It was May of 1973 when the Sappienza family opened their retail pastry shop at 1376 Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont. It was here that Paul Sapienza developed his extensive line of authentic handmade Italian pastries. From the classic cannoli to sfogliatelli, from creamy napoleons to eclairs and cream puffs, from biscotti to pastacotti, you could practically taste them just by walking into the bakery.

During the month of May, an old-fashioned celebration will be going on. Paul and his wife Roseanne, invites everyone to stop by to enjoy this festive occasion. There will be give-aways for the children and the adults, too. And plenty of old-fashioned Italian treats to be sampled. The Sapienza's will also have all kinds of specials going on all month. Make sure you stop in during this exciting 25th anniversary event and find out how good the taste of real old-fashioned handmade Italian pastries can make you feel.

The history of Sapienza Pastry really began back in 1935. It was then that Paul's parents, Andrew and Angelina, who were newly married, opened their grocery store in the Corona section of Queens. While Angelina ran the store, Andrew was busy in the back baking fresh bread. These wonderfully delicious loaves were sold in the store and also distributed to other groceries and directly to homes. When supermarkets opened, Sapienza's great tasting breads could be found on their shelves too. As the demand for breads outgrew the available space in the small grocery store, the family moved to Elmont. The new bakery was first located in a converted garage on Atherton Avenue. Soon, this wasn't enough, either. Andrew Sapienza then built his new bread factory on Meacham Avenue.

In the late sixties, supermarkets developed in-store bakeries. Now that they could bake their own fresh breads, Andrew developed and refined the idea of selling them frozen unbaked breads and pastries. Supermarkets, utilizing Andrew Sapienza's frozen baked goods, were able to control the quality of their products plus offer a greatly expanded line.

Preparing the pastry line became his son Paul's responsibility. He did such a good job that pastry production and sales outgrew the little corner it occupied in the bread factory. In 1973, pastry production was moved into its current home on Hempstead Turnpike. Then, in 1976, Paul's father sold his bread business and retired.

For 25 years Sapienza Pastry has been supplying supermarkets and retail bake shops with cannoli shells, sfogiatelli and a full line of Italian pastries and cookies. With a new factory opened in 1989, named Casa Di Cannoli, to answer the demand both locally and beyond the New York metropolitan area into New England, North Carolina and Florida for old-fashioned Italian pastries, most products can continue to be made the old-fashioned way, by hand.

What has made Sapienza Pastry successful over the past 25 years has been their constant attention to quality control. They use only the finest ingredients including whole milk ricotta and fresh eggs, and the family recipes that were developed over the past quarter century. Modern packaging and shipping techniques ensure that this fully prepared Thaw-n-Sell line will always arrive safely and deliciously. Old-fashioned quality and the wonderful taste of fresh baked Italian pastries will continue to be available for the next 25 years and beyond, thanks to the Sapienza family.