Alessi Bakery (Continued from page 10) Walking through the slid- ing glass doors of Alessi Bak- ery off West Cypress Street, customers are greeted by the scents of fresh Cuban bread intermingled with dozens of founder, Nicolo Alessi, an im- migrant from Santo Stefano - where he ran a bakery just two blocks from the Vatican - started selling Cuban and Ital- ian bread to the West Tampa area by horse and buggy. He Nicolo Alessi in front of his truck Nicolo Alessi in front of his truck rj" rr John Alessi, Mario Perez, Pepito Alessi and Petrone John Alessi, Mario Perez, Pepito Alessi and Petrone specialty pastries, danishes and sweet snacks. On the left sits the deli side of the bakery, with sandwiches and trays of scachatta. On the right stands the bakery with everything from strawberry napoleons, brownies that are supposed to relax your body and tatu cookies, originally baked by the Catholics in 18th-century Italy to ward off bad spirits during Halloween. The bakery has come a long way since its humble begin- nings in 1912. The bakery's .1^^, opened his first shop on Cher- ry Street and sold breads, meats, cheeses and scachatta (which currently makes up around 12 percent of Alessi's sales). To support his family, consisting of a wife and five children, Nicolo supplement- ed his income by serving as a lector in Tampa's cigar fac- tories,, reading Spanish and Italian newspapers to the men and women rolling tobacco. Nicolo's son John eventual- ly inherited the business and with his siblings and in-laws -. i - John Alessi Workers baking bread F 262 813 he expanded Alessi, opening several locations throughout Tampa, including the busi- ness' signature Cypress Street location, which was acquired in the '60s. John was a talent- ed cake decorator, and added the sweeter side to the busi- ness. He even won first place in the Florida State Fair for a cake he decorated. Alessi's signature princess cake is still a best seller. Phil Alessi took over after John, and at 22 years old, he truly reinvented the busi- ness. At the time, there was a trend where retail grocers were building stores with bak- ers in-house, eliminating the need for a local neighborhood bakery. This could've crushed the Alessi bakeries, but Phil figured out a way to contin- ue to supply companies with wholesale products by creat- ing a manufacturing plant, producing mass quantities of items in a cost-efficient busi- ness model. Currently, there is a 100,000-square foot man- ufacturing building in north- west Tampa bearing the Alessi name. This has allowed Alessi to sell their products to gi- ant clients all over the nation. Publix sells their desserts such as tiramisu. Crispers dessert shot glasses are made by Alessi, and so are pastries at Embassy Suites. With over 100 years of re- search and development expe- rience, Alessi essentially free- lances their knowledge. Paula Dean even approached them to develop specialty cream cheese cookies. Phil Alessi, Jr. has since taken over the operation, managing the plant and the 200 employees who work there. There's even an Alessi Catering branch. However, the plant hasn't taken away from the success of the Cypress Street location. They feed off each other. The plant sup- plies items and ingredients to the bakery, which has its own research and development de- partment. Ralph Fernandez, whose moniker is "The Pro- fessor", has developed one of the fastest-selling items at the bakery: flan cream cake. The bakery is currently renovating its interior and will soon have a large sitting area where cus- tomers can sit down and en- joy their morning pastry with some espresso. Celebrating its 99th an- niversary this year, Alessi Bakery has successfully built itself from scratch into a mas- sive four-tier business. Father after son after son after son have utilized the essential in- gredients of quality products, friendly service and passion- ate innovation to treat their customers like family in tradi- tional Italian fashion. (Continued on page 13) * .-,,- ,., Y :C' : '- SANWA ARMER ' IA R K E ABIERTO LUNES -VIERNES ERA T 3:00 AM TO 3:00 PM 1 E. HILLSBOROUGH AVE. Sabado 4:00 AM TO 3:00 PM TAMPA, FL 33610 Domingo 8:00 AM TO 3:00 PM Aceptamos EBT, Debito Abierto al p6blico, No se -234-8428 I i necesita membrecia LA GACETA/Friday, May 6, 2011/Page 11 Section B Early Alessi Bakery workers 1r7 1~111- -- L 1 .I i-.- .-. _1