Fans of Vesuvio Bakery’s pillowy-soft Italian pastries now have a new savory treat to try as the brand’s Hell’s Kitchen outpost expands to include pizza, pasta, small plates, beer and wine in a speakeasy-style upstairs cafe.
The SoHo-born bakery, run since 2019 by restaurateur Adam Block (also of the late, great PRINT and The Press Lounge), opened a Hell’s Kitchen location in October 2022 at the site of a former FIKA headquarters at 824 10th Avenue (between W54/55th St). After a successful initial run, Block, eager to transform the upstairs “loft”, turned to his PRINT colleague Chef Aaron Tomczak with an idea. “[Aaron], who is, I think, incredibly talented, has a lot of roots in Italian food and has always done amazing pastas,” said Adam. “I walked up to him and said, ‘So, what do you know about pizza?’ And he said: ‘Well, it’s funny you bring this up, because my brother happens to be a pizza aficionado who travels around the country setting up pizzerias.’”
Aaron, a longtime New York City-based chef whose career has spanned a range of cuisine from Italian to Spanish to New American farm-to-table, told W42ST that bringing his brother Louis in was an unexpected and fortuitous meeting of their parallel careers. “I went to culinary school right out of high school. I’ve been working in the industry for about 14 years now. My brother originally went to business school out of high school, but then when he moved up to New York, ended up working at pizzerias as a side gig,” he said. “But he fell in love with it.”
Louis ended up working on the teams at notable pizzerias like Brooklyn’s Paulie Gee’s and the now nationally known Emmy Squared, where along the way he became an expert on “pizza, dough hydration, flour and everything that goes beyond my awareness,” said Adam. Louis and Aaron developed a few test pizzas for Adam to try using the bakery’s in-house ovens, “And I was like, ‘This is amazing,’” Adam said.
They eventually expanded the concept to include Aaron’s signature fresh-made pastas like spaghetti carbonara, and seafood-influenced small plates inspired by his time at the tapas bar Casa Mono as well as the Tomczak brothers’ summers spent working on the shores of Long Beach Island, New Jersey. The pizza is Neapolitan style, “but we’re having fun with it,” said Aaron, pointing to the pie’s slightly thicker New York-style crust and creative flavor combinations such as an everything bagel pizza.
“We’re not trying to be purists,” he added. “We’re just trying to have things that we want to eat and things that we think people will have fun eating.”
A fun, convivial atmosphere is the goal, said Adam, who explained that the design and green color scheme of Vesuvio’s upstairs cafe is meant both to summon the signature design touches of the original downtown bakery but also to conjure up a stylish-yet-welcoming “speakeasy” atmosphere for locals to pop by and relax. “I wanted to make something that was interesting to the neighborhood,” said Adam. “I wanted to do something that was approachable but good, and that was casual but wasn’t too casual.”
The shift in diner preferences is something that Adam has picked up on after having to close both PRINT and the Press Lounge earlier this year, citing rising operating costs, a fundamental change in office culture and a lack of foot traffic on 11th Avenue. “That’s what pushed me in the direction of [Vesuvio as a cafe],” he said. “It would be an all-day operation that’s price approachable, that provides a level of service people want, but not so stuffy that they can’t use it every day. And one thing people do at least once a week is get pizza.”
He hopes that locals will embrace Vesuvio’s pizza and pasta offerings as a high-quality takeout option as well as a friendly sit-down scene that doesn’t require battling bots to snag a reservation (the Vesuvio cafe is currently walk-in only). “I’m not looking for the entire city to come, even though they can — they’re welcome too!” said Adam.
“I was really focused on the five city blocks radius from us, because there’s a need in that five-block radius for this type of operation,” he added. “There is too much limitation in dining, and I want to take it off. — I want people to feel the freedom of the impulse again, the ability to just go out when they want to go out and have no conditions except that you have to be old enough to drink if you order beer and wine — beyond that, it’s welcome for kids!”
They like “the idea of it being local — locals understand what’s in their neighborhood. It’s why I like the speakeasy element of going upstairs — it’s a secret that only the locals know, although we’re trying to let the secret out!” he added.
Aaron agrees. “For me, coming from PRINT, where it was a hotel restaurant, it was great to meet new people and the hotel staff is amazing — but I really missed that neighborhood vibe, being able to see the same people come back and get to know the neighborhood as the people that live there.”
And after just a week of launching their soft open, Hell’s Kitchen locals have already shown their enthusiasm, Adam added. “I’m so pleased with how it came out,” he said. “It feels like a restaurant that’s been there — it’s already got soul in it.”
Vesuvio Bakery at 824 10th Avenue (between W54/55th St) is open from 7am-10pm daily. Dinner service is from 5pm. More details at vesuvio-bakery.com
Great food! Beautiful space!
Looks awesome! That pizza looks perfect! Is there a way for me & my wheelchair to get upstairs?
Whooo hoooo! I’ve been waiting months for them to re-open. Can’t wait to check out the new menu!
Very pretty space. Good service
Good food but the pizza and pasta were not hot, only lukewarm
There was a small piece of plastic in the pasta 🙁
Will give it another try