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Take a day trip from Boston to New Haven, just two hours by train, and go for an epic pastry crawl
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Just a two-hour train ride from Boston, walkable New Haven, Connecticut, is practically built for a pastry crawl, as many of the area’s best bakeries are clustered from downtown through the Fair Haven neighborhood just east of the city center.
From purveyors of pan dulce to makers of stuffed breads, here are nine excellent New Haven bakeries sure to sweeten your day trip.
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When Arlene Cardenas took over Marjolaine from her former boss in 2013, she not only maintained the quality European pastries that folks had come to love about this East Rock bakery over the decades, she also added to the menu. That means you can still tuck into decadent chocolate mousse mice, pastry cream-packed fruit tarts, and the namesake terrine of hazelnut meringue and chocolate hazelnut creme chantilly, but now you can add an order of Puerto Rican flan as well. The patisserie itself offers limited indoor seating, but benches out front expand the footprint, and if you walk about 20 minutes through the pleasant neighborhood, you can enter the 425-acre East Rock Park and admire the imposing trap rock ridge for which the park and neighborhood are named. (Still hungry? Check out this dining guide for East Rock.)
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A Taste of New Haven’s East Rock Neighborhood
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On a corner of Ferry Street in Fair Haven sits Puerto Rican and Latin bakery Pan Del Cielo 2. Tempting display cases greet walk-ins, encouraging a quick selection of savory beef patties or sweet-tart pineapple cheesecake, but don’t overlook the opportunity to order a sandwich like the mi cielo (roast pork, pastrami, and bistec fixed on pillowy lard-enriched pan sobao) or a hot special like fluffy Ecuadorian quimbolito, a steamed corn cake studded with raisins. If you can score a spot on the single sunny window bench, you can sit a spell, but this is primarily a takeout place.
Rows of tall bakery racks practically overflow with massive treats at La Tapatia, a compact Mexican panadería in Fair Haven. Friendly staff supply you with a tray and tongs to self-select, wrap, and tally your order, and offer insight upon request, since the mouthwatering assortment is displayed without labels. Walk out with a selection of gorgeous pan dulce like flakey abanico puff pastry, bisquete sweet rolls, and guava-filled peinetas.
Two words: stuffed bread. You can find a wide variety of Apicella’s Italian American baked goods in local grocery chains, but nothing beats ordering still-hot loaves from the narrow counter at the Grand Avenue bakery. Eggplant parmesan, pepperoni and cheese, broccoli-stuffed — they’re all crispy on the outside, soft and savory on the inside. The breads freeze well and bake off great in the oven, so don’t be afraid to buy twice as much as you assume is reasonable. Make it there early enough and you’ll be able to snag a piece of the popular Danish of the day, too.
Atticus Bookstore Cafe has charmed downtown shoppers since 1975, when it opened on the first floor of the Yale British Art Museum, but the bakery program has truly flourished over the past several years thanks to the company’s commitment to baking exclusively with regional whole grains from the likes of Maine Grains. Whether you sit inside with a new book, take your order to go while you wander Yale’s old campus, or even head to the newer Atticus Market for its copious outdoor seating in the East Rock neighborhood, you’ll find enticing rotating options, from lemon tarts and croissants to pumpernickel rye to meatball or mushroom sandwiches on ciabatta slabs.
Stepping into Lucibello’s is like stepping back in time — the nearly 100-year-old bakery prides itself on consistency and tradition. A red turn-ticket dispenser and prominent display cases adorn the spare takeout counter, where the pastries take center stage. Try amply filled cream puffs and ricotta zeppole, or stock up on fragrant pignoli almond cookies studded with pine nuts. Helpful staff enclose orders in red-and-white to-go boxes, finishing them with twine strung from the ceiling in an adorably efficient system. With more advance warning, you can also be the life of any party thanks to large-scale centerpieces like boozy-sweet rum cream cake garnished with luscious buttercream.
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Around the corner from the State Street train station, Edible Couture’s marble countertops, bright pink-and-teal packaging, and artfully decked cupcakes make the small shop a statement. Owner Tisha Hudson learned to bake with her grandmother but put her own mark on many classic recipes, so cupcakes like banana pudding and brownie sundae supreme absolutely tower with distinct layers and toppings. You can also order a full-sized celebration cake or ship individually packaged “cakecups” to a friend — and keep an eye out for Edible Couture’s colorful truck serving sweets at local festivals and events.
German-style whole grain loaves line the wall of G Cafe Bakery’s Orange Street location in the Ninth Square historic downtown district. Indoor seating offers filtered light through wide windows, and outdoor seating spills into brick- and mural-decked Pitkin Plaza, where the cafe sits between art and gift shops Kiara Matos Ceramics (Matos is a co-owner of G) and Strange Ways. Take home a fitness loaf, brimming with a variety of seeds and grains, or stay for a European-inspired sweet treat of Linzer torte or gateau Basque. Elsewhere in New Haven, find a miniature version of the cafe inside Tweed airport and the newest location on Chapel Street, neighboring legendary head shop and boutique Group W Bench.
While Havenly’s menu now features a breadth of savory Middle Eastern foods, co-founder, head chef, and lead trainer Nieda Abbas’s baklava was the cornerstone of the business from the start. The colorful downtown cafe, tucked under architect Paul Rudolph’s Brutalist arches, aims to center and support refugee and immigrant women through job training and civic engagement. Pair treats like crunchy walnut baklava and date-filled kleicha cookies with Arabic coffee and Iraqi cardamom tea at the storefront, or mail a Havenly Box of goodies to a friend.
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When Arlene Cardenas took over Marjolaine from her former boss in 2013, she not only maintained the quality European pastries that folks had come to love about this East Rock bakery over the decades, she also added to the menu. That means you can still tuck into decadent chocolate mousse mice, pastry cream-packed fruit tarts, and the namesake terrine of hazelnut meringue and chocolate hazelnut creme chantilly, but now you can add an order of Puerto Rican flan as well. The patisserie itself offers limited indoor seating, but benches out front expand the footprint, and if you walk about 20 minutes through the pleasant neighborhood, you can enter the 425-acre East Rock Park and admire the imposing trap rock ridge for which the park and neighborhood are named. (Still hungry? Check out this dining guide for East Rock.)
On a corner of Ferry Street in Fair Haven sits Puerto Rican and Latin bakery Pan Del Cielo 2. Tempting display cases greet walk-ins, encouraging a quick selection of savory beef patties or sweet-tart pineapple cheesecake, but don’t overlook the opportunity to order a sandwich like the mi cielo (roast pork, pastrami, and bistec fixed on pillowy lard-enriched pan sobao) or a hot special like fluffy Ecuadorian quimbolito, a steamed corn cake studded with raisins. If you can score a spot on the single sunny window bench, you can sit a spell, but this is primarily a takeout place.
Rows of tall bakery racks practically overflow with massive treats at La Tapatia, a compact Mexican panadería in Fair Haven. Friendly staff supply you with a tray and tongs to self-select, wrap, and tally your order, and offer insight upon request, since the mouthwatering assortment is displayed without labels. Walk out with a selection of gorgeous pan dulce like flakey abanico puff pastry, bisquete sweet rolls, and guava-filled peinetas.
Two words: stuffed bread. You can find a wide variety of Apicella’s Italian American baked goods in local grocery chains, but nothing beats ordering still-hot loaves from the narrow counter at the Grand Avenue bakery. Eggplant parmesan, pepperoni and cheese, broccoli-stuffed — they’re all crispy on the outside, soft and savory on the inside. The breads freeze well and bake off great in the oven, so don’t be afraid to buy twice as much as you assume is reasonable. Make it there early enough and you’ll be able to snag a piece of the popular Danish of the day, too.
Atticus Bookstore Cafe has charmed downtown shoppers since 1975, when it opened on the first floor of the Yale British Art Museum, but the bakery program has truly flourished over the past several years thanks to the company’s commitment to baking exclusively with regional whole grains from the likes of Maine Grains. Whether you sit inside with a new book, take your order to go while you wander Yale’s old campus, or even head to the newer Atticus Market for its copious outdoor seating in the East Rock neighborhood, you’ll find enticing rotating options, from lemon tarts and croissants to pumpernickel rye to meatball or mushroom sandwiches on ciabatta slabs.
Stepping into Lucibello’s is like stepping back in time — the nearly 100-year-old bakery prides itself on consistency and tradition. A red turn-ticket dispenser and prominent display cases adorn the spare takeout counter, where the pastries take center stage. Try amply filled cream puffs and ricotta zeppole, or stock up on fragrant pignoli almond cookies studded with pine nuts. Helpful staff enclose orders in red-and-white to-go boxes, finishing them with twine strung from the ceiling in an adorably efficient system. With more advance warning, you can also be the life of any party thanks to large-scale centerpieces like boozy-sweet rum cream cake garnished with luscious buttercream.
Around the corner from the State Street train station, Edible Couture’s marble countertops, bright pink-and-teal packaging, and artfully decked cupcakes make the small shop a statement. Owner Tisha Hudson learned to bake with her grandmother but put her own mark on many classic recipes, so cupcakes like banana pudding and brownie sundae supreme absolutely tower with distinct layers and toppings. You can also order a full-sized celebration cake or ship individually packaged “cakecups” to a friend — and keep an eye out for Edible Couture’s colorful truck serving sweets at local festivals and events.
German-style whole grain loaves line the wall of G Cafe Bakery’s Orange Street location in the Ninth Square historic downtown district. Indoor seating offers filtered light through wide windows, and outdoor seating spills into brick- and mural-decked Pitkin Plaza, where the cafe sits between art and gift shops Kiara Matos Ceramics (Matos is a co-owner of G) and Strange Ways. Take home a fitness loaf, brimming with a variety of seeds and grains, or stay for a European-inspired sweet treat of Linzer torte or gateau Basque. Elsewhere in New Haven, find a miniature version of the cafe inside Tweed airport and the newest location on Chapel Street, neighboring legendary head shop and boutique Group W Bench.
While Havenly’s menu now features a breadth of savory Middle Eastern foods, co-founder, head chef, and lead trainer Nieda Abbas’s baklava was the cornerstone of the business from the start. The colorful downtown cafe, tucked under architect Paul Rudolph’s Brutalist arches, aims to center and support refugee and immigrant women through job training and civic engagement. Pair treats like crunchy walnut baklava and date-filled kleicha cookies with Arabic coffee and Iraqi cardamom tea at the storefront, or mail a Havenly Box of goodies to a friend.
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- The Hottest New Restaurants in Boston Right Now
