110-year-old De Robertis Pasticceria and Caffe will turn off their ovens and espresso machines on or possibly before Dec. 5.
The bakery’s home since 1904, 174-176 First Ave., was sold earlier this month for $12 million, according to EV Grieve — that’s a lot of scoops of gelato!
“People’s buying habits have changed. They’re weight-conscious and don’t want the items that we sell in their diet,” owner John De Robertis told Bedford + Bowery.
Featured in the pilot episode of ‘Sex and the City’ as well as a scene from Woody Allen’s ‘Manhattan Murder Mystery’, Di Robertis’ fame pales in comparison to the everlasting ‘Sex and the City’ Magnolia Bakery hubub. No lines crowd the sidewalk outside the shop, and layered wedding cake displays in the windows don’t exactly call in droves of the East Village fro-yo crowd.
Perhaps a pignoli-cannoli mash-up could have sustained the bakery?
An employee confirmed the closing, but none of the owners were available for comment on Monday. A request for an owner’s email recieved an employee’s reply: “He doesn’t use that stuff.”
So it’s goodbye for now to the East Village circa 1904. A new generation of email-using, low-cal dessert lovers has taken its place.
