Fiorello Dolce in Huntington goes all in for Halloween

You could say it’s Halloween all year long at Fiorello Dolce in Huntington. Gerard Fioravanti and Steven Marinello opened the bakery in 2006 and, before too long, they realized that they, their staff and their customers were occasionally joined by another group of beings: the spirits of Huntington residents who had met untimely ends in the immediate neighborhood.

One day, alone in the bakery, Fioravanti heard his name yelled as he exited the walk-in. A few months later, he said he was baking blueberry muffins and saw “a white figure” go around a corner. After that, unexplained sounds, sights and moving objects became commonplace. Fioravanti was even able to document some of it on the bakery’s security cameras. Over the years, mediums have been able to identify the spirits; the bakery’s living and undead populations coexist peaceably.

Adding Fioravanti’s training as a French patissier to his appreciation for the spectral ensures that Fiorello Dolce always bakes some serious treats for Halloween. This year there are “ghost” éclairs ($4.25 for large, $1.95 for small), bandaged “mummy” tarts with bloodshot eyes (and filled with raspberries and chocolate, $6.25), large black-and-orange cookies ($3.75) and individual cakes, including chocolate graves topped by a tombstone ($6.95). 

This year also marks the publication of Fioravanti’s book, “The Baker’s Ghost: A Mystery Baked to Perfection.” Back in 2017, he was laid up with a back injury and, he recalled, “I had nothing to do and I thought I’d take all these ghostly occurrences and put pen to paper, maybe write a cookbook.”

And now the story gets really scary: He spent years going back and forth with literary agents. "Not enough recipes, said one. “Too many recipes — write more story” said another. “Too scary,” said yet another. None of them felt comfortable with a nonfiction book that recounted his experiences. “To the literary world, the whole idea of ghosts is fiction,” he noted.

Then too, the mediums were in agreement that a nonfiction account was risky. Some stories, they warned, should stay buried.

So Fioravanti turned his experiences into a self-published novel in which one of his pastry chefs is stalked by the murderer of one of the ghosts. The book includes about 10 recipes and is available at the bakery, through Amazon and at The Next Chapter (204 New York Ave., Huntington), where there will be a book signing on Friday, Oct. 13 (of course) at 7 p.m.

Fiorello Dolce, 57 Wall St., Huntington, 631-424-0803, fiorellodolce.com