The inside of that case is what I imagine heaven to be like. This is Ferrara Bakery & Cafe in New York City. This place is, in a word, awesome.
After our dinner in Little Italy at Pellegrino’s, we did a bit of walking around/digesting. Our plan was to go to Ferrara’s for dessert and coffee, but my dad wanted a cookie or two before the rest of us were ready to eat more. He wandered into another bakery (I don’t recall the name, but I do recall that it was pretty much empty at 7PM on a Saturday), and this is the conversation that ensued between my dad and the owner:
Dad: Hey, can I have 1 pignoli cookie?
Owner/Dummy: No
Dad: No? Really, why not?
Owner/Dummy: We don’t sell only 1, the minimum is a 1/4 pound.
Dad: Okay, how much is a 1/4 pound?
Owner/Dummy: $3
Dad: Okay, give me 1 pignoli cookie and I will pay you $3
Owner/Dummy: No
Dad: Really? Alright.
First of all, what bakery refuses to sell someone a cookie? Even worse, what bakery owner who is actually demanding a minimum purchase of cookies, won’t sell a person one cookie for the price of their minimum? I guess there was a reason his bakery was empty and Ferrara’s was packed to the brim. I mean seriously, does this make sense to anyone???
So Ferrara’s is a 2 level bakery and cafe. The street level has a wide array of bakery cases filled with pastries, cakes, and other confections that they sell, as well as a bunch of tables. The second level, where we sat, has a bunch more tables and a smaller bakery case.
I ordered a napolean, because this is my favorite Italian pastry. When I was a freshman in college I lived in a dorm right across the street from the hotel and condo’s. There was a great bakery in the retail area of the complex where I inhaled many a napolean. There is something about the crunchy and the creamy with the sweet frosting that I just love.
This is what my dad ordered. It is called a cheminee, and it is a chocolate chimney filled with chocolate and vanilla mousse and a berry. It was effing delicious. My dad also ordered a homemade hazelnut gelato that was excellent, it was filled with nuts.
That is a whole bunch of cheminee’s and some other delicious looking stuff:
Yummy looking mini tarts
How cute is that mini wedding cake:
We also ordered an eclair, which was quite tasty. They really do look good, they are so pretty.
And of course, canoli’s. My sister had a canoli in her trio of mini pastries. When you order a trio, you can pick from a list of pastries. She got a canoli, a mini blueberry tartlet, and a mini napolean.
This is a small gelato stand that they had outside the main entrance.
This was a great way to end the day. I would recommend you check Ferrara’s out if you are in the area. Everything we had was delicious, though I think it was a bit overpriced. I suspect it is somewhat of a tourist destination so they can get away with charging you $13 for a cappuccino.