Business

Local Bakery Keeps Sicilian Legacy Alive

By Anaya White
Spectrum staff

Whatever you do, said Robert Zerilli, 54, cautioning this reporter, don’t casually refer to the establishment his great-uncle opened in1894 as just another bakery.

“It’s pa-STEECH-a-ri-a … pa-STEECH … like ‘teach,’ ” Zerilli said, as he explained how Veniero Pasticceria got its start and how it tries to stay authentically Italian.

“How many bakeries in America have a coal oven?” said Zerilli, who co-owns Veniero with his three sisters, has held a job there for 40 years and works there seven days a week. “It’s hard. It’s not an easy business … It’s hard … We have to stay open on holidays … Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter …You sacrifice.”

Veniero’s head baker, Angelo Santamaria, 56, was born in Sicily and moved to the New York City in 1967 when he was 7. He learned his baking skills from

Carmelo Bourguignon, who retired 10 years ago and started baking at Veniero’s in 1962, Zerilli said.

Zerilli calls Santamaria Bourguignon’s understudy. “It’s like a Broadway show,” said Zerilli of the flow at Veniero, especially during dinner, which is the cafe’s busiest time.

The lights in the display cases at Veniero’s shine down on biscotti in six flavors, cannoli, tiramisu, New York cheesecake, Italian cheesecake and rainbow cookies. Those are the most popular sweets on the desserts-only menu at the 100-seat cafe and bakery, which also serves gelato.

“We’re not the fanciest place but the stuff is good,” said baker Carlo Napolitano, dragging on a cigarette and dropping bits of profanity as he talked.

He first got hired at Veniero’s in 1973, left for a few years to be a UPS deliveryman, then returned to the East Village bakery.

Of the desserts, Zerilli’s favorites are rainbow cookies, strawberry shortcake and almond torte. Those recipes have not changed much over time, Zerilli said.

“It was very hard back then,” Zerilli said, connecting the past to the present. “Just simple chocolates on a side of a cake, for instance … they [got] the chocolate raw. The ice came from way upstate down the Hudson River … ”

Standing in front of the bakery one recent day, customer Ronald Figarro was enjoying a tart topped with raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, pineapple and kiwi. “It’s the best,” he said. “I mean, you can’t go wrong … I mean, this place has been here for over 110 years. They have to be doing something right.”

“My father,” customer Carol Reeber said, “used to bring cake home from here … This was sorta a place, a watering hole.”

The bakery’s founder, Antonio Veniero, started out as a manager in a candy factory. Later, according to Veniero’s website, he opened a social club serving homemade candy, biscotti and espresso. Over the years, the eatery expanded its menu and kept gaining customers.

“I know of a number of people who have linked up here and gotten engaged,” said co-owner Linda Martella, Zerilli’s sister, adding that the restaurant attracts a variety of tourists, hipsters and others who live in the neighborhood. Elderly residents of the neighborhood, which used to be home to many Italians, still dine there, she said.

Zerilli’s son, Frank Zerilli, 27, also works at Veniero. He’s the delivery guy. And Zerilli, the father, likes that.

“I’m standing on the shoulders of big people,” Robert Zerilli said. “So … after 100-something years … that’s all I want … a legacy.”