Ferrara Bakery & Cafe

Established in 1892. New York in the Gay Eighteen Nineties had almost everything, except for a place where an opera lover, after a night of Verdi or Puccini, could relax, play a Neapolitan card game called "Scopa" and drink a cup or two of espresso. This situation was remedied when our great grandfather, Enrico Scoppa and our great grand-uncle, Antonio Ferrara, opera impresario and showman, opened a cafe called Café A. Ferrara. Caruso thought the coffee marvelous but especially loved the cookies and cakes. After World War I, at the beginning of the 1929 Depression, Peter married the daughter of Enrico Scoppa. He was to spend the rest of his life at Ferrara's, transforming a charming neighborhood cafe into a world famous shrine of delicious tastes. Times were tough and in order to make sure there was very little waste, they began to bake two, three and sometimes four times a day, small batches of cookies and cakes.