Stepping into Petonito’s Bakery in East Haven is like stepping into a time machine. The first thing you notice is the smell—the inexplicably old world smell of pastries and cake in the oven and cannoli shells in the fryer. Plastered on the wall to the right of the door is an enormous photo of the class of 1936 at Columbus School on Wooster Square in New Haven. Front and center is the class president, Sal Petonito, who founded the bakery in 1954 on Grand Avenue in New Haven. Petonito’s moved to East Haven in 1960, and to its current location at 190 Main Street in 1973.

Saunter up to the counter and you will likely see Sal’s son, Mark, serving a customer or meeting with a prospective bride and groom about their wedding cake. There are numerous display cakes showing the bakery’s elaborate offerings, and if you come on a Friday or Saturday, you may well see the real thing being decorated in the front of the bakery. Hanging over the counters are string dispensers from 40 or more years ago. One of the scales still used could well be an offering on Ebay it‘s so vintage.

But let’s get back to the important part—the pastries and cakes. If you have been unfortunate enough to fail to make acquaintance with Italian pastry in general or Petonito’s in particular, let me recommend the sfogliatelle, the cannoli, and the lobster claws. There are also amazing brownies, éclairs, and a dozen more pastries I don’t know the name of but would love to get to know.

In the case to the left of the pastries are the cookies. My son’s favorite, the jelly filled finger cookies dusted with powdered sugar sit alongside the chocolate dipped– with and without sprinkles, the butter cookies with the candied cherries, the scrumptious fig filled cookies, and my personal favorite, the pignoli cookies. You can order up a platter of these cookies decorated with sugared almonds and wrapped in cellophane anytime, although Christmas is the season when they fly fastest out the door. “We do about a ton of cookies every Christmas,” reports Mark. I have personally given many a platter away as a gift, and they has never been met with anything less than absolute delight.

Mark is justifiably proud of his shop. “We are a hundred percent scratch shop,” he says, referring to the fact that everything is made in house. “We make everything on antique equipment, the same way that is was done 100 years ago. Who does that anymore? ” And if you peek into the back room whence the smells emanate, you will, in fact, see the antique mixers and old ovens that date back to the mid 20^th century. Transported back in time at Petonito’s, you can be a child again. Go up to Mark or Sue or anyone behind the counter, and point to your heart’s delight. If you can wait until you get home, they will put it in a white cardboard box tied up with red and white string. But if you are like me, you’ll say, “just hand it to me in the tissue paper, it’s not going to last long!”

Petonito’s Baker is located at 190 Main Street, East Haven (203) 469-1817 www.petonitospastryshop.com

Related posts:

1. Out N About With Dogs – Branford & East Haven CT
2. 2nd Annual United Way Of Greater New Haven Town Of Branford Touch A Truck