Royale selection of Italian foods
Greer Wylder
Along Coast Highway in Corona del Mar, there’s an easy-to-miss pizza
and bakery shop that some locals say serves the best Italian baked
goods in town.
Pizza Royale Bake Shoppe in Corona del Mar combines pizza, pastas
and salads with fresh bakery items made from the recipes of owner
Filipo Conte’s hometown of Minturno, Italy. Conte, 54, said Corona
del Mar’s climate and temperature remind him so much of the small
coastal village he grew up in, he never feels homesick.
Conte’s family owned a bakery, and he learned the trade as a young
boy. After his family moved to California in the late 1960s, Conte
opened his first bakery and restaurant in Tustin. After owning a
string of international bakeries that operated inside grocery stores,
Conte opened Pizza Royale in 1987 in Corona del Mar.
Each day Conte bakes his repertoire of time-tested Italian
pastries: cannoli (2.50), sfogliatelle ($2.50), pasticciotti ($2.50),
biscotti ($.75 to $1) and tiramisu ($2.50). Since locals love his
chocolate chip cookies, he bakes those too, along with assorted
Danish ($1.25), coffee cakes ($6.50), Napoleons ($2.50) and chocolate
eclairs ($2.50).
For sandwiches, Conte bakes individual French baguettes.
He also bakes coconut cakes ($17.50), chocolate cakes ($17.50)
and, for the holidays, a nine-inch, deep-dish pumpkin pie ($7.65),
along with cherry ($6.75) and apple pies ($6.75). Special request
cakes and pastries are available with advance notice.
To serve with pastries, Conte offers illy -- a premium Italian
espresso -- and coffee.
Pizza Royale Bake Shoppe, of course, also bakes pizzas -- both
thick- and thin-crust varieties. To accommodate the low-carb craze,
Conte will make ultra-thin pizza crusts not advertised on the menu.
Pizza sizes range from mini ($6.95), small ($11.75), medium
($13.75) and large ($15.95), with thin crusts costing an additional
$1. Specialty pizzas include the Favorite Four (pepperoni, sausage,
black olives and fresh mushrooms), Toscana (olive oil, garlic and
oregano, Italian sausage and rapini) and Touch of Italy (sun-dried
tomatoes, mushroom, olive artichoke hearts, garlic and basil).
The salad selection includes a grilled chicken breast topped with
mozzarella ($6.50); antipasto tirreno with romaine, whole green
olives, gorgonzola and prosciutto ($6.95); and a Caesar with romaine,
parmesan and garlic croutons with anchovies on request ($5.75).
Pizza Royale serves standard pasta dishes including spaghetti with
meatballs ($6.95), fettucini Alfredo ($6.95), lasagna ($6.95) and
ravioli ($6.95). Deli sandwiches include pastrami ($4.95), meatball
($5.50), turkey ($4.95) and submarine ($4.95).
Conte recently spent a quarter-million dollars renovating the
restaurant, installing travertine flooring, floor-to-ceiling windows,
and curved-glass bakery display cases. Corona del Mar congratulated
Conte’s efforts by giving Pizza Royale a city beautification award.
Pizza Royale Bake Shoppe delivers locally for a $2 charge. The
boundaries include Newport Coast, Balboa Island and Eastbluff. It
also offers catering.
* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at
greerwylder@yahoo.com; at 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626;
or by fax at (714) 966-4679.
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