Alessandro Buono has always loved the delicate sweets of his native Sicily but was never quite an adept baker. Nevertheless, the now heavily tattooed and pierced 22-year-old and his family late last year opened Sciuri Pasticceria e Rosticceria Siciliana just off South Beach's Fifth Street.

It's a compact stark-white space filled with Italian chitchat, the aroma of espresso, and glass cases jammed with Technicolor sweets. Buono's favorite is the cassata ($6) — a supple, juice-soaked sponge cake layered with ricotta cheese and framed by marzipan.