Exclusive | Legendary NYC pastry shop Venieros celebrates 130th anniversary with nods to customers like Frank Sinatra, Joe DiMaggio
As New York City bakeries go, this pastry shop takes the cake.Veniero’s Pasticceria is celebrating its 130th anniversary this fall, and its fourth-generation owner dished on the East Village shop’s star-studded clientele — from Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio to Knicks star Jalen Brunson and the cast of “Sex and The City.”Although known for their famous feud, “Ol’ Blue Eyes” and “Joltin’ Joe” could agree on one thing — the traditional Italian biscotti at Veniero’s.The Yankees legend thought their almond Quaresimali cookies were a grand slam — and the “My Way” crooner preferred the sesame-seeded Regina cookies made his way — extra crispy.“DiMaggio used to dunk the Quaresimali in his cappuccino.
Sinatra loved those Regina biscuits.He liked them burnt,” owner Robert Zerilli told The Post.
“We shipped Sinatra big boxes to his house in Palm Springs.We have his autographed picture in the store, it says, ‘I love your pastries, but you’re killing me.'”Other notable Italian Americans, like Al Pacino, Liza Minnelli and Steve Schirripa — who placed one of the biggest orders of cannoli Veniero’s had ever received — have been through the doors.
“Steve ordered 1,800 cannoli and made a tree out of it.It was set up at the restaurant Il Cortile in Little Italy to celebrate his cooking show.
They continued to the ‘Today’ show and moved it to Rockefeller Plaza,” said Zerilli, 61, whose great-uncle Antonio Veniero founded the shop on East 11th Street in 1894.Their treats are also a slam dunk with the sweet-shooting Brunson, who chose Veniero’s as one of his favorite spots in the city for a Delta travel guide promo he filmed there.“He was eating some New York chocolate marble cheesecake along with a dollop of fresh whipped cream,” Zerilli said.The point guard was “very kind and gracious,” and surprisingly mild mannered.“A quiet guy, but we know on the boards he’s ferocious,” he said.Their iconic white box...