The national debate over which city or state’s pizza is the best often includes mentions of New Haven’s apizza. But there’s a quieter — and sweeter — debate taking place online over the city's Italian pastry shops. In a Facebook group called “Wooster Square Cooks,” sharing favorite pastry shops — along with pizza places, recipes and food photos — is nothing out of the ordinary for its over 28,000 members. 

When it comes to pastry, the pastry shops of choice among its members stem from sentimentality. For member Anita Sabia Diglio, Lucibello’s Pastry Shop has been a family tradition for over 50 years. “My family has been buying pastries and cookies since before my wedding in 1965 [and we] tried others but [they were] never the same,” she said in an email, noting that she got her Italian cream wedding cake from the bakery.