As an avid baker, and sweets connoisseur, I'm always looking to find new bakeries or home bakers that elevate what I can do myself **I'm looking at you The Egg Suite, The Crumb Picker, and Elisa's Niece's Cafe**and I was really looking forward to trying this bakery.
Well let me just say that this was an atrocious experience from start to finish. I will NEVER return to this bakery. The girl helping me didn't know if the tiramisu was made with mascarpone or whipped cream or if the Napoleon had pastry cream, custard, or whipped cream. Usually you can tell by looking and that should've been my first sign that something was off. I just assumed that she was new and she was super sweet and apologetic so I forged on. I ordered an Italian cheesecake, cannoli, a single serve tiramisu, and a chocolate chip cookie. The cookie was soft and a little chewy and the quality of the chocolate was on point. When I opened the box that the cheesecake was in, it was filled with a viscous brown fluid that in my 5 minute drive home had actually accumulated enough to soak through the cardboard bakery box. I immediately knew that either there was too much butter in the crust, there was a water bath issue, meaning the crust was not properly sealed against the water bath or the water level was too high, OR, the cake was old and prolonged refrigeration was the culprit. I brought the cake right back and quietly showed the counter employee the issue...there were customers in the store and I was not looking to draw attention to this issue. The worker was appropriately apologetic and brought it to the back...and that's where everything quickly deteriorated. The owner came out accusing me of dropping the cake, which didn't happen and also had nothing to do with all the oozing brown goo, and then proceeded to insult and demean me in front of the other customers. He said I "obviously wasn't Italian" and therefore "didn't know anything about Italian cheesecakes." When I shared that I was actually born in Italy he quickly shifted to degrading the region my family and I are from. He then said "oh do you make cheesecake every day like we do because if you don't, you don't get to have an opinion." He went on and on while I just continued to request a refund for the defective item. To be fair and transparent, I would've probably overlooked the dripping crust if the cheesecake tasted amazing but it tasted like it had spent a few days too long in the fridge.
These days spending close to $40 for a small cake is somewhat of a luxury. I appreciate all of the bakeries and home bakers who are persevering in this difficult economy and continuing to produce quality products. I absolutely understand that nothing is perfect and mistakes happen and when I'm at fault, I take responsibly and hold myself accountable. I do not yell, demean, and insult customers like this owner did. There are too many wonderful bakeries and home bakers that stand behind their goods and deserve your patronage and hard earned money. This establishment is NOT one of the them.
As multiple other reviews have stated, it seems that when things are good they're good but when they are bad, this owner is rude and takes no accountability. I do wonder if he would've spoken to my husband in the same manner that he spoke to me but we'll never know because no one I know will ever step foot in this establishment again.
Also, the cannoli shells were totally soggy on the bottom. A true Italian bakery would fill individually per order. read more