Every new city we move to offers us a single food item so delicious that we start measuring how much other things cost in terms of that food item.
In Iowa City, it was the chocolate mousse cups made by the New Pioneer Co-op, a dollup of piped chocolate mousse set on a bed of ganache, tucked like a good little kid into a firm pastry shell. It cost $1.99, and it wasn’t long before Adam and I started shunning other desserts in favor of a quick trip to New Pi for two mousse cups. Or sometimes three. We got to know the mousse cup so well that we could tell which day of the week said cup was filled by its taste and texture.
I thought I was going to feel that way about Salem’s Little Cannoli Bakery. I even wrote something of a love letter to the Salem cannoli. but as you must know by now, the bakery has closed down shop in the basement of the Reed Opera House and the baker has moved to a steadier gig at the new French bakery behind French Press on Commercial Street.
Indeed, the Little Cannoli Bakery, during its heyday, offered something better than a mousse cup: A chance to fill your cannoli at home. For anyone who has never experienced the pleasures of filling their own cannoli — and having to make neither the shell nor the filling yourself — all I can compare it to is the sheer childish glee of popping bubble wrap or tearing perforated paper in one quick RRRRIIIPPPPPPP.
Alas, we still have access to cannolis at the new bakery, but we can no longer fill them ourselves. I discovered this recently when I went to pick up four of them to share with some new friends, who just moved to Salem and who had never made it to the cannoli heaven in the basement.
These cannolis come pre-filled.
These cannolis are soggy by dinnertime.
These cannolis might — shake your fist! — not even be filled completely! — leaving a shockingly barren middle that fills me with so much existential dread that I can barely take another bite.
I asked the new bakery about the return of the self-filled cannoli.
“Some things are going to change,” the man told me. “We are a new operation and our baker is still making his cannolis. But we will be filling them ourselves.”
I refuse to pay $3 for a pre-filled cannoli, so for now, my cannoli days in Salem are over.
Think about it: That’s the price of 1.5 chocolate mousse cups…
Perhaps a little grass-roots movement to bring back the option of fill-it-yourself? Picketing outside? Signature gathering? I agree that little option sounds not only nifty neato but really functional, too.
Damn! When I saw that picture and realized it was on the Salem blog, rather than the number of Seattle, Portland and New York blogs on my blogroll, I was ready to get in the car. I can’t quite describe how excited my boyfriend would be.
What a bummer. I loved Little Cannoli Bakery, and their DIY cannoli. Sounds like it’s time to dig out a cannoli recipe??
I will try to make almost anything. But when someone else does it so good… In the marketplace of ideas, this one had currency.
I didn’t know the place downtown had closed; that’s sad. However, my cannoli experience was completely different from yours. From the time I saw whichever Godfather movie it was (“Leave the gun; take the cannoli.”), I always wanted to try one and finally, finally got my chance at Little Cannoli. And I was so disappointed! The cookie part was great, but I was expecting the filling to at least taste “desserty” and it seemed kind of sour/bland. It just wasn’t right; I ate half of mine and gave the other half to my husband. I know you’ve been around (and I don’t mean that in a bad way), so I trust your judgment, which must mean I’m just not a cannoli person. Now I know.
I agree that the take-home cannoli kit was a hit. The cannoli from Little Cannoli were the BEST I have had anywhere, including the Italian neighborhoods of Boston, NYC, and SF! I hope the new bakery will change its mind about pre-filling them. Maybe if enough of us ask nicely . . .
I will pass along these comments to the bakery once they die down. In the meantime, rage on! I’ve been here 9 months and the place is already going to seed
I didn’t realize the cannoli shop had moved… Have you tried La Perla’s tacos upstairs yet?
Yes, we go there often when we want to eat out and don’t want to pay a ton of money. I get the Horchata.