As many Jumbos will attest, a trip to Boston's North End is not complete without a stop at one of its many iconic pastry shops. But with such variety and with different loyalists swearing by each shop, it's hard to know what you're signing up for when you join one of the many long lines of hungry customers dotting the North End's streets. The first step to a successful pastry hunt is to know the shops.
Maria's Pastry Shop: Warm service and tradition (46 Cross St.)
Opened less than 30 years ago, Maria's Pastry Shop is younger than some of its competitors, but owner Maria Merola more than makes up for its newcomer status with the traditional Italian family recipes she uses to make her fresh pastries every morning.
As the shop is not as bustling as some of its better-known neighbors, Maria often finds the time to chat with her customers and provide recommendations — which customers can certainly use given the variety the store offers. On display are 15 varieties of cookies and eight kinds of cake, which include everything from the traditional Tiramisu to Zuppa Inglese, a cake made from savoiardi (lady finger cookies), Amerena cherries, chocolate and vanilla cream, rum flavoring and fresh whipped cream.
Her speciality, however, is Sfogliatelle, a traditional Neapolitan sweet filled with ricotta cheese, semolina flour and citrus fruit.
Merola said that the pastry, which resembles a dense croissant, makes for an excellent breakfast food because of its subtle taste, which carries a hint of orange marmalade.
"It's not sweet like any other pastry," Beth Applebaum, a tour guide based in the North End and frequenter of Maria's, told the Daily. "And [the Sfogliatelle], like all other pastries, is really fresh, and there aren't any preservatives, which shows how much the people here in this bakery really care about quality."
According to Merola, she sells between 500 and 1,000 Sfogiatelle per week, making it by far the shop's most popular item. Her second best-selling item is the Panettone, a sweet traditional Milanese bread — the only one handmade in the North End, Merola said.
Although Merola also offers cannoli, she only makes them on days when she believes there will be high customer traffic as cannoli enthusiasts usually flock to the nearby Mike's or Modern Pastry.
While she considers Mike's and Modern Pastry competitors, Merola explained that her shop occupies a niche that sets it apart.
"I'm traditional and they're commercial," Merola said. "We offer pastries that are different from what you normally expect from traditional Italian pastry shops."
Mike's Pastry: Commercial done right (300 Hanover St.)
While a stop at Maria's is certainly warranted, a visit to both Mike's and Modern Pastry is mandatory. Both are known as the crème de la crème of all pastry shops because of their famous cannolis.
The 48-year old Mike's Pastry, brainchild of 88-year-old Mike Mercogliano — operations are now being handled by his stepson Angelo Papa — attracts big crowds on any given day.
Mike's cannolis are characterized by a thick tube of deep-fried crispy pastry and are typically filled with ricotta cream. Although plain ricotta is Mike's best-seller, the store also offers a variety including chocolate cream, chocolate chip, Italian yellow cream and "New York Cheesecake." All are paired with a selection of either Mike's original-flavored shell or one dipped in chocolate sauce.
"[The cannolis] at Mike's are bigger and slightly sweeter," sophomore Daniel Fortunato, who has eaten at both shops several times this year, said. "You can sort of taste more of the ricotta over at Modern because its fresher, but you ultimately get more value for your money over at Mike's."
On the pastry side, Mike's offers Sfogliatella, also known as "lobstertail," a flaky pastry shell filled with either white or yellow cream.
Modern Pastry: Gluten-free heaven (257 Hanover St.)
North End locals looking for more "authentic" cannolis head to Modern Pastry, a newer shop housed in a smaller venue — but one whose cannolis sell just as well as Mike's Pastry's, according to a Modern Pastry employee who requested to remain anonymous.
"I remember someone saying online that we sell over 2,000 cannolis a day," he said. "And then I started approximating figures myself and realized that it was about the right number."
But the difference in taste between the standard ricotta-cream cannolis at Mike's and those at Modern Pastry is quite distinct, Fortunato said.
Additionally, among Modern Pastry's bragging points is that their cannolis are filled to order, unlike Mike's Pastry's, whose cannoli are prefilled.
The two shops compete on a host of other pastries, as well — Italian yellow cream at Mike's, for one, is easily confused with its Modern Pastry counterpart, vanilla custard. Both also price their cannolis at $2.50 for regular fillings and $2.75 for upgrades.
Still, the shops have their differences, and Modern Pastry sets itself apart most notably by offering patrons gluten-free pastries, olive oil, dried pastas and artisanal chocolate truffles that come filled with exotic liqueurs and non-liqueurs alike — cherry, grand marnier, Irish cream, Kahlua, peanut butter and mint, to name a few.
