. I get very good Florentines and almond cookies at Athans (don't care for their other cookies however) and I like the Italian cream stuff at Antoines in Newton and Royale in Cambridge. In the north end, I've always preferred Marie's bakery, but I'm not a huge North End fan and get my Italian products at Di Pasquale's in newton or Salem's in Waltham.

[bella_sarda]

My husband, who is Italian, likes the cookies from Torretta's bakery, in Beachmont (between Winthrop and Revere). He brought some home and some were quite good but not all were to my taste. I personally have never had Italian sweets here that have been half as good as what I got in Italy (Padua in particular). I find it very hard to find good crostata. Of the Italian pastry shops I've sampled from in Boston, I like Modern Pastry the best. I think that at their Medford location they have a better selection than in the North End. They're not just a cannoli shop either, so not sure if the OP has sampled the other goodies. Again, not as good as in Italy, but pretty good for Boston.

-----
Modern Pastry
257 Hanover St, Boston, MA

[retrofabulousity]

Thanks for this message...crostata was actually one of the things I was looking for; have you actually seen any here?

I stopped into Modern's 2 locations but they didn't have any at the time (don't know if they do other times)

Ciao!

[retrofabulousity]

Anyone else know of any places with crostata?

Thanks

[Allstonian]

I did an "all years" search on this board for the single word "crostata." Apparently Canto 6 in JP used to do a pine nut crostata back when they were called Bread and Butter Baking Co. It looks like they no longer make it, though, since the most recent mention is from 2007. Other than two hits for that item, all other hits were for restaurant desserts, rather than bakeries. This suggests that the answer to your question is, unfortunately, no.

[retrofabulousity]

Thanks...by the way how does Canto 6 compare to the other well-considered bakeries in Boston like Iggy's, Clear Flour and La Japonaise?

Am I leaving out anything else you think should be included?

Ideally I would like the Italian sweets (and breads) but I will gladly accept other substitutes at this point since most of what I have seen in the Italian bakeries has not been what I was looking for anyway

Thanks again

[gourmaniac]

Canto 6 is my favorite of the lot and I think it more reasonably priced. Not Italian as you surmised.