There is a memory Maria Natale has of when she was younger, and her dad would take her to get a bomboli or sfogliatelle or another Italian pastry from a coffee shop in New Jersey. Even now, decades later, the 38-year-old need simply bite into one of those delectable treats and she is transported to her youth and filled with joy.

That feeling of, and perhaps quest for, delightful nostalgia is what led Natale to open her own pastry shop. Natale, who also works fulltime as a health technician with St. Francis, opened Gio’s Pastry Shop at 218 A S. Main St., in Fountain Inn Jan. 23. The shop is a family affair, with Natale’s brother, sister, nieces and parents all chipping in to help.