On a quiet Friday afternoon recently, Dhanya Iadarola walked into Alfonso’s Pastry Shoppe looking for some bread. Ms. Iadarola, 33, was with her parents, Roxy and Anne Fernando, and her 14-month-old daughter, Carmela Iadarola. They came in to pick up a loaf after an errand brought them to the old neighborhood, where Ms. Iadarola grew up.

Bread secured, they walked around the small shop, which is tucked into a stretch of strip malls on the North Shore of Staten Island, marveling at how little had changed. Mr. Fernando raised his hand up to just above his hip to show how little his daughter was when they use to come to Alfonso’s. The family was delighted to find the chocolate mousse cake they use to get for Dhanya’s birthdays.