Posted by Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle on July 03, 2009
We both grew up in the suburbs of New York City during the 1960's, and have fond memories of the breads turned out from the ovens of our local Italian bakeries. These brawny Italian loaves were destined to be split and layered with cold cuts or loaded with meatballs and Italian sausage for heroes, or sliced vertically every inch or so and spread with garlic butter, then wrapped in foil and baked for 60s-style garlic bread. Sometimes we'd just eat hunks torn from the loaf and smeared with margarine (or, rarely, butter), leaving the table blanketed with crumbs from the shattering crust.
Decades later, the local bakeries are pretty much still there but the breads have lost their oomph, having become cottony analogues of their former selves. So we were thrilled to walk into Rose & Joe's, under the elevated tracks in Astoria, to find a bakery that still makes the toasty, crusty, honest loaves of old. The regular seeded Italian breads, tight-crumbed semolina bread, and luxurious prosciutto bread are classics: not the exquisite, new-old levain breads of craft bakers, but just as good in their own way. These breads turn up at delis all around the city, but we like to come right to the source.
Don't miss the pizza sold by the slice at the back counter. It's Sicilian-style, baked in large rectangular pans and cut into smaller rectangles. Unlike the typically thick and doughy Sicilian pizza found in many New York pizzerias, the well-oiled crust on this pie is light, crisp, and airy, with a bubbly pockmarked underside, barely thicker than the crust of a Neopolitan pie. A variety of toppings are available, and we've enjoyed such variants as broccoli slices, but less is definitely more here. The crust is the point (this is a bakery, after all), so stick with the unimproveable combination of crust, oil, tomato, oregano,and cheese. We're wary of creating high expectations, because at first taste you may think "It's pretty good, but what's the big deal?" By the end of your first slice, you'll probably find yourself ordering a second. As you eat this tomato-and-cheese topped bread its simplicity grows on you. On our first visit, we ended up taking out a box of eight slices, which we promptly popped in the oven as soon as we arrived home. Those eight slices didn't last long.
The bakery also makes a variety of cookies and pastries, and we enjoyed a pair of excellent, crisp-shelled cannolis. We recommend bringing home a box of those, too, for a wonderful, completely boxed dinner.
Overall: Worth planning a day around
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"This is a beautifully browned loaf of that local favorite, semolina bread."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
"Made with semolina, the same thing that's used to make dried pasta, you can see the creamy yellow tight crumb and thick crust characteristic of semolina bread. We aren't particular fans of semolina bread in general: it has a little sweetness and density that we don't love, but Rose & Joe's makes a classic version."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
"This is a loaf of old-fashioned sesame seeded Italian bread, perfect for turning into a hero sandwich."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
"The simple bakery pizza sold at Rose & Joe's is addictive. This well-browned piece is a home-reheated specimen. It may look something like Ellio's, but any similarity is purely superficial."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
"The bottom of a slice of pizza looks like the lunar surface."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
"It's not easy to pass Rose & Joe's window without being drawn inside."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
"These freshly-filled cannoli have an especially fluffy and creamy sweetened ricotta filling."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
"Eat a couple of slices at the bakery, but be sure to bring some home. It reheats beautifully."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
"Rose & Joe's Italian Bakery."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
"We are drawn in by the urban, beneath-the-tracks setting of Rose & Joe's."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
