Pulcinella champions fresh-baked traditional pastries rivalling those found in southern Italy.
If you think “food” and “Naples”, your mind might turn first to pizza. That’s fair enough: floppy, puffy-crusted pizza is a rightful point of pride for the compelling southern Italian capital. Passions run just as high for pastry, though. You’ll stumble on a cake shop as often as a pizzeria, competition is fierce, and it’s not hard to engage Neapolitans on the best sfogliatella or rum baba.
Pulcinella in Brunswick may not have as many natural rivals in the pastry arts – it’s about 15,000 km from the homeland that inspires it, after all – but this bakery-cafe would give any of them a good run.
Pastry chefs Alessandro Grillo and Vincenzo Marino met when they were both working at local Italian institution Brunetti. With shared history in pasticceria in Naples, the pair were passionate about recreating something truly, specifically Napoletano in Melbourne: traditional recipes, everything baked fresh daily, no shortcuts. They opened in late 2019, navigated the following two years with the support of the northern suburbs’ sizeable Italian community, and had something of a post-pandemic second coming. Over the past couple of years, the buzz around the cafe has only grown fonder and more enthusiastic.
Whether you’re sitting at the few tables inside or on the pavement, or taking away, you’ll want to try the sfogliatella, a frilly, many-layered lard pastry pocket filled with semolina, ricotta and citrus peel. Fiddly and delicate, there’s a reason you don’t see them around much. Come early for a proper Naples breakfast and your sfogliatella will still be slightly warm, shards of pastry pushed into the gently sweet stuffing.
Pastiera napoletana is another classic. This shortcrust tart is also filled with ricotta and orange peel, this time lifted with orange blossom water and ballasted with nutty wheat grains. Maritozzi are from Rome, a few hours up the road, but the one here is sublime. Named for “marito” (husband), there’s a tradition of hiding engagement rings in these cream-stuffed brioche balls, but I only found a cheeky dollop of Nutella.
It’s not all sugar. Pizza squares and calzone are made with a lightly yeasted dough that rests in the fridge for a week or more, leading to a tasty, pillowy bake. It’s seen to great advantage in the margherita but you may wish to save a corner of your heart for the montanara, a Napoli-style fried dough disc topped with rich tomato sauce. Like a huge, crisp pizza version of a potato cake, it isn’t exactly salad but it’s surely healthy for your soul.
We’re nowhere near panettone season, which descends every December with fruit-studded, sweet-bread intensity but you should know that Pulcinella’s Vincenzo Marino beat pastry chefs from around Australia to earn the right to represent us in last year’s Panettone World Cup in Milan. Making good panettone is art and anguish: that a charming little cafe nails this tricky tradition is another sign of the quality and dedication that infuses everything they do.
Pulcinella’s namesake is referenced throughout the shop. A famous character from commedia dell’arte, an Italian pantomime style dating to the 17th century, Pulcinella is a scallywag, lively and determined. He’s there in mural form on the wall and his signature beak-nosed mask is referenced in the cafe’s logo and stamped on their takeaway cups.
On that, coffee culture is one place where Melbourne and Naples diverge. We drink coffee in the car. We also love sitting down for a leisurely coffee rather than resting an espresso and an elbow on a stand-up counter. Most shockingly, we’ll order cappuccino in the afternoon (in Italy it is strictly a breakfast beverage). Apart from coffee protocols, Pulcinella feels like the best of Naples dropped into Brunswick, with all the wit and none of the roguishness of the character after which it’s named.
Three more cultural cake spots to try
La Colmena
You don’t need to know the extraordinary research that goes into baking Spanish pastries with centuries of tradition: they are as delicious eaten in ignorance as in expertise. But baker Cristina Jimenez can also enrich your pasteleria experience by explaining the backstories to such delights as ensaimada (a Mallorcan treat) and glaseado, a layered extravagance from Almeria. Also popping up at South Melbourne Market.
Prahran Market, 163 Commercial Road, South Yarra, lacolmena.com.au
Afiouni Sweets & Pastries
A major drawcard at Mahoneys Plaza is this bountiful Lebanese sweet shop. Sit down for brewed coffee and knafeh (sweet cheese pie), mochachino and mlokieyh (a layered biscuit, pistachio and clotted cream dessert) and leave with a box of baklava and maamoul cookies to take to an occasion or hoard at home.
528 Mahoneys Road, Campbellfield, instagram.com/afiounilebanesesweetss
Manna Bakery
Sweet, fluffy breads and pastries are the deal at this family-run Korean bakery. I love the hot dog with chipotle and caramelised onion, the salted red bean butter bun and the autumnal chestnut-stuffed white loaf. Visit the store or keep an eye on their socials for periodic deliveries to suburbs around Melbourne.
174 Warrigal Road, Oakleigh, mannabakery.au
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