The Pastry Garden Bakery...

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opened its doors in December of 1984 when Anthony & Stephanie Principe opened a small retail bakeshop, with one salesperson, leased from Adams Fairacre Farms in Arlington, NY. The story though, starts long before the bakery opened.

 

At the age of 12, Stephanie started helping out her father who owned The Greenlane Diner in Bedford Hills. The school bus would drop her and her brother and sisters off every day after school where Stephanie would help in the diner and watch over her siblings. 

 

Stephanie or "Steph", worked her way through many local bakeries from the early age of 14. She spent her days at school and her afternoons scraping pans. After attending college in Boston, and continuing her passion for baking and decorating, Steph met Anthony Principe while working at a local bakery. The two shared the same passion for baking and soon became a team, with Stephanie running the creative side and Anthony or "Tony" running the business side. Soon Steph and Tony were selling Mousse Cakes , Carrot Cakes and Cheescakes to local restaurants and venders out of their home. With their continued success and after 2 1/2 years of working out of their home, Steph told Tony he better find her a bakery! And that he did. 

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The first Pastry Garden Bakery opened in 1984 and Steph and Tony married 2 years later. They opened a few more bakeries in the area, The Pastry Garden in Hopewell was run by Tony's daughter Lori, but after her passing in 2010, Steph and Tony started to consolidate the shops back to one central location as it is known today in the Poughkeepsie Plaza. 

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Tony passed away at the age of 81 on March 9, 2022. Even though he was described by Steph as "the brains, the backbone, the rock" of Pastry Garden, Steph and his family continue on with his legacy. 

 

Today, after 39 years, The Pastry Garden Bakery is known for it's "home grown" traditions, preparing and serving the Hudson Valley's best desserts including gourmet cakes, fancy Italian-style cookies, delicious pastries, and more. 

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