New Hell’s Kitchen Italian Bakery Will Expand Your Food Vocabulary (and Waistline)

Cornetto con nutella (Image: Masseria Caffè & Bakery)

Man cannot live on bread alone. He must have Italian pastries, too, along with a smartly made coffee every now and then. In short, he must have outlets like Masseria Caffè, a pasticceria that just opened on West 58th Street in Hell’s Kitchen.

Now opening a shop specializing in Italian pastries in Hell’s Kitchen may seem a lot like carrying coals to Nuovo Castello, but Masseria offers a number of baked goods you’re not likely to find everywhere. Like the cornetto, which is along the lines of a croissant but made with less butter, yielding a softer pastry. You can have the end-result filled with cream and Amarena cherries or pistachio cream from Bronte, a village nestled in the slopes of Mount Etna. Yes, there are cannoli, but these are the type available in Sicily, meaning the ricotta with which they are filled derives from sheep’s milk.

If you are looking for something more substantial, Masseria offers an arrary of panini done on fresh ciabatta as well as a panbrioiche stuffed with Italian ham and asiago or eggs, spinach, and tomato.

Masseria is open Monday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and weekends from from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Masseria Caffè, 891 Ninth Avenue (at 58th St.), 212-969-0900.