Pane e Latte

The marble counter, and what sits on it

A long marble counter runs through the room with breads, pastries and cakes laid out along it, and that is the correct way to read Pane e Latte: bakery first, restaurant second. Bomboloni and gelato are the core orders, and the pastry case also carries a wild berry croissant, crisp-shelled and filled with a rich berry sauce and soft cream cheese, which is sold as part of a coffee set with a creamy coffee.

Drinks are built to sit beside the bakes rather than compete with them. Foam cold brew comes into its own in the afternoon, cream-topped coffee is the pairing for pastry, and tea belongs to the afternoon tea service. Past the case, the kitchen runs a full Italian menu across the day, with bread pudding among the dishes the room is known for.

Bread and milk, on the Stanley waterfront

The name translates as bread and milk, which fits a venue built on baked goods, dairy-forward comfort and Italian food served from breakfast through dinner. The reference point is the Amalfi Coast, so the room is meant to feel sunlit and unhurried: gauze curtains, vintage ceiling fans, a retro domestic look, and Stanley’s coastal pace outside.

It is a Pirata Group project, which is why it reads as a bakery with a restaurant attached rather than a café bolted onto a dining room. The group behind Pici and The Pizza Project moved here into a bakery-first format when the venue opened in April 2021, with a public launch that July, and the result works equally as a quick stop at the counter or a full meal at a table.

Order the bomboloni, then gelato

Start with the bomboloni, because they express the bakery side most directly, then move to gelato, which is the other essential order and the better choice if the visit is built around dessert rather than a meal. Between them they cover what the counter does best.

If you want the café version of the experience, the wild berry croissant and coffee set is the most specific pairing on the menu: crisp pastry, wild berry sauce, cream cheese and a creamy coffee. For a longer visit, the Italian afternoon tea set opens another route through the kitchen, with sweet and savoury Italian bites, chocolate-flavoured crispy waffles, gelato and foam cold brew. Later in the day an aperitivo menu for parents and children keeps the room in use into the evening.