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Review Sun Nov 30 2008
Go West, and Pick Up Some Cookies While You're Out There
If you've ever had to go to a reception in a church social hall following a mass or religious service, the idea of what constitutes a "refreshment" can boggle the mind. In my past, I've downed my fill of generic orange drink and bland grocery store donuts, and have perused the plastic trays of SuperValu brand vanilla sandwich cookies, heavily sighing, plate in hand, unrefreshed.
Things changed for me tonight as I entered the basement social hall after attending mass. Greeting me was what I always wanted to see in those drudgery-filled first Sundays of the month at Saint Robert's church in my hometown: plate after plate of cookies from Northlake's Ancona Bakery.
Ancona's is the kind of old school Italian bakery that specializes in the sweets that are familiar to an Italian-American: biscotti covered in chocolate and a dusting of pistachio nuts, lemon-covered taralli, crescents dotted with cherries, amaretti, coconut macaroons, crunchy sesame-covered cookies, and almond shortbread quickly disappeared off the tables over the course of an hour. The bakery also specializes in cannoli, breads and wedding cakes. Ancona's has been in business since 1937, a family-owned business that thrived in the city's west side at Chicago and Hamlin until a 1992 move to the suburbs. Sure, Northlake's a far hike from the city, but the product is worth the drive.
Ancona Bakery
25 East North Avenue, Northlake
708-343-4141
anconabakery.com
Open daily
