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| - HIT -AND- MISS
My Wife & I are former NY'ers of Italian descent, so we were excited to try Villani's.
The Bakery concept is nice; the server was really nice, and they have several items - though the availability of items rotates.
Part of what I had deserved 5 stars, and the other part of what I had earned a single star. The rainbow cookies were five star perfection, as was the pastry part of what comprises their St Joseph's pastry (which I think the clerk referred to as Sfingi). How do you describe the perfect rainbow cookie? Villani's. Likewise, the Sfingi pastry was fluffy without being too light; a perfect balance, and tasty - a five star pastry that could go head to head with anything in NY. Literally. May I also add that everything was fresh, which is also uncommon.
The filling of the St Joseph/Sfingi, and the filling of the cannoli, was a disaster. In my life I have tasted different types of cannoli filling made from ricotta, with different bakeries flavoring the filling with nuts, chocolate chips, etc. I have had cannoli filling that is sometimes too sweet, and cannoli filling that leaned towards ricotta tasting. The cannoli shell at Villani's tasted like a fried noodle from a Chinese restaurant, formed in the shape of a cannoli shell. Both the Sfingi filling, and cannoli filling, tasted like unsweetened heavy cream with a touch of cinnamon. The consistency was good, but the taste was very unexpected. In my 40 something years of eating Italian desserts, I have never had anything like this, and I didn't find it tasty.
So...IMHO, Villani's was a hit and miss; what Villani's got right, they got right in a way that's worth bragging over. Unfortunately, what they got wrong was likewise extreme. 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 stars, as I believe that Villani's makes a deliberate effort in serving up fresh, quality, items. The cannoli shell and filling were a HUGE miss, unfortunately.
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