One of Brooklyn’s most beloved bakeries has had quite a year. Savarese Italian Pastry Shoppe at the corner of 60th Street and New Utrecht Avenue celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018. But on March 26, a fire at Savarese caused minor damage to the upstairs apartment. Thankfully, the fire was contained, the bakery was not affected and no one was seriously injured. Work began immediately on repairing the three-story building.
“After the fire we worked around the clock to get back to normal as soon as possible to ensure that our customers weren’t inconvenienced,” owner and master pastry chef baker Mario Giura told this paper.
Giura wants everyone to know that Savarese is back and better than ever. “We are thrilled to have celebrated our 100th anniversary last year and we are also proud of our full line of pastries,” he explained.
Savarese provides wholesale gelato Italian ices to pizzerias and restaurants and ice cream shops. It also provides wholesale cannoli and sfogliatelle as well as catering to catering halls with its unique cookie trays, pastry trays and sought-after wedding cakes.
In fact, wedding cakes are a specialty, with each custom-made for every occasion. Savarese also bakes traditional Italian biscuits, pignoli and rainbow cookies.
Vintage photo of brothers Anthony (left) and Mario Giura when they first started out.
The business was established in 1918 when the Savarese family emigrated from Naples, Italy, bringing with them their traditional love of Italian baking. Soon, its reputation grew thanks to the quality and artistry of its baked creations.
In 1962, the Giura family took over the bakery. They also boasted a rich Italian heritage coming from Venosa, a town in Basilicata, Italy. From the moment they took over, the family was dedicated and committed to creating a product line of handcrafted bakery products in the tradition of old-world Italy such as homemade sfogliatelle, cannoli or gelato using only the finest ingredients.
“All of our baking is done on the premises with recipes passed down from generation to generation,” Giura told this paper.
After serving in the U.S. Army for three years, stationed in Korea for two years, Mario had the option of going back to school or returning to work at the bakery. He chose tradition and has spent his career dedicated to making and ensuring the quality of all the product lines found at Savarese Italian Pastry Shoppe.
All of Savarese’s best-selling items are homemade including old-world Italian pastries that very few bakeries still offer and items such as cremolata, an old Italian ice cream favorite.
“Our Italian ices are naturally flavored with bits of fresh fruit,” Giura explained.
“Savarese is family-run which makes it more gratifying when our customers leave our store with their favorite delicacies,” Giura continued.
“Savarese stands out because all our baked goods are handmade as old, traditional works of art. Our ingredients are the freshest. Being successful shows how much passion and devotion pay off,” he added.
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