Veniero’s Pastry Shop
Neighborhood: East Village
342 East 11th Street
(between 1st Ave & 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003
Rated: ♣♣♣♣♣
If you want the old school Italian mobster experience on your trip to New York, go to Veniero’s Pastry Shop. I have not tried many cannoli’s in NYC, but I’ve been told Veniero’s has the best. And, I definitely can’t argue.
The scene:
Veniero’s is a cute Italian pastry shop in East Village. A friend of mine from New York recommended this place to me and called it her “high school hangout.” Man, when I was in high school, I used to hang out at the mall – no where near as sophisticated as a cannoli shop. Anyway, we picked out which cannoli’s we wanted and they sat us towards the back of the restaurant.
Mid-cannoli, I marvelled at the painting next to me and realized it was a secret door! So cool! I wonder what kind of illegal shenanigans happened behind that door back in the 40s or 50s. On our side of the door, I witnessed some illegal DVD trading between customers at the table next to me.
The food:
We ordered 2 cannolis – one vanilla, one chocolate (each about $3) – with two big cups of hot coffee. Being my first real cannoli, it set the bar high for future cannolis to come. The shell was thick and crispy. The cream was smooth and rich. Chocolate was definately my favorite. The shell was dipped in a heavenly dark chocolate and filled with chocolate cream topped with mini chocolate chips.
I can’t wait for my next trip to NY later this month to get me more cannolis!
