{"id":196037,"date":"2026-04-13T21:59:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T21:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/196037\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T21:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T21:59:07","slug":"how-egidio-pastry-shop-preserves-100-years-of-tradition-bronx-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/196037\/","title":{"rendered":"How Egidio Pastry Shop preserves 100 years of tradition \u2013 Bronx Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Egidio Pastry Shop, time moves slowly.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is the same, and people know that,\u201d said Maria Luciola, who has run the bakery for 45 years. \u201cThat\u2019s why we have a good reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walking in, glass cases gleam with rows of powdered cookies, cannolis, and cream-filled pastries. The air smells thick with the scent of sweet sugar and espresso.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Behind it all sits a philosophy: don\u2019t change what already works \u2014 a belief untouched for more than a century.\n<\/p>\n

For 113 years, Egidio Pastry Shop<\/a> has done the impossible: staying the same despite living in a city that is continuously reinventing itself in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1912 by Pasquel Egidio, the shop began as a lifeline for Italian immigrants in the Bronx\u2019s Little Italy<\/a>. Luciola, who grew up between Rome and Naples, sees her own immigration story reflected in that history as that of an immigrant who learned to live and build a successful life in America.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Luciola first moved to NYC, she says her experience was different from what it is now. Back in 1913, Arthur Avenue served as a home away from home for many Italians who couldn\u2019t write, read, or speak English. Egidio Pastry Shop quickly became the ecosystem where Pasquel helped many people sign documents as they entered the unfamiliar world of New York.<\/p>\n

One of its biggest pieces of history remains the oven. \u201cWe have a beautiful oven, a huge, big oven with two high levels. That\u2019s probably where the difference is, because we call him an elevator oven. So everything gets cooked properly and tastes good,\u201d Luciola said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a piece of machinery, but also a piece of history. While modern bakeries rely on efficiency, Egidio\u2019s relies on a system that demands patience, precision, and experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a place where time moves quickly \u2014 it\u2019s a place where time is timeless,\u201d Luciola said. Every day, a dessert is made with love, preserved in its recipe, techniques passed down through generations, and the pastry shop\u2019s commitment to keeping the bakery exactly as customers remember it.<\/p>\n

\"\"For 113 years, Egidio Pastry Shop has done the impossible: staying the same despite living in a city that is continuously reinventing itself. Photo by Bridgette Leahy.<\/p>\n

Customers return for more than taste \u2014 they return for memories. A cookie isn\u2019t just a cookie; it\u2019s tied to holidays, traditions, and slow Sundays on Arthur Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cEvery holiday, Easter, we make Easter bread and pastiera. At Christmas, we make fig cookies. St Joseph\u2019s Day, we make Spinigini and Zeppoli,\u201d Luciola said.<\/p>\n

In a neighborhood that has undergone drastic cultural changes with the arrival of the Hispanic and Albanian communities over the decades, these traditions remain constant.<\/p>\n

Standing in the heart of Little Italy, Bronx, Luciola says her experience of 45 years at the pastry shop comes at a price\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to be here because I love being with people. Sometimes I feel I\u2019m married to this bakery because of the time I spend here.\u201d
\n\"\"Luciola hopes that everyone who visits Egidio\u2019s feels like a part of their family. She reflects on her legacy, immigration, and success in running a 113-year-old bakery. Photo by Bridgette Leahy.\n<\/p>\n

Back then, businesses like Egidio\u2019s were essential for survival \u2013a place where language, culture, and identity could be preserved. Today, the same belligerence toward Italians remains, but is even more pronounced, and is enamored of the diverse community that Little Italy has now.<\/p>\n

\u201cRunning a 113-year-old bakery isn\u2019t easy,\u201d Luciola said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s quite a sacrifice in that statement because to preserve something meaningful to you, you have to give a part of your life to it,\u201d Luciola said.<\/p>\n

Luciola hopes that everyone who visits Egidio\u2019s feels like a part of their family. She reflects on her legacy, immigration, and success in running a 113-year-old bakery in a constantly changing city \u2014 the Bronx\u2014without reinventing it. <\/p>\n

By preserving traditions, flavors, and a sense of belonging that have defined it for generations. In a neighborhood that continues to evolve, Egidio\u2019s stands as a reminder that history isn\u2019t just remembered\u2014it\u2019s lived, passed down, and shared, one pastry at a time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At Egidio Pastry Shop, time moves slowly. \u201cEverything is the same, and people know that,\u201d said Maria Luciola,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[29509,128,55295,78170,17374,78171,9,24,63,78172,78173,78174,78175,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-196037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-arthur-avenue","9":"tag-bronx","10":"tag-bronx-little-italy","11":"tag-egidio-pastry-shop","12":"tag-little-italy","13":"tag-maria-luciola","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-nyc-pastry-shop","18":"tag-pasquel-egidio","19":"tag-powdered-cookies","20":"tag-st-josephs-day","21":"tag-the-bronx","22":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","23":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}