History
Our History
The Gruttadauria family has a long history serving desserts for over a century.
The First generation
The Gruttadauria family has a long history of making Italian desserts, spanning over 100 years, and 4 generations. Our family’s traditions and recipes have gone unchanged and held up with each generation. Originating from Caltanissetta, Sicily, where our founder, Salvatore Gruttadauria, was born. Leaving his homeland, he set out for America with a book full of recipes and a a plan to open up his own Italian bakery. Coming through Ellis Island, he planned his way to Chicago for the American dream but decided to stop in Rochester, NY to visit friends and decided to stay. A year later he opened our first bakery in 1914 right away he was well known in town for his amazing cannoli’s! A recipe we still use to this day! located in downtown Rochester, NY. It wasn’t long before Salvatore met the love of his life and married Josephine Mangione. Soon after they had children, Michaelina (Lee), Salvatore Jr. (Sam) and Helen.
The Second Generation
Being a tight-knit family, everyone baked and worked in the family business making sweets and selling our signature Italian Rum Cake a sponge cake layered with a citrus cream soaking in a sweet rum syrup!
In the 1940’s, Salvatore Sr. ill from fighting in WWI, passed on the responsibility of the bakery to his son, Sam, and daughters. Salvatore Jr., known by all as Sam, ran the bakery for over 50 years with his wife Ann. They had four kids, Sam Jr., Charles, Steven, and Mark.
The Third generation
All of Sam’s sons worked in the bakery, each specializing in different aspects of the bakery and becoming the staple place to get your Italian cookies with over 40 different varieties! throughout the years. In addition to the bakery, the Gruttadauria family hosted the La Fiera Italian festival one of the largest cultural festivals in NYS. In 2004, after 90 years in downtown Rochester, Stephen and Mark moved the bakery to the town of Greece, a suburb of Rochester, where Mark and his wife, Linda, and their children, Dominic and Michael worked with them.
The Fourth generation
With the fourth generation came new ideas and new opportunities. Growing up in the family business Dominic and Michael learned the trade. In 2014 Michael went to Florence, Italy to study baking and pastry for a year. In 2018, after vacationing in California, they fell in love with the Temecula area and saw an opportunity to be able to move the business out west. In June of 2018, Michael moved out to Temecula, CA to open a separate location. In January of 2019, Mark, Linda and Dominic decided to close the bakery in Rochester and come out west to join Michael. Now located in Temecula, California, the current bakery is named Gruttadauria’s 1914 Bakery in honor of the year we were established and the 100+ years our family has been making bakes goods for your customers!
