Visit Pappalecco Café on National Croissant Day

Looking for an excuse to eat a fresh flaky croissant? We got you covered. National Croissant Day is approaching on Monday, January 30th and Pappalecco Café, the local Tuscan coffee and pastry dining destination will offer free plain croissants with every coffee or tea purchase from 7 a.m. to noon to celebrate National Croissant Day at all five locations.

Pappalecco Cafe’s Chef Lorenzo rolls all croissants and pastries from scratch every day using only imported Tuscan flour and five simple ingredients in each recipe. The Tuscan café offers croissants in many flavors, including the classic croissants, Nutella, almond, strawberry and more.

As Chef Lorenzo says, “the key to an Italian croissant that makes it different from a French croissant is one thing, less butter, which makes the croissant lighter.” Patrons can upgrade their croissants and try the gelato croissant sandwiches with one of the new gelato flavors each month; the seasonal gelato flavor of January is Tiramisu Pappalecco Espresso.

“I still have my Grandma’s cookbook,” said co-owner and chef Lorenzo Bucci.“I started from that notebook and I go back to it very often. The recipes of some Pappalecco cakes and cookies come straight from that notebook and I haven’t changed a thing. They are just perfect the way my grandma made them. When I bite into one of those simple creations I find exactly the same flavor, the flavors that will make me feel like a child forever.”

Pappalecco offers many other homemade Italian pastries made by Chef Lorenzo including torta nonna, apple crumb, tiramisu, chocolate mousse cake, napoleon and cannoli for a sweet authentic Tuscany treat. There are gluten free pastry options as well – the torta limone and torta chocolato.

“The first time I made an apple crumb was in my Grandma’s kitchen, in Tuscany,” said Lorenzo. “Now I make it in Point Loma every day. I remember that I was looking forward to licking the plate while the cake was in the oven. This is the reward for doing a wonderful job my Grandma said. That was the cake that we made to celebrate my fourth birthday!”

All Pappalecco menu items including its bread, pastries and gelato are made locally at its production kitchen in Point Loma. After immigrating here from Pisa, Italy in 2007, the Bucci brothers made a promise to stick to the culinary principles that emphasize freshness, quality and simplicity of the Tuscan lifestyle.

“My goal is perfection – Tuscan pastry chefs are so meticulous when they choose, weigh and balance their ingredients,” said Lorenzo. “Cooking is also a matter of precision and dedication, besides inspiration and passion. A work of art is also a ‘work of balance’.”

The stores, or “homes” as the brother-owner duo like to call them, are located in Little Italy, Hillcrest, Kensington, Cardiff by the Sea and Del Mar Highlands. The extensive menu includes breakfast, organic coffee, paninis, pizza, salads, gelato, homemade pastries, wine and beer, and more. Pappalecco’s goal is to bring the history and culture of Tuscany to the U.S. through the beauty and simplicity of its food.