The first thing King Umberto’s Luca Cascella wants you to know about his panettone — all panettone — is that it is a bread, not a cake.

In Italy, there is no exact equivalent for the word "bakery." You are either referring to a shop that specializes in yeast breads, a panetteria (or panificio ), or a shop that specializes in pastries and cakes, a pasticceria .

Cascella, who studied bread baking at Italy’s prestigious ALMA International School of Italian Cooking near Parma, is very firmly in the former camp. And, over the last few months, he has been helping Giovanni Cesarano, King Umberto’s partner-pizzaiolo, to establish a world-class panetteria within the 49-year-old Elmont pizzeria-restaurant.

They use a lievito madre (sourdough starter) to give the dough structure and flav

See Full Page