Cobble Hill Bakeries
The holiday season has been different for everyone this year. One Christmas tradition that my partner Lou’s family has is enjoying bread and pastries from local Italian bakeries. Fortunately, we were able to do that again this year and you can enjoy these baked treats any time of the year if you’re able to make a trip to the Cobble Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn. Here are three bakeries I recommend checking out and they all happen to be in a three-block radius of each other.
Caputo’s Bake Shop This is where we get our bread for the Christmas Eve feast, but honestly, we buy so much that it lasts us through the week. You can essentially get any type of loaf that you are craving. We get traditional Italian white bread which comes either plain or with seeds, olive bread which is stuffed with fresh black olives, and chicola bread which is stuffed with prosciutto. Caputo’s also sells homemade cookies, cheesecakes, and other baked goods. They only accept cash so be sure to hit an ATM on your way there. Due to COVID restrictions, they are limiting the store to three customers at a time so be prepared for a wait especially if you stop by on a holiday.
Court Street Pastry Shop This Scillian bakery is where we get classic Italian cookies and pastries. Lou always orders an assortment based on everyone’s preferences. There is always cannoli, sfogliatelle, rum baba, and now Lou throws in a napoleon to the order for me. We also get rainbow and an assortment of butter cookies. Lou added some lobster claws which are sfogliatelle that are stuffed with cream. We had those for Christmas breakfast because…why not? Like Caputo’s, Court Street Pastry is also a cash-only establishment.
Le French Tart Deli We added a third bakery to our Christmas Eve outing this year. Lou had introduced me to the Park Slope location of this French grocery store and bakery last year. We were pleased to learn they had a Cobble Hill location as well. I couldn’t resist picking up some croissants since we hadn’t had breakfast that morning and some holiday macrons, which are a favorite of Lou’s mother. They also have an assortment of cheeses, meats, and pantry staples. We’re excited to dig into a bag of Orangina flavored gummies, which we have never seen before. Le French Tart excepts cash and credit cards. They also do pick up and delivery orders via Seemless if you live nearby.
