Love of Baking Brings Bakery Owners Back from Retirement

Joe Mazzeo wasn't ready for retirement. Not just yet, anyway. But he found that out the hard way – by selling the bakeshop he owned in Commack for 13 years, A&M Bakery, in 2008.

"He wanted to start baking again," said Mazzeo's wife, Lena. "He missed it and had the itch to do it again."

In April, the Mazzeos opened a new shop, Via Dolce Bakery and Cafe, this time in Stony Brook. It's a traditional Italian bakery, with over 20 types of cookies and a variety of pastries and cakes. While they stuck to just-baked goods and brewed coffee at their Commack location, their new menu also includes an espresso bar, breakfast items like egg sandwiches, and lunch items like paninis, salads, and wraps. They have also added free wi-fi to the menu.

"It helps to expand," Lena Mazzeo said. "There's something for everybody."

Food is a family business for Lena Mazzeo, whose family immigrated to the United States from Italy in 1955. Her relatives were in the cooking and baking businesses. When she married Joe Mazzeo, he fell in love with baking, too, and made it his livelihood.

Lena Mazzeo, a Stony Brook University alumna, has always admired the town, so choosing a home for the new cafe was easy. She likes Via Dolce's location because it draws traffic from people traveling through the area.

Even after 13 years of experience, though, starting off in Stony Brook hasn't been easy. They have advertised in local newspapers, church bulletins, and websites, but business is still slower than they'd hoped. Summer, especially August, is typically a bakery's slowest time, Mazzeo said, because so many families travel.

"We hope that word gets out that we're here now [in Stony Brook]," she said."From what I see, I'm optimistic about it."