A beloved Bensonhurst bakery has filled its last cannoli shell, ending over a delizioso half century of neighborhood tradition.
After 52 years, Angelo’s Royal Pastry Shop, 2482 86th Street, closed in July.
“We have no plans in continuing it,” said Anthony Mallozzi, the son of owners Mary and Emilio Mallozzi.
He said a host of reasons precipitated the store’s closing, including a changing neighborhood and a rise in the cost of living.
“How were we going to end it, with someone dying behind the showcase?” Mallozzi asked.
Anthony literally grew up in the store, sleeping in bread bins and on the tops of freezers, he recalled. “That was my childhood,” he said.
The family will now have a chance to enjoy holidays together. “We always had to work through the holiday seasons,” the son said.
Mallozzi, 53, worked in the shop his entire life. Early on, he went to Italy and learned to make the shop’s famous lobster tail pastries in the seaside Italian town of Scauri.
He said both he and his parents will miss the friends and customers who made the business a success.
“We were all sad,” he continued. “But you know what?” he added. “We’re doing okay. We’re happy.”
The neighborhood’s collective sweet tooth will take some time to recover.
“It was a great place,” said Howard Feuer, the former district manager of Community Board 11, whose boundaries include the shop.
“It wasn’t just a pastry shop—it was a focal point, it was a destination point.”
He said the shop was the place to go to schmooze, watch a soccer game, and enjoy a great cup of coffee.
And the pastries, Feuer said, were out of this world.
“I used to go in the back to watch Emilio pull the dough for the sfogliatelle,” Feuer said, referring to the flaky clamshell-shaped pastry. “It’s a tough job to do that, and you have to be big, strong and meticulous.”
“It was a great time,” he added.
