Where New York’s Italian-Americans Still Get Their Daily Bread

Sure, you can now find vast array of Italian cuisine staples in New York City. Cheese, wine and pasta are available on practically every corner. But authentic Italian bread is a lot harder to find. There is, however, one historic Sicilian-style bakery that’s been offering traditional Italian breads for over a hundred years, including pane di casa, seven-grain semolina, ciabatta and more. You’ll find the bakery on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Yes, in the Bronx! Because, although many non-New Yorkers aren’t aware of it, there are really only two neighborhoods left in the city that are still home to mostly Italian-Americans – and neither is in Manhattan. There’s Arthur Avenue, in the Belmont section of the Bronx, and Bensonhurst, in Brooklyn. The world famous Little Italy in Manhattan has long been swallowed up by Chinatown (to the degree that the city government had to make a law forbidding Chinese-language signs on Mulberry Street).

The iconic Madonia Bakery was founded in 1918 by Rose and Mario Madonia, who emigrated to America from the Sicilian town of Monreale. They first worked by providing lunch to the construction workers at the nearby Bronx Zoo, before setting up their own store. The bakery was passed on to their sons Peter and Frank, who continued to add new products, such as a variety of cookies and biscotti, breadsticks and friselle, a dry bread similar in shape to a donut and perfect for making bruschetta. When the next generation took over with grandson Mario, the bakery expanded and introduced the concept of specialty breads, made with prosciutto or provolone cheese. When Mario was tragically killed in a car accident, the current owner Peter Madonia took over with his business partner Charles Lalima, head baker with 50 years of experience and a similar Sicilian background.

Peter Madonia, whose father was born inside the walls of the bakery, is an active member of the local community and Chairman of the Belmont Business Improvement District. With Charlie, who is proud to have first introduced the ciabatta bread in the United States, he continues the bakery’s legacy, offering exciting new items such as jalapeño pepper breads and sweet varieties, such as cranberry-walnut, white chocolate, and fennel raisin loaves. Their signature olive bread is a bestseller and a must-try, made by hand with a whole cup of Moroccan roasted black olives per loaf. Their secret remains the high quality ingredients and the long fermentation time, from 8 to 18 hours. A wide selection of sweets is also offered, such as Sicilian cannoli, sweet and salty taralli, and a whole window of biscotti for every taste, with almonds, chocolate or candied fruit.

The bakery – featured as part of the set of the Broadway show A Bronx Tale and a permanent stop for presidential candidates on their visits to Arthur Avenue – is a symbol of the Italian-American community’s heritage. Last year, Peter celebrated its centennial on Ellis Island (where immigrants entering New York on steam ships were processed); his grandparents’ names were placed on the wall to be honored, along with the 26 million immigrants who have entered the country and made the United States their home.