"The problem with being a quietly excellent bakery and restaurant in Philadelphia is that you have plenty of good company. The understated quality of the dining landscape means that greatness abounds. The kind of spot that, in New York, would have lines around the block can easily operate as a low-key neighborhood staple in Philly."
"Fiore, for example, is an all-in-one restaurant, bakery, and daytime café, that rare food business that manages to do many things very well, all at the same time. Towers of vanilla cream-filled bomboloni perch on cake stands, maritozzi smile their creamy grins, and cakes are in various states of sliced-ness, giving a lived-in feel to a pastry case that makes ordering an extra slice or two feel entirely reasonable."
"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," says MacNeil. "They stay the same, and it would almost be sad if they weren't.""
Fiore in Philadelphia operates as a restaurant, bakery, and daytime café that excels across multiple functions while remaining understated. The pastry case features vanilla cream-filled bomboloni, maritozzi, and varied cakes that invite casual extra indulgence. The bakery emphasizes authentic Italian pastry traditions that diverge from familiar Italian‑American pastry displays, favoring regional specialties over static nostalgia. The pastry chef and co-owner notes that many neighborhood bakeries along South Philly and the Jersey shore remain unchanged. Fiore’s low-key presence conceals its reputation for serving refined, lesser-known Italian pastries with careful execution.
Read at Bon Appetit
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