jimswside wrote:

jesteinf wrote:
Not all of her clients. Just the ones who are fat and don't like anal.

dont forget breeders...

I was staying away from making any more comments on this thread/place, but that is one of the funniest things I have read all day. well done.

new banner quote?

JLenart wrote:

eatchicago wrote:

Gypsy Boy wrote:Golly. The world turns. GB agrees with every single word (every one!) that MJN posts. Who'da thunk it? But the man is 100% correct, imho.

It is a compelling point and much of it is hard to disagree with, but at the end of the day the customers still have to ask themselves if they want to spend $7 on a cannoli, even just once.

It's not the cost that get's me so much but moreso the seeming deep contempt she has for her clients.

Agreed. $7 for a cannolo is, to some extent, like a $600 bottle of Macallan 25, $4,000 Tag Heuer watch, $400,000 Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe, or $106,500,000 Picasso: there are people out there who consider each of these to be an affordable luxury, and by all means, they should enjoy them.

Many, however, cannot afford these items, and have to make do with $1.75 cupcakes, $30 Macallan 10, $30 Armitron watch, $10,000 used Toyota Corolla, and $15 Picasso poster. There's nothing wrong with these folks or their purchases, they're making do just fine within their budgets, or don't want/need "luxury" over "necessity".

I see no reason for her to sneer at, and show contempt for, the latter group, partially because it's a dick move, and partially because someone with a $1.75 budget today could well become a a person with a $7 budget down the road...it'd be in her best interests to see to it that this person becomes her customer at that point.

Khaopaat wrote:
Many, however, cannot afford these items, and have to make do with $1.75 cupcakes, $30 Macallan 10, $30 Armitron watch, $10,000 used Toyota Corolla, and $15 Picasso poster. There's nothing wrong with these folks or their purchases, they're making do just fine within their budgets, or don't want/need "luxury" over "necessity".

Some, like me, are picking up a busted $60 Stickley Mission chest of drawers with terrible modern hardware tomorrow off Craigslist, and then restoring it with vintage pulls, rails, and some cleaner that won't damage the finish.

By the same token, I may grab a cannolo from Domino's, re-glaze it with some Fair Trade brown sugar and hand-picked local downstate green pistachios, watch some Showtime, and pretend it's from Pasticceria Natalina.

Santander wrote:

Khaopaat wrote:
Many, however, cannot afford these items, and have to make do with $1.75 cupcakes, $30 Macallan 10, $30 Armitron watch, $10,000 used Toyota Corolla, and $15 Picasso poster. There's nothing wrong with these folks or their purchases, they're making do just fine within their budgets, or don't want/need "luxury" over "necessity".

Some, like me, are picking up a busted $60 Stickley Mission chest of drawers with terrible modern hardware tomorrow off Craigslist, and then restoring it with vintage pulls, rails, and some cleaner that won't damage the finish.

A vintage Gustav Stickley chest of drawers costs $10,000+. Your Stickley chest of drawers costs $60. Enjoy your imitation furniture, philistine!

Now that sounds a bit like craft, but when you consider that most bakeries use sheeters, laminaters, dough rollers, tons of white sugar, industrial shortenings, etc, she's actually being quite revolutionary. She's teaching us what it means to eat well again, and that is an art form.

I'll give you the industrial shortening, but its not clear to me how the use of sheeters, laminaters and dough rollers diminishes the quality of a product and causes one to eat less well. I'll bet they you they use some white sugar too.

I have several PN pieces on display around the house. Great conversation starters.

Vitesse98 wrote:I have several PN pieces on display around the house. Great conversation starters.

I find that the horizontality of the cannoli harmonizes beautifully with the clean Prairie lines of early-mid suburban Chicagoland architecture.

And you can eat them, too!

Santander wrote:

Vitesse98 wrote:I have several PN pieces on display around the house. Great conversation starters.

I find that the horizontality of the cannoli harmonizes beautifully with the clean Prairie lines of early-mid suburban Chicagoland architecture.

Like fine copper, do they develop a green patina over time?

I may be one of the least price sensative people on this board and regularly love places others find overpriced. However, I've officially joined the Pasticceria Natlina is overpriced club. Why? In the past, I thought the pastries were expensive, but within reason. There were always some cookies there that looked great, but were way to pricey. We were there for the first time with the cases moved around, and there were very few pastries, but lot's of $5.00 cookies, and not particularly large cookies. I was comparing the prices to Vanille Patisserie, which puts out a similarly high quality product, and yet is several dollars less expensive. The problem is not that spending the money is a problem, the issue is that we felt a bit ripped off, like we'd been taken for fools. I know, rationally, that they are not running to the bank with millions, but getting one small cookie, for $4.50, or $5.50 just left a sour taste in our mouths.

Jonah

I went last week.

They were very pleasant folks. The cannolo was delicious. Given that a run of the mill cupcake at a cupcake place is going for anywhere from $3 to $5 bucks a piece & the sometimes inedible cookies at Starbucks are around $2 and some change, this treat was well worth the money.

It was good and my desire for a sweet was satiated. That's my definition of what a good sweet should do.

I will return.

pairs4life wrote:Given that a run of the mill cupcake at a cupcake place is going for anywhere from $3 to $5 bucks a piece & the sometimes inedible cookies at Starbucks are around $2 and some change, this treat was well worth the money

Compared to being mauled by wolves and then, heart still beating, eaten alive by rats, a trip to Pasticceria Natalina does indeed seem pleasant.

Kennyz wrote:

pairs4life wrote:Given that a run of the mill cupcake at a cupcake place is going for anywhere from $3 to $5 bucks a piece & the sometimes inedible cookies at Starbucks are around $2 and some change, this treat was well worth the money

Compared to being mauled by wolves and then, heart still beating, eaten alive by rats, a trip to Pasticceria Natalina does indeed seem pleasant.

I know. Husband and I were just talking about avoiding stepping on lumbering coyotes & rattlesnakes for upcoming trip out west to the land of Big Love for trout stalking.

Kennyz wrote:

pairs4life wrote:Given that a run of the mill cupcake at a cupcake place is going for anywhere from $3 to $5 bucks a piece & the sometimes inedible cookies at Starbucks are around $2 and some change, this treat was well worth the money

Compared to being mauled by wolves and then, heart still beating, eaten alive by rats, a trip to Pasticceria Natalina does indeed seem pleasant.

Are those my only choices or can I add a third option for ice cream?

Kennyz wrote:Compared to being mauled by wolves and then, heart still beating, eaten alive by rats, a trip to Pasticceria Natalina does indeed seem pleasant.

Come On! Rats are not that judgemental.

After dinner at Great Lake this evening, we asked the kid behind the counter if he knew of anyplace nearby for some good gelato. The kid was unfamiliar with gelato, but Nick overheard and recommended that we head over to PN, and a very friendly Natalie Zarzour (who happened to be waiting for her to-go order on the bench behind me as we were finishing up our dinner) assured us that they were still open & had plenty of gelato, so we decided to check it out.

We split a scoop of dark chocolate & a scoop of hazelnut, both were excellent. However, since I'd just spent $76 on dinner and $40 on pre-dinner cocktails, I figured what the hell, let's try this infamous $7.50 cannolo. Holy hell was this thing good. I especially enjoyed tart, citrus-y contrast from the strips of candied orange peel placed on the cream at both ends.

On the way out, we passed a still-nice-as-can-be Natalie carrying her pizzas back to her store, and chatted briefly about the zucchini pizza on offer today. I gotta say, after meeting her in person (however briefly), I find myself thinking of the controversial tweets from a while back not as the ravings of a judgmental lunatic, but as the spur-of-the-moment musings of an emotionally-charged person with no filter. Basically, she seemed so genuinely friendly today, that I'm more likely to give some benefit of the doubt.

And the next time I'm in Andersonville, I'll be pretty damn tempted to drop $7.50 on a spectacular cannolo.

Khaopaat wrote:I gotta say, after meeting her in person (however briefly), I find myself thinking of the controversial tweets from a while back not as the ravings of a judgmental lunatic, but as the spur-of-the-moment musings of an emotionally-charged person with no filter.

And I find myself thinking that hot people can get away with all sorts of crap.

Santander wrote:And I find myself thinking that hot people can get away with all sorts of crap.

Right! Those of us who actually like Natalie ( ), who like her product, and are even willing to stop by and purchase something on occasion ( ) would never do so if she wasn't "hot."

I've been three times in the last 4 weeks and have had nothing but friendly interactions with her.

Love the gelato.

The neighbors they adored him
For his humor and his conversation…

He dressed up like a clown for them
With his face paint white and red...

And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floor boards
For the secrets I have hid…

SCUBAchef wrote:Look beneath the floor boards
For the secrets I have hid…

First John Wayne Gacy reference in LTH history?

Yeah, I was originally going to go with,
"Even H!tler had a girlfriend!", but that,
apparently, is Verboten!* Heh.
(* see Godwin's Law)

DMChicago wrote:Love the gelato.

Indeed - -The gelato they buy from Palazzolo's is good, and available at quite a number of places around town. It would be interesting to compare what PN charges for it with what those other places charge.

Kennyz wrote:

DMChicago wrote:Love the gelato.

Indeed - -The gelato they buy from Palazzolo's is good, and available at quite a number of places around town. It would be interesting to compare what PN charges for it with what those other places charge.

I was wondering where they got it - forgot to ask yesterday. We paid $5 for two scoops, which I didn't think was particularly egregious.

Gypsy Boy wrote:

Santander wrote:And I find myself thinking that hot people can get away with all sorts of crap.

Right! Those of us who actually like Natalie ( ), who like her product, and are even willing to stop by and purchase something on occasion ( ) would never do so if she wasn't "hot."

I enjoy the food at PN, and stop there for a snack if I'm in the neighborhood early for a Hopleaf or Moody's gathering; my experiences have also been perfectly pleasant in person.

Everything about the place is attractive, from the vintage cannoli to the hosts; colors and textures pop, citrus and sugar perfume everything in the room.

If Natalie can take foodies to task for being sensualists, I am but holding the mirror. We're all devotees of the same discipline.

Khaopaat wrote:I was wondering where they got it - forgot to ask yesterday. We paid $5 for two scoops, which I didn't think was particularly egregious.

Yow. $5 gets you a something like a pint of Freddy's excellent homemade gelati.

gleam wrote:

Khaopaat wrote:I was wondering where they got it - forgot to ask yesterday. We paid $5 for two scoops, which I didn't think was particularly egregious.

Yow. $5 gets you a something like a pint of Freddy's excellent homemade gelati.

Don't get me wrong, $5 for two small scoops isn't cheap, and I've heard Freddy's has some awesome stuff...but the odds of me driving to Cicero for a gelato fix are very slim

I think a better analogue would be Black Dog Gelato, where I'm told a small is $3.35...so PN is in the ballpark, but definitely a bit higher than can be found around town. Still, her proximity to lots of great restaurants means I'll gladly pay the extra $1.65 to satisfy the ol' sweet tooth immediately after dinner

Paciugo may be cheaper, too, but the quality is not on par with what Natalie's got.

not certain this is the appropriate place to post such information, but I just read this on Natalie Zarzour's (of Pasticcieria Natalina) twitter feed:

inourownhands: friends & fans: plz enjoy the fuck out of Xmas sweets this year. Pasticceria Natalina announces last holiday season. 10 months & counting...

I'm distraught.

Hi,

I stopped visiting after her prior series of twitters. This new one does not inspire me.

Regards,