Casa del Dolce, the New Hyde Park Italian bakery and Casa, is seeking the New Hyde Park Village Board’s approval to construct a larger kitchen facility so the eatery can do all of its baking on site and expand its menu.
Casa del Dolce owner Alexandra Pironi said she received “positive feedback” from the board at its Tuesday night meeting last week on her application for a special-use permit to expand the kitchen facilities at the bakery and Casa at 1200 Jericho Turnpike.
“Right now I do most of the baking here. I’m trying to every aspect of it here,” Pironi said.
The baking ovens are currently situated on the west side of the building. Pironi plans to expand the rear of the building and put the enlarged baking facility there. Some of the baking is currently being done at a separate site in Franklin Square.
Soups were popular when Pironi first opened the bakery and eatery in the fall of 2010. She said she would like to offer them again along with salads, waffles with ice cream and a larger assortment of pastries and cupcakes. She also said she thinks the new baking facility will add to the Casa’s appeal with customers inside her store able to see the bakers at work.
“I think it’ll be nice because everybody will see it. They’ll be able to look inside,” she said. “I think it will be nice for the community.”
The expanded menu resulting from the larger kitchen will be nice for her business, she said.
“I’ll be able to produce more if I have a larger-sized kitchen,” Pironi said.
The business naturally slows down during the summer months, so she’s hoping to do the construction work before the season ends, Pironi said.
Her application must be reviewed by the Nassau County Planning Commission, a process that normally takes 30 days. The application would then be reviewed again by the village board for a final vote on it. Pironi said she hopes to submit final plans, incorporating any revisions suggested by the county planning commission, to the village zoning board of appeals in August.
Village of New Hyde Park Mayor Daniel Petruccio said the board saw no problems with the Casa del Dolce plans and was awaiting the county planning commission’s input before rendering a final decision on the application.
