DOLCI!
Talking With Italian-American Baker and Ciao, Gloria Owner Renato Poliafito About His New Cookbook and a Recipe for a Beat-the-Heat Peaches and Cream Semifreddo
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Dolci!
Renato Poliafito is one of my favorite people in the New York food world, and on a regular basis I take two buses from my place in Brooklyn Heights to Prospect Heights to visit his acclaimed Brooklyn cafe and bakery Ciao, Gloria to load up on Italian American inspired specialities. I’ve known the two-time James Beard Award nominee since his years at Baked, the Red Hook, Brooklyn, bakery he co-founded with Matt Lewis that specialized in Americana-inspired brownies, cupcakes, layer cakes, cookies, and more. And while he and Lewis co-authored four bestselling cookbooks together, Poliafito considers his new book, Dolci!: American Baking with an Italian Accent, his first “solo album.”
And the pending release of his new cookbook isn’t the only thing Renato will be celebrating. October 1st marks the fifth anniversary of Ciao, Gloria, so stay tuned for what I’m sure will be a sweet celebration.
“Renato Poliafito hits the sweet spot in Dolci!, with favorite desserts from his popular (and my favorite) bakery in Brooklyn—Ciao, Gloria. He turns his years of baking experience and his Italian American heritage into reimagined rainbow cookies (a cake, Spumoni Loaf!), Amaretto Caramel Brownies, and a bitter/sweet Chocolate Amaro Pecan Pie, as well as savory snacks for aperitivo. Grazie mille to Renato for sharing this outstanding collection of recipes, so anyone . . . and everyone, can make them at home.”
—David Lebovitz, author of My Paris Kitchen and Drinking French
Written with Casey Elsass and featuring photography by Kevin Miyazaki, Dolci! captures the flavors of la dolce vita from Brooklyn to Bologna, celebrating Italian American (and truly Italian and all-American) baking traditions. Among the many sweet and savory recipes you’ll find Panettone Bread Pudding, Aperol Spritz Cake, Cacio e Pepe Arancini, Malted Tiramisu, Spumoni Loaf, an Amaro Root Beer Float, and more.
I was lucky to be privy on Renato’s journey working on Dolci!, often seeing him in his little office just off the bakery case at Ciao, Gloria marking up his manuscript while on yet another deadline. And he shared the mood board with me after he turned in the proposal and let me see an early photo layout, with so many beautiful scenes of traveling through Italy, from Sicily to Milan. And I even made the Acknowledgements for an assist when it came to all things amari and bitters for the handful of drinks featured in the book.
I recently had the chance to sit down with Renato on a sunny and busy morning at Ciao, Gloria to learn more about Dolci!. Read on as we talk about growing up as a second-generation Italian American, how he fell in love with Italian food and culture, his favorite region in Italy to visit, behind-the-scenes on creating Dolci!, being prepared to hear what Italian nonnas might say about his new cookbook, a hint at a new, in-the-works business venture, and a perfect-for-summer recipe for Peaches and Cream Semifreddo.
Talking with Renato Poliafito
Italian Heritage and a Tale of Two Identities
Your father arrived in Brooklyn from Sicily in 1957, later joined by your mother and newborn sister, settling in Queens. You write about being the youngest of three siblings and being the most Americanized of them all. But you also got to spend a lot of time in Sicily. Did you ever feel left out or wish you had embraced learning and speaking Italian more at a young age?
Renato: Oh, definitely. My parents didn't put a lot of pressure on me to speak Italian, but to understand it. So my comprehension level is close to a hundred percent. But I wish they kind of put a little more pressure on me to speak it more. I was a little apprehensive as a kid because of that duality, the fact that I was Italian and American, but my life and my culture was really Americanized. It wasn't until later that I was like, you know, it would've been great great if I was bilingual.
But when you were back in Sicily and attending middle school there your lack of Italian fluency obviously hindered you, right?
Renato: I was completely ostracized and treated like I was kind of an idiot. I was pretty smart in American schools but then I was thrown into an Italian school where I didn’t understand anything that was going on. Not only the curriculum, but the social norms and how to act. And also being a young gay guy and having this kind of anxiety. I mean, you don’t know, but you know something is different. But you can’t put your finger on it. You feel like you’re different. You kind of blame it on a bunch of things and then you realize, oh, I am different. But that came way later.
And your true love of Italy wasn’t born through Italian food but through Italian art?