New York's Pasticceria Ferrara

This is a late post about New York City. We visited NYC in the fall of 2011. I was really looking forward to visiting NYC during the fall because it's much cooler and it's easier to explore by foot when you're not constantly wiping your face because of excessive sweating. We walked so much in the city and when we were in dire need of a place to rest, we found Pasticceria Ferrara in Little Italy.

I can't describe my delight but I was smiling from ear to ear when I saw all the colorful and beautifully decorated cookies, cakes and pastries in there.

It looks like pastry and cake heaven.

So many cookies, so little time.

Since we were saving our tummies for Joe's Pizza, Mom and I shared this Strawberry Tart.  This tart tasted almost heavenly.

Since it's fall and it was a bit chilly outside, I ordered a cup of cafe latte to go with my tart.

Here's a little history about Ferrara from their website:

New York in the Gay Nineties had almost everything, except for a place where an opera lover, after a night of Verdi or Puccini, could relax, play a Neapolitan card game called "scopa" and drink a cup or two of espresso.

This situation was remedied when our great grandfather, Enrico Scoppa and my great grand-uncle, Antonio Ferrara, opera impresario and showman, opened a cafe called Caffé A. Ferrara. Caruso thought the coffee marvelous but especially loved the cookies and cakes.

After World War I, my grandfather, Peter Lepore, a nephew of Antonio Ferrara, had stowed away on a ship bound for New York.

At the beginning of the 1929 Depression, Peter married the daughter of Enrico Scoppa. He was to spend the rest of his life at Ferrara's, transforming a charming neighborhood cafe into a world famous shrine of delicious tastes. Times were tough and in order to make sure there was very little waste, they began to bake two, three and sometimes four times a day, small batches of cookies and cakes. These difficult circumstances were a blessing in disguise.

Because of the frequency with which they baked, Ferrara acquired a great reputation for freshness. This reputation and the fact that the Lepore's were devoted to their business almost as much as to each other, enabled Caffé Ferrara to grow and prosper.

Today, Ferrara is still a family owned business operated by the fifth generation. And that's perhaps the most wonderful thing about Ferrara's. Since its beginning in 1892, the spirit has changed very little.