Justine MacNeil, the pastry chef and co-owner of Fiore, also sees that reluctance to change. “In South Philly, and on the Jersey shore, and along Route 9 in Jersey where I grew up, the bakeries stay static,” MacNeil says. “They stay the same, and it would almost be sad if they weren’t.”
Italian pastry bears little resemblance to the kaleidoscope of marzipan, pyramids of pignoli cookies, and steelyard-scale of cannoli towers I grew up with. The vibe at Fiore isn’t like the nostalgic temples to Italian American pastry that thrive in the Little Italy neighborhoods of many American cities, and in my heart.
Fiore instead showcases something new every visit, supplementing a core of offerings regulars have come to expect. While some of the items might look familiar, their names, generally speaking, are untranslated, and new to the uninitiated: schiacciate, cornetti, budino di riso, torta sabbiosa, borsettine.
Exploring Italian pastry traditions little known in America has become a passion—and a business—for MacNeil and her husband (and Fiore co-owner), Ed Crochet. (His specialty is the savory side of the business, with a particular emphasis on handmade pastas, up there with Philly’s best.)
After she completed culinary school in New York, MacNeil traveled with Crochet to Italy and became entranced with the country’s pastry. The breadth of baking traditions in pasticcerias and in homes was completely unlike the fine dining desserts she had come to know while working at New York’s Del Posto restaurant. “Pretty much everything we loved, we took notes on,” she says. “The history of Italian pastry isn’t even close to being known here [in the United States]. We are trying to find unique things most people have never heard of.”
