North Miami Beach

Maestro Italian Bakery Opening in North Miami Beach

Guests can expect Italian pastries, focaccia, croissants, cakes, and a traditional coffee program.

Image courtesy of Maestro Italian Bakery.

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL — Maestro Italian Bakery, led by partner Gabriele Bellini and founder and CEO Moreno Brugnoni, is preparing to open at 3067 NE 163rd Road, North Miami Beach, FL 33160. Bellini told Business Debut the team is finalizing licensing requirements and is targeting an opening by the beginning of June.

What to Expect

Maestro Italian Bakery will focus on Italian baked goods made with selected ingredients, including organic, non-GMO flour from a small mill in northern Italy, Bellini told Business Debut.

“The concept of Maestro Italian Bakery is to bring a real authentic experience of Italian baked goods in Miami,” Bellini told Business Debut. “That starts from the ingredients.”

The bakery will offer a rotating display menu, with more sweets and breakfast items in the morning and more savory options later in the day. Bellini said the goal is to recreate the experience of visiting a bakery in Italy, with smaller portions that allow guests to try several items.

The space will be small, with about 12 to 16 seats inside and additional seating outside, Bellini told Business Debut. The interior will feature terracotta, olive green and cream tones and soft music.

Guests can expect pasticcini pastries, along with dry cookies, traditional Italian cakes, croissants, bomboloni, breads, pizza, focaccia, schiacciata and paninis, Bellini told Business Debut.

The cake lineup will include traditional Italian options such as crostata della nonna, crostata di frutta and crostata di marmellata. Croissants will include fillings such as chocolate cream and pistachio cream, with the pistachio cream.

“Our pistachio cream is made with Sicilian pistachios,” Bellini told Business Debut. “They are way more expensive than the California pistachios because the taste is unparalleled.”

The savory side of the menu will include bakery-style lunch items, all made with Italian products.

All creams, including custard, chantilly and chocolate cream, will be handmade, Bellini told Business Debut. He said the bakery will also use selected eggs, including free-range eggs, as part of its focus on raw materials.

Coffee

Coffee will be a central part of the experience. Bellini told Business Debut the team spent about a month and a half researching coffee before partnering with Lavazza.

The coffee menu will include espresso, double espresso, cappuccino, mochaccino and Americanos. Almond milk and oat milk will also be available.

Bellini said the coffee program will stay close to the Italian style, without heavy creams, caramel syrups or similar additions.

Background and Partners

Brugnoni brings 35 years of experience to Maestro Italian Bakery, Bellini told Business Debut. He began working in his family’s baking business as a child before training with several prominent bakers in Italy, including Iginio Massari, who Bellini described as one of Italy’s most decorated pastry chefs.

Bellini said Brugnoni has been recognized among the top 10 pastry chefs in Florida and holds three Cornetti from Gambero Rosso, which Bellini described as the pastry-world equivalent of Michelin stars in Italy.

“Moreno is the best,” Bellini told Business Debut. “Whatever he’s producing is crazy. Everything he produces is just unique.”

Maestro Italian Bakery has three partners: Brugnoni, Bellini and Gabriele Guerrini. Bellini told Business Debut that Brugnoni and Guerrini knew each other as children and reconnected in the United States.

“Moreno is the head, the hands, the mind to this,” Bellini told Business Debut.

Opening Timeline

Maestro Italian Bakery is targeting an opening by the beginning of June, Bellini told Business Debut.

Hours

Maestro Italian Bakery plans to open seven days a week from 7 a.m. — 7:30 p.m., Bellini told Business Debut.

Bellini said the hours are designed to support the Italian bakery experience throughout the day, from morning coffee and breakfast to an evening aperitif with drinks such as an Aperol spritz, Campari spritz or glass of wine paired with food.

Alcohol will be added once they obtain their wine and beer license.