Woman Runs Elise's Niece's Cafe In Aunt's Memory

FARMINGDALE, NY — The memory and baking skills of a beloved aunt are living on at a cozy cafe.

Jenna Napolitano, 26, opened Elise's Niece's Cafe in the rear of her parents' store, Back In Time, at 441 Main St., Farmingdale, in June 2021. She serves a variety of baked sweets.

Napolitano and her Aunt Elise often baked together over the years, whether collaborating on a holiday dessert or sending photos to one another of treats they had crafted.

"It was very therapeutic to me," Napolitano told Patch. "I always loved watching her. She was very relaxing."

When Napolitano and her family lost Elise because of melanoma cancer a couple of years ago, Napolitano went to her uncle to inherit Elise's recipes.

"I started baking a lot of her recipes in the meantime to fill the void and help everyone get through it," she said.

Napolitano had a clear schedule after she lost her job at Kate Spade in New York City because of the coronavirus pandemic. While baking for her family, she decided to start sharing her food with others, too. Napolitano sold small boxes of her confections in her parents' vintage home goods store for a couple of months, but her mother and sister soon suggested she invest in the shop with them and open a cafe.

"I don’t know why I didn’t even think about it, which is very unlike me," Napolitano said. "I’m glad I didn’t because I think I would’ve freaked myself out, because it’s a scary jump.

Napolitano said she felt a push from her late aunt to run the cafe. Armed with years of cooking and baking for Sunday family dinners and a wealth of knowledge imparted by Aunt Elise, Napolitano opened Elise's Niece's Cafe in June 2021.

The family hired a contractor to build the cafe space in what was an empty parking lot behind the antique shop, and shortly after, Napolitano was in business.

She has since crafted a menu of staples and rotating sweets. Her specialties include coconut cake, rainbow cookies, strawberry pastries made in the shape of pop tarts, chocolate chip cookies, linzer tarts, brownies and crumb cake.

The shop's motto is "Take A Break While I Bake." Each box of goodies is stamped with the shop's logo: A drawing of Aunt Elise herself.

"It’s so sad that my aunt’s not here to see it," Napolitano said. "I feel so much of her energy in the store. I feel her presence so much in myself and in [the cafe]."

While the cafe was born from love, logistics presented major hurdles for Napolitano to leap over as she struggled to bring it to life. With each purchase for the store came hesitation.

"I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, did I make the right decision?’ My savings account was whooshing away in front of me," Napolitano said.

Napolitano found herself leaning on her parents for advice, as they were also new to entrepreneurship when they opened Back In Time. The family had each other for banter during the slow days, and Napolitano found herself learning new things on a daily basis.

That will to learn and the passion for baking delicious sweets are what Aunt Elise embodied for Napolitano. Those facets have given life to a little cafe in Farmingdale Village where people can gather for a cup of coffee and a cookie while sitting near a fire pit.

"I’m really grateful for the customers I’ve had," Napolitano said. "It’s not an easy spot to find. I’ve had great customers who come back. So many nice people have reached out to me to tell me they like my story. Like, who takes time out of their day to message me and say ‘thank you’ or ‘good luck’? It’s just so nice. That makes all the stressful days whoosh away. It’s so rewarding, so I feel really lucky.”

Elise's Niece's Cafe is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

More photos: