A beloved bakery associated with famed Italian restaurant Michael’s of Brooklyn is closing for good after three decades in business, the owners announced Sunday.
Salvatore DiLeonardo, the chef and one of the three partners behind Michael’s Pastry Shop at 2923 Ave. R, posted on social media a goodbye missive to the Marine Park and southern Brooklyn community he’s long baked for.
He claimed in the post that the bakery’s longtime landlord wouldn’t renew its lease and said the bakery, known for its Italian pastries such as Sfogliatelle, rainbow cookies and custom cakes, would shutter this month.
“Baking is my passion, and I have been blessed to share that with so many of you over these years. I wish I could continue this journey that I started years ago that I love so much,” DiLeonardo wrote in the post, which has since garnered hundreds of likes and comments.
DiLeonardo is not involved with Michael’s of Brooklyn, the upscale Italian eatery at 2929 Ave. R. His partners at the pastry shop, Michael and Fred Cacace, however, opened the restaurant at the corner of Nostrand Avenue in 1964. Three generations later, it’s become known for its red sauce, which is sold in grocery stores throughout the city and shipped across the country, and has become a haunt for high-profile politicos, including Mayor Eric Adams.
The Cacace family did not respond to a request for comment by press time, but the restaurant will remain open and unaffected by the bakery’s closure, DiLeonardo’s wife, Maria, told Crain’s Monday. There are no plans at this time for the bakery to open in a new location.
Long Island-based real estate company Elias Properties, which records show owns the roughly 7,700-square-foot, 1-story building that’s home to both the pastry shop and a chocolate store, did not respond to a request for comment by press time about its tenants’ leases or what it intends to do at the property. The owners of JoMart Chocolates, located at 2917 Ave. R, told Crain’s in an email Monday that the store will remain open.
