Egidio and the Breakfast of Champions

Most people believe that breakfast should involve cereal, oatmeal, eggs, french toast, pancakes... things easily available at IHOP (Vanilla Ice's establishment of choice--long story), Perkins, Sunday morning at Mom's, or Lawrence hospital. Most of us working stiffs settle for a granola bar, a pop tart, or a yogurt... something fast, portable, and usually unsatisfying. I for one, am the type to consume cold cake, cold pizza, or cold pasta in the morning. Leftovers from dinner entice me more than any item produced from a cardboard box. Tony the Tiger, Snap, Crackle, and Pop, Lucky and his charms... they never inspired me. Oh, my parents tried. Believe me. they bought every variety pack, forced every type of cereal ever created down my throat. They put it in bowls with milk, in plastic bags dry, and, when it was cool, they even made the little bowl out of the variety pack box. I always felt that eating a soggy mess of mushy wheat out of a cardboard box was a little, well, disgusting. So alas, I troubled my parents with my breakfast conundrum, for every parent knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And I always refused it.

I had an issue with fainting as a child. My parents always blamed it on my inability to eat breakfast. I passed out in first grade while sitting at my desk during math class. I passed out in second grade standing in line waiting for an announcement. I had put my hand up, but the teacher shushed me because at the time, whatever our principal was blubbering about was more important. I think she felt pretty guilty when I collapsed on poor Sheila standing behind me. I skipped third and fourth grade, and passed out again when I was ten during church. I lost my Mickey Mouse ked in the process and demanded that my uber embarrassed father go back inside and retrieve it. Then, I thought I was cured. But alas, I passed out again in high school, on the subway, which resulted in an ambulance and my father later screaming at a nurse, "MY DAUGHTER IS NOT PREGNANT!" Good times. I suppose breakfast is important, but for those of you who enjoy food, and not just packaged, sodium-laced "treats," I have a real treat for you. I introduce to you Egidio's Pastry Shop, located in the real little Italy in New York City. (The little Italy around Mott Street is a tourist joke. While there may be one or two decent restaurants, real New Yorkers know that if you crave some old-fashioned gravy and little Italian grandmothers who give you the Malocchio on Christmas because there's only one loaf of bread left and you, by God, are not going to be the one walking out with it, then you need to schlep yourself up to the Bronx!) My brother knows, when his sister is in the hospital, he doesn't need to show up with flowers or balloons, he simply needs to bring a cannoli or two, and his sister will be grinning from ear to ear.

Egidio's is a wonderful little corner pastry shop, serving a variety of cookies, pastries, and coffee. They raise money on occasion for disasters in Italy, and they're really friendly, if not insanely busy. You can find a seat on occasion (if you play hooky from work and show up at a strange hour), but it's usually packed with people placing holiday orders and birthday orders and such. Plus, once people find a table, they work it Italian style, meaning they'll sit there with their empty plates for hours, just socializing. There's definitely something to be said for the Italian lifestyle.

Anyway, what I recommend at Egidio's is the cannoli. And above and beyond that, if you have a sweet tooth, then I highly recommend the chocolate covered cannoli. Pure bliss. But there is a rule... If you choose to order the cannoli, and you should, ask them to make you a fresh one. Most people simply eat the ones on display, which are delicious and usually pretty fresh, because like I mentioned, Egidio's is a popping joint, but there's a whole new level of amazingness when you consume a freshly pumped cannoli. The cream hasn't made the shell soggy in any way, so you still get that lovely crunch of the fried-dough shell paired with the luxuriously smooth ricotta cheese filling. The chocolate cannoli is hand-dipped in thick, rich chocolate and contains clandestine chocolate chips within the sweet cream filling. Powdered sugar is then graciously sprinkled on top, and voila! the perfect cannoli. Pair it with a nice latte, and you have a real breakfast of champions!