Remembering DeRobertis Italian Pastries NYC

 

REMEMBERING DEROBERTIS

DEROBERTIS PASTRY SHOPPE

1ST AVENUE, EAST VILLAGE NYC

A SAD DAY IN NEW YORK

Rumors circulated earlier this year that a prime, neon-lit slice of the old East Village at 174-176 First Avenue, which has been home to De Robertis Caffé Since 1904, would soon disappear because the parcel was on the market for $12 million. At the time, the De Robertis family dismissed the story and said their namesake bakery would remain open, but now our friends at Bedford + Bowery report the sad news that the place has been sold and the ovens will be turned off permanently on December 5.

The site says that various health concerns, the economy, and other factors brought the De Robertis family to a consensus to sell. This is dismal news for lovers of the place’s two kinds of cannoli, espresso, and sfogliatelle, but also for those who found the old shop, along with its mosaic-tiled floors and pressed tin ceilings. The bakery remained unchanged for so many decades that it served as a backdrop for scenes from movies like Malcolm X and Manhattan Murder Mystery. De Robertis Caffé also appeared in the first episode of Sex and the City.

Rumors circulated earlier this year that a prime, neon-lit slice of the old East Village at 174-176 First Avenue, which has been home to De Robertis Caffésince 1904, would soon disappear because the parcel was on the market for $12 million. At the time, the De Robertis family dismissed the story and said their namesake bakery would remain open, but now our friends at Bedford + Bowery report the sad news that the place has been sold and the ovens will be turned off permanently on December 5.

DE ROBERTIS PASTICCERIA at 176 First Ave between 11th  & 12th Sts in what was once a heavily Italian enclave in the East Village.  The family run business closed this past December after being open for 110 years.  Amazing.  The family is getting older, it’s increasingly tougher to compete and profit for the mom and pop places and real estate prices are making these decisions for tired families very tempting.  Apparently that’s what happened here, can you blame the owner?  Of course it’s sad because the old school Italian Pastry shop is becoming increasingly hard to find and this was one of the best in show for a variety of reasons.  It’s age.  That alone is a reason why its closing really takes a living piece of NYC’s Immigrant and Italian-American history away.  We need these places, they are living museums.  The look and aroma in the shop always took me back to “the old days”.  Everything about it suddenly brought my mom and dad, my grandparents and other deceased family members back to life if only for a moment.  For me, that’s priceless. You would step down into DeRobertis and get Punched in the face with the smell of what every Italian Pastry shop should smell like.  I still don’t know if any other Italian or Italian-American bakery in NYC bakes the array of old traditional cookies. 

DeROBERTIS PASTICCERIA

DeROBERTIS ITALIAN PASTRIES

NONNA BELLINO'S COOKBOOK

RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN NONNA

DANIEL BELLINO Z

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OLD MAN JOHN

BACK in The DAY

DeROBERTIS PASTICCERIA

Lucky Luciano Childhood Home

 

LUCKY LUCIANO

CHILDHOOD HOME - 265 East 10th Street New York City

This is the childhood home of Italian mobster Charles "Lucky" Luciano.

It is located at 265 East 10th Street in Manhattan, New York.

Luciano was the first official boss of what is now known as the Genovese crime family. Following his rise to power, he established the Commission, which remains the governing body of the Italian-American mafia.

For this reason, he is considered to be the father of modern organized crime in the United States.

His family emigrated from Sicily to the United States when he was just 8 years old.

After arriving in New York, the family settled in East Village, which was a popular neighborhood for Italian immigrants.

Luciano lived at 265 East 10th Street with his parents, Antonio Lucania and Rosalia Capporelli, and his four siblings.

Salvatore Luciano was born in the town of Lercarra Friday, Sicily - November 24, 1897, the same town that Frank Sinatra's father Martino Severino Sinatra was born, as well as Italian Cookbook author Daniel Bellino.

Luciano's parents immigrated to the United States in 1906. The family settled in the Lower East Side of New York City, with young Salvatore and his siblings. Young Salvatore ("Lucky") was 8 years old at the time.

The area was a major enclave of Sicilian and other Southern Italian immigrants at the time. There were 4 famous Italian-American eating establishment in the neighbourhood, of which 2 are still open, and sadly two have recently closed. These places are Lanza's Italian Restaurant on 1st Avenue, DeRobertis's Pasticceria next door, John's of 12th Street, and Venniero's Pastries. John's and Venniero's "Thank God" are both still open, as of this writing in January of 2025.

LANZA'S

1st Avenue

Inside LANZA'S

A Favorite of  Charles “Lucky” Luciano , Joseph “Socks” Lanza ,  Carmine “Lilo” Galante , and numerous other Mobsters over the years.

We’ve already established that the mafia in the East Village liked their Cannolis and their veal scallopini.  This next bit of history is is consistent with that pattern.  Lanza’s Restaurant, located at 168 1st Avenue in a tenement built in 1871, was opened in 1904 by Sicilian-Italian transplant Michael Lanza.  It is rumored that in Italy he had been chef to King Victor Emmanuel III.  And this regal influence is definitely apparent in the kitschy interior of large painted murals of places like Mount Vesuvius and the stained glass windows.  These elements, along with the tin ceiling, are all original or very close to it.  Also original to this turn-of-the-century throwback: the customers.  According to an interview done by Eater, 90% of the patrons are long time regulars.

DeROBERTIS PASTRY SHOPPE

1st AVENUE, EAST VILLAGE

Inside DeROBERTIS

NEW YORK CITY

JOHN'S of East12th STREET

SINCE 1908

"SYILL OPEN"

VENIERO'S PASTICCERIA

Since 1894

FRANK SINATRA 

At VENIERO'S

With Owner FRANK ZERELLI

BISCOTTI RIGINELLI

aka REGINA COOKIES

FRANK SINATRA'S FAVORITE COOKIES

The SINATRA COOKBOOK

"SINATRA SAUCE"

COOK & EAT LIKE FRANK

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NEW YORK ITALIAN on Instagram NYC

 

HAVE YOU VISITED - NewYorkItalian INSTAGRAM  ???

@NewYork.Italian

PIZZA PASTA SINATRA

ITALIAN NOONA'S - MUSIC & MORE !!!

On  @NewYork.Italian - Instagram

NONNA BELLINO'S COOKBOOK

COOK LIKE an ITALIAN NONNA

PASTA - ANTIPASTI - SOUPS

AND MORE !!!

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THE HOTTEST NEW COOKBOOK !!!

FOR CHRISTMAS 2024

SINATRA SAUCE

COOK LIKE FRANK

HIS FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPES

STORIES & MORE !!!

FRANCIS ALBERT SINATRA 

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Old New York Restaurants

 

MANGNARO'S GROSSERIA ITALIANA

Was on 9th Avenue in New York's HELLS KITCHEN

Sadly, they CLOSED after 100 YEARS in Business 

KEEN'S STEAKHOUSE

NEW YORK NY

ANTHONY BOURDAIN

VANISHING MANHATTAN

"OLD SCHOOL NEW YORK"

TONY with MICHAEL LOMANACO

At MAGNARARO'S ITALIANA

MANGANARO'S

Sadly, "They Are Gone"

MANGANARO'S GOSSERIA ITALIANA, 

was on 9th Avenue in NEW YORK'S HELLS KITCHEN

The neighborhood where Sylvester Stallone was born, and where author Mario Puzzo wrote the Best Selling Novel "The Godfather" as well as the screenplay to the movie.

Manganaro's Grosseria Italiana, commonly referred to as Manganaro's, was an Italian market and deli on Ninth Avenue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1893 and operated for 119 years, helping to introduce the hero sandwich to Americans. The family closed the business and put the property up for sale in 2012.

The business was founded in 1893 by Ernest Petrucci as a wine and spirits store, Petrucci's Wines & Brandies, that also sold groceries. Its location at 488 Ninth Avenue near 37th Street was on a stretch of the avenue that remained lined with exotic food stores for decades. After the enactment of Prohibition in the U.S. in 1919, Petrucci's nephew James Manganaro, an immigrant from Naples, took over the store in the 1920s and changed the name; in 1927 he was able to buy the building. Manganaro may have invented the hero sandwich, and played a role in introducing it to Americans.

On his death in 1953, Manganaro's passed to his brother Louis and sister Nina Manganaro Dell'Orto and their spouses; in 1955, with a publicity agent's help, they invented the six-foot "Hero-Boy" sandwich, which was successful enough for one of Dell'Orto's four sons to go on the original version of the TV quiz show I've Got a Secret, and for the family to open a sandwich shop next door at 492–494 Ninth Avenue the following year, while continuing to operate a deli and lunch counter in the rear of the grocery store.

In 1962, Louis Manganaro retired and two of his four nephews took over the grocery store and the other two the sandwich shop, Manganaro's Hero-Boy, and the businesses were separated.

Sal Dell'Orto, who bought out his brother's half ownership of the grocery store, and James Dell'Orto, who bought out his brother's half ownership of the sandwich shop, fell out over rights to the "Manganaro's Hero-Boy" name, trademarked by the sandwich shop in 1969, and advertising for party sandwich telephone hotlines, which led to two separate court cases. The business' neon sign installed in the early 1930s, which became blinking in the 1960s, was turned off in 2000 so that Manganaro's Hero-Boy could not benefit from it.The grocery store was repeatedly found at fault over the hotline and was ordered to pay damages to the sandwich shop, and the financial drain plus waning popularity, some of it due to the declining neighborhood, led to the decision to sell the building and close. This was first announced early in 2011, but the building was withdrawn from the market; the business then closed in late February 2012.

Anthony Bourdain featured the store, on the episode title "Disappering Manhattan" on No Reservations TV Show.

AMERICA'S FAVOrITE

ITALIAN COOKBOOK

TONY TOO !!!

DeROBERTIS'S PASTICCERIA ITALIANA

1st Avenue NEW YORK NY

SINCE 1904

Photo - 1928

DeROBERTO'S PASTICCERIA ITALIANA

Year of Picture Unknown

 

LANZA'S

1st Avenue, New York NY

Lanza’s was an Italian restaurant in the East Village, Manhattan. It was opened in 1904 by Sicilian immigrant Michael Lanza in a tenement built in 1871. Lanza was rumored to have been a chef for Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. They closed in 2015. Eater reported it officially closed in 2017 after seizure by a marshal for non-payment of taxes. It is also said to have closed in 2016. The former restaurant's murals, stained glass, and sign were retained by Joe and Pat's, a pizzeria that opened at the location in 2018.

They were known to be a favorite of Lucky Luciano, Carmine “Lilo” Galante and Joseph “Socks” Lanza. 

LANZA'S

SINCE 1904

The DINING ROOM

Sadly, LANZA'S Closed in 2017

"STILL GOING STRONG"

JOHN'S of 12th STREET

CUCINA ITALIANA

Since 1908

Thankfully, JOHN'S is open (2024) and going as strong as ever, and will be around for many more years to come. 

Photo by Italian Cookbook author Daniel Bellino Zwicke

At one point in his long restaurant career, author Daniel Bellino worked as a waiter at JOHN'S for 7 years.

At the time, he worked as a cook in Italian Restaurants in New York. He worked 2 jobs for 7 years, cooking at various restaurants full-time, while working as a waiter / bartender at John's for 3 nights a week.

Oldest Restaurants New York City NYC

 

The FRANCES TAVERN

NEW YORK CITY

Located on the corner of Pearl Street and Broad Street in downtown Manhattan, Fraunces Tavern is a 250-year-old bar and restaurant with a storied past. During the American Revolution, this famous spot acted as George Washington's headquarters (it was also where he famously bid farewell to his troops after they all enjoyed a turtle dinner). Visitors can learn more about the tavern’s history on its second and third floors—the space was made into museum galleries in the early 1900s.

P.J.CLARKE'S - Since 1884

PJ Clarke's

NY NY

P.J. Clarke’s has been serving up delicious burgers in a cozy setting for nearly 150 years. A favorite among Hollywood stars, Frank Sinatra often sat at Table 20 and Buddy Holly famously proposed to his wife here after knowing her for just five hours. In 1958, Nat King Cole proclaimed that P.J. Clarke’s bacon cheeseburger was “the Cadillac of burgers,” and, well, the rest is history. 

PJ Clarke's FINE ART PRINT 

KEENS

"Home of The Mutton Chop"

KEENS STEAKHOUSE - Since 1885

Over 150 years ago, publishers, playwrights, and producers met and mingled at the renowned Keens Steakhouse before seeing a show. As the story goes, actors from the nearby Garrick Theatre would even come, dressed in full costume and makeup, to eat between acts. Today, the iconic steakhouse is known for being one of the last remaining establishments of the historic Herald Square Theatre District.

PETER LUGER

WILLIANSBURG, BROOKLYN

PETER LUGER STEAKHOUSE - 1887

Situated steps away from the East River, Peter Luger has been the go-to spot for lunch and dinner since the late 1800s. The restaurant started as a cafe and bowling alley by the Luger family and was later bought in an auction by Sol Forman when it fell into disrepair. Forman owned the manufacturing business across the street and realized he had nowhere else to bring his business clients for lunch if the restaurant were to close, so he decided to take over the spot himself. Fast forward decades later, and Peter Luger Steakhouse is still talked about for its juicy burgers and high-quality cuts of meat.

KATZ'S DELICATESSEN

East Houston Street

NY NY

KATZ'S DELICATESSEN - 1888

Immortalized in that classic When Harry Met Sally scene (“I’ll have what she’s having!”), Katz’s has remained a quintessential New York City institution since the 1880s. Starting out as a small kosher deli on Ludlow Street, the beloved establishment has been making delicious corned beef sandwiches, knishes, latkes, matzo ball soup, and more for nearly 150 years.

RAO'S

East Harlem, NYC

RAO'S - 1896

Rao’s has been at its East Harlem location since 1896 and has a menu filled with Southern Italian classics. Known as one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city, this small 10-table red sauce joint is near impossible to get a reservation at. You may have better luck snagging a table at its Las Vegas or Los Angeles outposts.

SINATRA at RAO'S

With "NICKY The VEST"

SUNDAY SAUCE

alla BELLINO alla PACINO

SUNDAY SAUCE - MEATBALLS - LASAGNA

RAO'S LEMON CHICKEN

And MORE ...

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