The sweet taste of neighborhood bakeries

For most of the 1970s and '80s, I lived in the Carolinas and knew that to get a decent doughnut in that part of the world, you went to Dunkin' Donuts or Krispy Kreme. I would tell my Southern friends, "These doughnuts are OK,
but nothing like a fresh doughnut from a Pittsburgh bakery!"

We're lucky around here. We still have great little bakeries where you can find amazing specialties. (Although Prantl's says it's "burnt," I'll take its almond torte anytime.) People develop fierce loyalties and often crave cakes from ovens that aren't even there anymore. (I know a family in the North Hills that still pines for the old Steinmetz Bakery in Carnegie.)

Every neighborhood should have a bakery. Bellevue is blessed with two: Barkus Bakery (where Rick Barkus and his crew inject icing into the body of the cupcake -- yes! -- as well as spread it on top) and Lincoln Bakery (where Joe Porco puts together glorious, goofy and scrumptious cakes in unusual shapes that vary with the season). But locals along Lincoln Avenue will never agree about which is best. Stand in either store for more than a minute or two, and you will hear fervent endorsements of that bakery's specialties, such as the delmars, the ladylocks or the pfeffernuesse cookies.

Nowadays, I frequent the bakery known as Sweetie Sweetie in Regent Square. I've publicly rhapsodized about the bacon-cheddar scones that David Green bakes here some mornings, but the cases are usually full of rugelach and coffee cakes and other goodies. By the front door, there's an old automatic tying machine that makes the best bakery sound: the zing of a string being wound around a classic white bakery box. I like to think this bakery is named for Ellen Sciulli and Josie Urda, the two women who deal with the morning customers. They are Sweetie and Sweetie to me.

Some people have even offered to drive me to their favorite bakery. Frank Caloiero, a photographer and editor at WQED, said I could not write about local bakeries if I left out Moio's Italian Pastry Shop in Monroeville. "I grew up there!" he said. "I'll take you." But I went alone. Aunt Dolly Jubic took care of me, offering sweet samples, old photos and family history. "We're not really a bakery," she explained. "We're an Italian pastry shop. We make cannoli and sfogliatelle, pignoli cookies and pasticciotti, lots of rum cakes, but no bread."

When it comes to local bakeries, the list is endless. Bethel Bakery is a major landmark in the South Hills and is famous for its cakes. To this day, when I say I'm from Bethel Park, people all over Western Pennsylvania smile and talk dreamily of Bethel's legendary butter-cream icing. I should sing of Jenny Lee in McKees Rocks. And surely, Chatellier's French Bakery in Millvale is worth a pilgrimage. My co-worker Mike Laver brings me stuff from Minerva in McKeesport. Someone else shakes me and says, "You HAVE to go to Oakmont Bakery!" What about Greb's on the South Side? Dudt's in Allison Park? Kretchmar's! And Schorr's? And doesn't Brookline still have two bakeries, too?

Rick Sebak is the WQED tv13 producer of many programs, including "Things That Aren't There Anymore" and his latest, "A Cemetery Special." In this new column, Rick looks at local culture and history, incorporating his own experiences, some news, local anniversaries and bizarre tidbits of lore.