Five Years Later, Dolce Delight Going Strong
Click here for our audio slideshow, featuring Dolce Delight owner, Maria Cacciotti Salino!
Maria Cacciotti Salino wants to make you feel at home. When she opened Dolce Delight in August 2008 in the middle of an economic crisis, she was more concerned about making her customers feel welcome than about the looming economic crisis. Customers visiting smell freshly baked goods, hear oldies music played on her radio and see the open layout of her baking kitchen.
Salino is no stranger to food or running a business. Her family has a long line of small business owners, including Italian Carry Out on Danby Road in Ithaca, just next door to Dolce Delight. Some 916 local businesses, including Dolce Delight, opened in Tompkins County between January 2008 and December 2009, however the records in the Tompkins County Clerk’s Office do not indicate which of those businesses are still currently operating.
Although it is unclear how many businesses in Tompkins County survived the 2007-2009 recession, Salino said it is clear that the even without a sign, Dolce Delight still attracts commuters not only from Ithaca but Lansing, Dryden and Spencer.
Since opening, the business has worked with local proprietors, including Purity Ice Cream, Keuka Coffee and Ithaca Beer, among others, to incorporate their products in the bakery.
Dolce Delight, has risen just like the pastries that are baked there. The business started with only small toaster ovens, and Salino says the staff completed a Thanksgiving order with two of them. Dolce Delight has had a bit of an upgrade since then, but Salino still hopes to add more commercial appliances to the kitchen.
While she’s not at that point yet, Salino has gotten requests to expand and open more stores on the Commons and even as far as Lansing or Dryden. Salino says, “You have to have one business 100 percent in control before you can go do that.”
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Alexandra Leslie and Ryan Myers are senior Journalism majors at Ithaca College. You can email them at adleslie13@gmail.com and ryanspam560@gmail.com.
Alexandra Leslie 