I had arrived at 11:40 this morning only to find out that they would not be opening until noon! I had another errand to run, so I returned at noon. I had my heart set on purchasing a pine nut cake to bring as dessert for my family dinner tonight. I was horrified to learn that they sold out already! I wondered how could this be possible, they just opened! It turns out that they determine the quantity for the weekends on Friday (or Tues for the work week). I was devastated. I was so tempted to call ahead yesterday to reserve one, and Nick informed me that the last two were reserved last night at 8pm. He offered some other suggestions, but nothing really appealed to me. I left with a small bag of fig cookies and went over to Nazareth Sweets. Learn from me - if you want a pine nut cake call in advance to reserve it!

I bought a cake there Friday night and I'm wondering if it's the pine nut cake referenced above. It was a rectangular loaf cake with dried figs and pine nuts and it was sitting out on the counter. There was one left and I grabbed it. It was incredible. We devoured most of it over the weekend.

Rudy wrote:I bought a cake there Friday night and I'm wondering if it's the pine nut cake referenced above. It was a rectangular loaf cake with dried figs and pine nuts and it was sitting out on the counter. There was one left and I grabbed it. It was incredible. We devoured most of it over the weekend.

The pine nut cake that I have had does not have dried figs in it - it is just with pine nuts and heavily dusted with powdered sugar.

A note:

Pasticceria Natalina is about to close for a bit while Nick and Natalie visit Lebanon. I didn't catch the exact dates, but you may want to call before stopping by for the next few weeks.

Dmnkly wrote:A note:

Pasticceria Natalina is about to close for a bit while Nick and Natalie visit Lebanon. I didn't catch the exact dates, but you may want to call before stopping by for the next few weeks.

I was just there yesterday and the sign said they'd be out of the country for a wedding Sept 7-15. So stock up by Sept 6!

Li Wen

HI,

ARound 10:45 PM last night was my very first visit to Natalina. I had read they were open late on Wednesdays and hoped it was really true. It seems like a practical move considering I saw two other bakeries open at the same hour.

I've been following the posts on this bakery since it opened, but I don't recall anyone highlighting their whipped cream pastries. I bought a cream puff with a dark chocolate eclair-type frosted lid. One of the best cream puffs I have had in many years with real gently whipped cream. I bought a chocolate cream puff dusted on top with cocoa, filled with chocolate whipped cream . My Dad bit into it at lunch today, then immediately began inquiring where did I buy it. His interest is the ultimate compliment because he might just go on his own.

I talked to Natalina about her plans for Christmas cakes. She has some very interesting ideas.

Regards,

Lest other LTHers be fated to the same repeated disappointments I've experienced, I offer this advice: ignore all posted hours for this place and call before you go! Four - count 'em - FOUR times in a row now I've shown up at a time listed somewhere as their "current" hours, only to find the place closed. I wholeheartedly believe the overwhelmingly positive reviews of the pastries, but man do i wish they'd abandon this horrible practice of constantly changing business hours.

Kennyz wrote:Lest other LTHers be fated to the same repeated disappointments I've experienced, I offer this advice: ignore all posted hours for this place and call before you go! Four - count 'em - FOUR times in a row now I've shown up at a time listed somewhere as their "current" hours, only to find the place closed. I wholeheartedly believe the overwhelmingly positive reviews of the pastries, but man do i wish they'd abandon this horrible practice of constantly changing business hours.

I completely sympathize. This happened to me at least twice, and this is no short trek for me. I can understand if they might close early after running out of product, but it's really disappointing when they open 1-2 hours later than expected.

c8w wrote:Me, I *love* these fig cookies... but I dont care as much for them iced, I prefer
em plain. The absolute best version of these Ive ever had are around
Christmas time, at Da Riv of all places! Found em entirely by chance a
year ago - was at Da Riv for my usual sandwich from the back, and
while at the counter they had this big tray with some cookies in there
for sale
......
This December and January I made several more trips for Da Riv's sandwiches
than usual, with the incentive of those fig cookies. I think theyd get a batch
from the grandmothers every 2 or 3 days and sell em until they were
gone. But now theyre no longer available - once again gone till next
Christmas. If anyone is around Da Riv late next December, I strongly
recommend you try some (post your regulation Will-special sammy).
c8w

Bumping this.

Was at Da Riv last week for the regulation-Will-special-sammy (and was
denied it! They were close to closing and had run out of fresh mozz! So
ended up with a hot-italian instead, and it was very good, the bread maybe
not quite-Bari-fresh, but the overall sandwich just as good, ie among the
top couple Italian subs in the city. Anyway).

The reason for this post... asked at the counter about the little fig cookies,
the cuccidatti I think theyre called? And was told that they should have
em very soon, "maybe even by weekend" or early next week (ie *this* week,
now!)

So if anyone is at Da Riv anytime soon... you oughta try these little fig
cookies available by the counter. If only to let us folk (who like em, but dont
live nearby) know if theyve arrived, and if the little-old-grandmothers are
making quite as fine a batch this year as last (which might prompt an
immediate fuelling-up of the old automobile

c8w

After being disappointed to miss Sunshine Cafe yesterday (we decided to go without calling - I should know better - and they were closed) we decided to wander around aimlessly and end up here...driven particularly by smells that day, it really struck us when we opened the door: the divine smells of anise, almond, vanilla and butter...First of all, can I just say (and I did say this directly to them) how patently unfair it is that two people who work in a BAKERY of all things are so stunningly thin and beautiful, even when working around an oven? Natalie, gracious as well as lovely, offered me a taste of anise biscotti, which immediately went to my hips. The universe is misaligned somehow.

The pastries, however, set any eccentricities of the cosmos to rights: we ordered a sfogliatelle, all evidence of which we rudely destroyed before Sparky got home from school; a very crunchy pastry with a filling that should be heavy, but somehow is lovely and citrusy and light.

Later, we fessed up and shared our remaining booty with Sparky: I don't remember the names, but one was a huge chocolate-mousse filled profiterole-like thing dusted with cocoa which was like eating a chocolate cloud. The second, my favorite, was puff pastry filled and topped with a citron-y pastry cream and fresh berries - again, should be heavy, but wasn't. We also purchased a bag of hazelnut biscotti, which are breakfast today...lovely, all of it.

Hi,

FYI - Natalina will be speaking at Culinary Historians on Saturday March 15th at the Chicago History Museum.

I visited their bakery last Friday evening. I was quite determined because it took 30 minutes to find parking. Wish there was a way to phone ahead to get parking. It was all worthwhile once we were eating our desserts standing up like at an Italian coffee bar.

Regards,

BTW - I discovered that the hazelnut biscotti make excellent road food (if a bit crumbly) They are to die for.

I was there last night after dinnat Sunshine Cafe. The miserable winter has kept me away for too long. My friend and I split a bigne. Upon my first bite, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. The cream filling was so light, smooth, and packed an amazing citrus punch from the orange zest. The pastry was light, and the glaze was the perfectly delicate compliment. I wish I had purchased the remainder of the tray. I took a slice of the pine nut cake w/me to go. I love that the slices are so thick, that I can take them home and make them into 2. I just finished it for breakfast this morning. I need to go back soon, although, my love handles will not be thanking me.

A quick note to observe several things about our most recent visit this past weekend: the pastries continue to impress. The Lovely Dining Companion and I stopped in after dinner at Il Fiasco. What better way to end any meal than an espresso and some dolci form PN? Once again, exceptionally high quality, beautiful, and delicious.

As noted in the Il Fiasco update, "We were pleased to see a series of nicely framed reviews up on the wall. LTH’s GNR certificate has pride of place in the center. And they’ve added a small shelf (and Nick promised some chairs/stools) so people can sit and enjoy while there."

I finally found something I don't like at here . . . the raspberry sorbet. I just thought it lacked raspberry flavor and it was not in the least bit tart. Not a big deal since there's always something there that I have not yet tried and everything else I've had is excellent.

I completely forgot to post about my easter experience at PN. I was invited to a birthday party and thought I would bring some pastries but when I walked in, Natalie pointed out these incredible quiche like tortas (I think it was Torta Pasquilina or something similar) and there several versions -- one had puffed pastry with artichoke, sheeps milk ricotta and mozzarella, and others had a regular pie like crust filled with salami or italian sausage. The birthday party was a the home of a vegetarian so I got the artichoke version but man...it was one of the most delicious things I've ever had. Rich and custardy and the artichokes were stellar. It went a long way because it was very rich -- but everyone loved it. Not cheap -- but I never feel bad paying good money for Natalie's creations. They are always delicious and worth it.

I just love going there. It's such a treat to have it in my neighborhood.

shannon

LTH,

Pasticceria Natalina's window gelato display seems a magnet for the neighborhood, place was packed 9pm on Friday, Nick and Natalie a blur they were moving so fast. I had gone into full hyperbole overdrive describing PN to our friends from Detroit and PN exceeded my high praise in their eyes, they were flabbergasted at the quality, flavor and delicacy of the pastry, light as air meringue in particular.

Pasticceria Natalina



Nick and Natalie posed for a quick picture taking the momentary pause as an opportunity for a little canoodling. They are as nice as their pastry is delicious.

Nick and Natalie

Photo by Hollye M


Enjoy,
Gary

I stopped in post-Khan's and most everything was cleared out, save for a baba a rum or two. The last time I was hear Nick had mentioned that they were going to make their own gelato but he's hedging now, due to the cost of the machinery needed for it; he didn't think they could make the money back given the number of other places offering ice cream on the block. I'd like to see what Natalie could do, but their current supplier is pretty darn good: I've had the pistachio, hazelnut, and espressro--all good product.

Buon appetito e buon viaggio (bon viaggiu to be more precise) to Natalie and Nick who leave on Tuesday (9/9) for two weeks in Sicily. Oh for a business trip like that! Eating, touring Sicily, eating. Touring Sicily, eating. Eating. She's got detailed plans of people and places to visit and I can hardly wait for their return: the stories, the pictures...the recipes!!

In the meantime, please be aware that Pasticceria Natalina will remain OPEN.... Friends, family, etc. will be keeping the place warm, friendly, and running smoothly. So, if you haven't been for a while, this would be a great time to drop by and help keep the store busy.

This is my first post on LTH. I wanted to research Natalina's and this web site came up on my Google search. I have been reading and hearing a lot about Natalina's. As a true Sicilian I am a little skeptical about how "authentic" it is. I have been throughout Italy and Sicily and have tasted so many amazing desserts. My Nonna still bakes and it is hard to compare. Will anyone think that I will be disappointed? I am very curious. I will be in the city next week and plan on visiting. Usually we get desserts from Palermo Bakery on Harlem Avenue and Addison. Not the best pastry but I usually am not up to making Sfogliatelle at home. It is way too difficult and time consuming. It is really hard to find GOOD pasticcerias here in the US. Any thoughts or any other suggestions?

If you do go to Palermo Bakery I recommend the Sfogliatelle, Taralle (Lemon Cookies), and they make some fantastic Pistachio cookies (made from Pistachio Paste).

4loveofchocolate wrote:This is my first post on LTH. I wanted to research Natalina's and this web site came up on my Google search. I have been reading and hearing a lot about Natalina's. As a true Sicilian I am a little skeptical about how "authentic" it is. I have been throughout Italy and Sicily and have tasted so many amazing desserts. My Nonna still bakes and it is hard to compare. Will anyone think that I will be disappointed? I am very curious. I will be in the city next week and plan on visiting. Usually we get desserts from Palermo Bakery on Harlem Avenue and Addison. Not the best pastry but I usually am not up to making Sfogliatelle at home. It is way too difficult and time consuming. It is really hard to find GOOD pasticcerias here in the US. Any thoughts or any other suggestions?

If you do go to Palermo Bakery I recommend the Sfogliatelle, Taralle (Lemon Cookies), and they make some fantastic Pistachio cookies (made from Pistachio Paste).

I don't think you'll be disappointed. For example, the cream puff with hazelnut cream and chocolate drizzled on top may be a more "contemporary" execution of the same, but it was still incredibly delicate and delicious. The one thing that hasn't been mentioned on this thread (from what I can tell) is the torrone, which, in my experience, tends to be a teeth-breaking experience. The pistachio torrone at Natalina, however, was gooey and tender with a refreshing hit of lemon. Highly recommended.

As a true Sicilian I am a little skeptical about how "authentic" it is. I have been throughout Italy and Sicily and have tasted so many amazing desserts. My Nonna still bakes and it is hard to compare. Will anyone think that I will be disappointed? I am very curious

Well....i have to say -- I'm not Sicilian and I've never been to Sicily or even Italy for that matter (sigh) but I think that Pasticceria Natalina is one of the most special bakeries I've ever been to in the States. I think I've said that before in another thread, actually. But if you're expecting sfogliatelle that is exquisite -- you'll get it at Natalina. If they have it that day! I can't imagine anyone being disappointed at this wonderful bakery -- it's unique and special and I've never had anything at all pedestrian there. The prices match -- it's not at all cheap -- but I find the pastries to match the price.

I would never presume to think that any bakery matches a "nonna's" baked goods though. That's sort of sacrilege!

earthlydesire wrote:I can't imagine anyone being disappointed at this wonderful bakery...

I sure wasn't on Friday night, when we were padding around Andersonville going from red wine to red wine (I mean gallery to gallery--oops!) during one of the neighborhood's "open house" nights. I went into PN even though we hadn't had dinner yet (which ended up being at Glenn's Diner), because I knew that wherever we ended up for dinner, I wanted something from PN to be dessert. I picked a rectangular pastry filled with vanilla custard and topped by three half-cherries (I wish I knew enough about food to know what that is called) and had my way with it when we got home.

After a wonderful meal at Sunshine Cafe, we made our way down the block to enjoy a bit of dessert. Decision making is not our forte when presented with so many delicious options. Forgive me for not knowing any of the Italian names of what we ordered. I chose the vanilla sponge cake soaked in limoncello, which is rolled, filled with cream and iced with a lemon icing and a touch of chocolate. Mr. X was debating between the chocolate/cherry cake and the pastry filled with chocolate cream, ultimately choosing the cake. Nick very kindly threw in the pastry. We sat at the counter along the wall enjoying the desserts and wondered why we don't go to Pasticceria Natalina more often.

Although I've sampled a few treats from Pasticceria Natalina from afar, I dropped into the bakery for the first time yesterday. A fresh, filled-to-order cannoli made me wonder the same thing:

The GP wrote:We sat at the counter along the wall enjoying the desserts and wondered why we don't go to Pasticceria Natalina more often.

I also noticed a menu with Thanksgiving specials, and one in particular caught my eye: some kind of duck fat biscuit. Has anyone tried it?

More than enough kind words have been bestowed on the work (and character) of Natalie and Nick. But at the expense of adding more to an already saturated heap, let me just say that, well, I couldn't agree more! I had the honor of meeting and talking with Natalie while the 'rents were in town for a visit just recently. Natalie not only graced us with some passing knowledge of pastry-making, she offered us complimentary cookies, and a taste of the crust she uses on some of the tart-like pastries featured at the bakery. All of this after suffering my father's unending string of culinary (and personal) questions. But the thing that most impressed me, she promised to make profiterole on demand which, funny enough, is as common a pastry as quesillo in my native-land of Venezuela! Added to this, was the fact that she warmly accepted the infatuated kisses my father showered (yes, showered) on her hands with a courteous and obliging "Now that's the way I like to be treated!" (I hope Nick doesn't mind too much .

I made my first visit to Pasticceria Natalina a few weeks ago and my experience was a bit more mixed than most who have reported. I do a lot of baking at Christmas, especially in an Italian influenced vein, and was curious to see what they had that I might try to reproduce at home.

I thought the cookies were outrageously priced at around $9-11 for a pretty small bag, none of which seemed especially unique, so I didn’t try any. I did buy 2 cannoli, a sfogliatelle, a slice of cassata and a miniature lemon tart with blueberries on top. The cannoli was excellent. I though the shell was crisp, but flaky and baked very dark, but the almost burnt flavor married well with the tanginess of the filling. The sfogliatelle was also baked unusually dark but was very tender. Here however the dark pastry did not work that well with the filling and I would not order it again. The cassata and tart were OK, nothing to complain about but nothing to rave about either. I will give them credit for very ripe blueberries in November. I thought the prices were high for the size of the pastries, especially the sfogliatelle and tart. I’d go again for the cannoli but skip the rest.

I'll be the first to admit that PN ain’t cheap. However, given the hours, the ingredients, and the artistry, I think that the prices are usually justified. And so I’m willing to pay the price, though admittedly not on a daily basis.

After a very early New Year’s Eve dinner at Anteprima, we walked a few blocks up Clark Street to wish Nick and Natalie a good new year and were welcomed warmly. It was about 6:30 and the shop was empty. We had a wonderful time visiting and many new things caught my eye. I don’t visit as often as I should because I don’t think I have ever managed to walk out without spending more than I intended. Tonight was no excuse.

What surprised me, though, were the number of some items still on the counter. Item one: pannetone. A Christmas item and there were still a handful left. Not cheap at $28 but now that they’ve been discounted to $15, I was amazed to see any left at all. N&N have also taken to making a fair number of candy/candied items. Some cheaper, some not. But all, without exception, stunning in appearance (and, those I’ve tasted, in flavor as well).

Then there were there small boxes of marzipan fruit. Now marzipan is not for everyone. Almond paste candies are, I suspect, an acquired taste. But even those who don’t indulge can admire the artistry. Almond paste and sugar are painstakingly shaped and sculpted into miniature copies of fruit (usually fruit, also just about anything else you can imagine). Indeed, Palermo is famous for its Christmas marzipan (or marzapane) fruit. Some confectioners spend more time, some spend less. And marzipan is one of those things where you can fairly readily tell how much talent (and how good an eye) someone has and how much effort he or she spent on the work. Our little box contained four generous, life-sized, pieces: a large prickly pear, a fig, and two cherries. The box is not cheap at $25. But I defy anyone to look at them and tell me that they are anything other than stunning in appearance.



I didn’t discuss bakery economics with N&N but I suspect—knowing them—that the almonds were imported so that the almond paste could be handmade (a time-consuming process, to say the least), and that literally hours must have been devoted to the careful sculpting and even more careful painting of each individual piece. The results, as I hope these pictures illustrate in some measure, are amazing. Not everyone has the interest or the wherewithal to spend $25 on marzipan. I am grateful that I’m in a position to splurge (on occasion). No matter what--even if you don’t like marzipan--you owe it to yourself to drop by before these gems are gone, just to drool.

I think Natalina's is the best bakery in the city. Any thoughts?

LoveMeSomeGrub wrote:I think Natalina's is the best bakery in the city. Any thoughts?

It very well might be the best Italian bakery in the city.