#41. Gorge yourself on the Monday night all-you-can-eat at Vaccaro's

Okay, so today I learned that Monday’s really aren’t that bad.

Today, in yet another blog adventure, I discovered another one of Baltimore’s Monday Specials. Craving dessert, my cousin Annie and her parents (my Uncle Tom and Aunt Terri) all went out to Vaccaro’s Italian Pastry Shop in Little Italy for their $16 all-you-can-eat dessert special. We all thought it would be easy to eat $16 of dessert each… oh the naiveté.

Vaccaro’s is a Baltimore dessert institution; Italian restaurants all over the city and county (and sometimes other counties) boast Vaccaro’s cannoli, as well as some of their other desserts. The café in Little Italy is a beautifully decorated, small but busy shop with large display cases of cookies, cakes, pies and gelato. The sweet smell wafting out of the shop is enough to make you drool, and it becomes even stronger when you walk in as the sweet smells mingle with the scent of fresh espresso.

Vaccaro’s has been tempting citizens of Baltimore since 1956. Gioacchino Vaccaro, born and raised in Palermo, Italy, came to Baltimore and opened his pastry shop using authentic recipes from home. Mr. Jimmy, as Gioacchino came to be known as, started just with cannoli, rum cake and ricotta pie. As the pastry shop’s popularity grew, Mr. Vaccaro and his sons opened the café across the street and, eventually, three other locations throughout Baltimore and the surrounding counties to accommodate the increasing demand for their pastries, now much more than just cannoli, rum cake and ricotta pie.

When we sat down, my aunt, uncle, cousin and I discussed all the courses we thought we would be having that night. Boys were we wrong. I ordered the plate of “mini” cannoli, Annie got an éclair the size of an infant, my aunt Terri got “Death by Chocolate” (which I am pretty sure you could either smother yourself with or drown in) and my Uncle Tom ordered a hot fudge sundae with a plate of cookies that could have fed three people. We, as well as the people who had just sat down next to us, were astonished by the size of the delicious looking desserts. We each managed to eat at least half of our desserts (which is a rule: one dish at a time, you must eat at least half before ordering another and no take-out) before ordering another. Another sundae (apple pie napoleon this time), some chocolate gelato and for me a slice of ricotta cake were all we could muster between the four of us. I was full and happy by the time I finished off half of my plate, exhausted by my busy day and all the delicious food I had eaten.

Vaccaro’s prides itself on serving authentic Italian desserts and drinks to the citizens of Baltimore for affordable prices. The pastry shop’s identity as an authentic, family owned eatery makes the store even more beloved by Baltimore, where family institutions are upheld as delicious tradition. The shops history is prominently and proudly displayed on the menu, a testament to the humble family beginnings and Italian heritage of the pastry produces. Where else can you get delicious, home-made Italian food, let alone dessert, for only $16? Cannoli as big as my forearm, éclairs as large as my head, scoops of gelato the size of grapefruits nestled next to unbelievably light pieces of Italian ricotta pie… I had to stuff myself to even get my money’s worth. Waddling through the streets of Little Italy in twilight is never attractive. But it was all worth the reminder that Mondays can be oh-so-sweet sometimes.

References:

http://vaccarospastry.com/history.jsp