.Sweet Emotion

By Andrew Steingrube

Working in the Bay Area five years ago as both a pastry and savory chef, Crescenzo Pelliccia says he had several ideas to which his bosses didn’t listen. Being laid off when the pandemic hit became the inspiration he needed to go into business for himself and execute his own vision, opening Emozioni Pasticceria& Rosticceria four years ago.

Born in Naples, Italy, and having lived in Rome, Tuscany and Switzerland, he grew up in the restaurant industry and went to culinary school. He eventually settled in Santa Cruz, a place he says, “Even coming from the other side of the Earth, feels like home.” Primarily featuring southern Italian pastries, Emozioni’s downtown Soquel location offers counter-service with available on-site dining amidst a simple and clean white-walled ambiance, accented by plants and paintings, intentionally “an Italian café in America.”

The menu is headlined by cake favorites like the Pistachio Tiramisu, Baba Rum, and the Burnt Almond, a custard layered sponge cake with Amaretto cookie crumble and Italian torched meringue reminiscent of marshmallow. And there’s the savory Pizza Parigina, a literal pizza pie with Italian ham, provolone cheese and light tomato puff pastry top.

Delve into your passion for pastry?

CRESCENZO PELLICCIA: I consider myself a food chemist, I really like to balance out the nutritional qualities of food and I love being able to use all different kinds of flours and sugars. I really channel my artistic perspective that I’ve had since childhood and really express myself through my food. And pastry has a lot of rules, but also not, and you can do so many different things. The only limit really is my own creativity.

What does the future hold for Emozioni?

CP: People have been really enjoying our concept and food, so we want to offer more. We hope to expand our menu, especially our lunchtime savory items and we are working on getting our beer/wine license to pair with our great food. We are also renovating our enclosed courtyard patio to make it more beautiful and winter-friendly. It is so peaceful out there, it’s very private and gets sun all day and we continue to improve its ambiance.

2841 Porter St., Suite B, Soquel, 831-334-6820.