REVIEW

We knew of one woman, 85 years of age, who lived in the northern suburbs of New York City. She probably shouldn’t have been driving at all anymore, yet she still made the twice-weekly trip to Madonia Bakery, 97 years of age, in The Bronx, for her fix of the Italian bread she grew up with. Good, old-fashioned bread will do that to true yeast fanatics.

A tray of onion breads showing off their toasted onion crowns

You might think that, here in the famous Italian enclave of Arthur Avenue in the Belmont section of The Bronx, with the dozens upon dozens of bakeries, restaurants, and food shops, a person could walk into a place at random and be assured of enjoying the finest in Italian-American edibles. Not true. As in any neighborhood, it still pays to know what’s what. When it comes to bread, now you know.

There’s onion bread and then there’s ONION bread.

Madonia’s regular Italian bread can’t be beat, featuring a sturdy crust and wheaty-tasting crumb, a pleasure to consume without adornment, but there’s so much more to explore here. Like the rings of prosciutto bread and cicola (lard) bread. We always thought they were the same thing, but evidently they are not. Madonia’s prosciutto bread is more bread accented with bits of the cured pork, rather than the cheese and cold cut bomb found in some Italian bakeries, with a beguiling peppery flavor. The cicola? We haven’t tried it yet.

The rings of prosciutto bread are peppery and impossible to put down.

Our favorite baked treat is the fennel and raisin loaf, an aromatic, light-textured, and crusty combination of sweet and savory. The tall onion breads are filled not with flecks, but with big sections, of sweet onion. There’s an endless variety of rings and braids, flat loaves, tall loaves, seeded breads, fruited breads, and breads filled with cheese or olives.

From Chris and Amy Ayers: A close-up of the fennel-raisin bread. Without a doubt, this loaf wouldn’t make the trip home — you may as well buy two loaves just in case.

Many of the loaves get turned into various crunchy toasts by the bagful (we love those olive bread toasts), and they also have taralli, those pepper and fennel crackers that look like miniature bagels. They’ll even fill a cannolo while you wait (never buy pre-filled cannoli!).

The trick to shopping at Madonia is to buy twice as much as you think you’ll need. That way there’ll be enough for snacking in front of the bakery.

We cannot restrain ourselves. Our arms are always laden with a freezer’s worth of baked goods after a Madonia visit. And we’ve never regretted it.

LAF TRAK: 

FOOD: 

BEST THING TO EAT: Fennel-raisin bread