BY ERICA MARCUS
There may be no other bakery on Long Island where you can enjoy that awe-inspiring Sicilian confection briosce con gelato: a brioche roll stuffed with gelato. At Spiga, both the gelato and the brioche are homemade, and the combination is about the best ice-cream sandwich imaginable.
Luca Caravello, who opened Spiga a year ago, not only graduated at the top of his class at New York's French Culinary Institute, he is the scion of the great Brooklyn bakery, Mazzola's, where he worked alongside his father, Vincenzo. (He also did time at Veniero's in Manhattan's East Village.)
Spiga Bakery and Cafe, 2685 Merrick Rd., Bellmore; 516-557-2688; spigabakery.com
A TASTE OF ITALY
Some of the authentic Italian specialties he's introduced haven't worked in Bellmore: Neither the cassata (an elaborate Sicilian cake), pasticciotto (custard pie) nor pizza rustica (savory pie) has found an audience. But the cannoli, which Caravello fills to order with a blend of two types of ricotta, are bestsellers, as are tarts made from his all-marzipan rainbow cookies and raspberry mousse, individual Black Forest cakes, and a "tre-colori" dessert made with layers of milk-chocolate mousse, white-chocolate mousse and dark-chocolate mousse.
A TASTE OF BROOKLYN
One Mazzola favorite that Caravello has duplicated in Bellmore is what old-timers call lard bread: a rustic loaf studded with pieces of prosciutto and salami. Caravello noted some resistance to the name, and he started calling it "prosciutto bread." It flies out of the store.
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