Tag Archives: artisan panettone

Prince Panettone Has The Royal Touch

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Prince Panettone's Triple Chocolate Raspberry flavor.
Prince Panettone’s Triple Chocolate Raspberry flavor.

While working at the fine-dining Honolulu restaurant, Senia, in 2018, C.K. Flannigan had his mind blown.

That was when Mimi Mendoza, the restaurant’s pastry chef, ordered a From Roy panettone from the Bay Area to share with colleagues, and insisted that Flannigan try it.

The exquisite pricey treat ($109) has built a reputation far and wide for its rich, buttery taste and its feathery, cotton candy-like ethereal texture. At a time when most off-the-shelf Italian panettone could be had for $20 to $30, Roy Shvartzapel elevated not only the price, but the standards for the specialty sweet bread. While a staple at Christmas and Easter, he dared to sell it year-round.

Flannigan, who’d spent his time on the savory and bread-making sides of a professional kitchen, was floored from the get-go by the quality of From Roy’s panettone.

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From Roy’s — Or The Story of the $50 Panettone

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From Roy's dark chocolate panettone -- fit for a king or queen.

From Roy’s dark chocolate panettone — fit for a king or queen. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

When I told my husband, who is notoriously frugal (he’d call himself, “cheap”), that I was writing a story about a pastry chef who makes a $50 panettone, he was beside himself.

He rolled his eyes, completely flabbergasted. Who in their right minds, he thought, would pay that much for an Italian Christmas bread that you can get for a song on the shelves at Cost Plus?

Then, I cut him a thick slab of the handmade dark chocolate panettone made by From Roy’s of Richmond. He put a forkful in his mouth. He let out a sigh. Then, he actually said, “OK, I can see paying $50 for this.”

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