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.