When you bite into a pastry, cookie or cake from Italian Bakery & Espresso Bar in Flemington, N.J., you are biting into recipes developed during 100 years of family history. Jack Mannino operated a pizzeria when he first came to this country but wanted to return to being a pastry baker, a job he trained for and loved in Sicily.

In 1985 he opened the first Italian Bakery & Espresso Bar at Circle Plaza in Flemington. In 2001 he and son Joseph and daughter Rose moved the bakery to its current location on Reaville Avenue. Jack Mannino passed away in 2003, but the family tradition of making Italian cookies from family recipes using quality ingredients continues with his children.