Andrea Zanin, Owner and Chef
Company Mission
The idea of Bianco Latte is that I have a dream to create a brand that is connected with quality. I don’t do it for a number, for the money. Does this reflect immediately the sales? No. But we need to talk about quality. Whatever you eat is what you are. Eating quality things also keeps your body at a certain standard. All these sweet beverages? People here have diabetes at 35-years old. Eat well.
Signature Products
One product I never compromise is my tiramisu. I want to give the real taste of real coffee. I try to bring to New York a real quality espresso and cappuccino. Like all Italians, I cannot start my day without a cappuccino. No matter where I am — Italy, China, Japan, U.S. — I need my cappuccino. One of our commitments is with the espresso. The mixture that we have is Arabica (80) and Robusta (20). The Robusta gives the foam on top and some sweetness to round out the flavor. When you get espresso from Starbucks, there are only two flavors: bitter and acid. That is not an espresso. I continue to tell the American people: Look, we invented the espresso. It is supposed to be sweet, balanced. Sometimes, this country likes the excess and not the balance.
Production Tip
Even though you always maintain quality, you need to respect both the tradition and the local interpretations. For example, we don’t compromise the quality of our croissant, but we have one American vision of the product with American cheese and bacon. Sometimes you need to give the fantastic quality of the food, in this case the croissant, but interpret where you live.
Equipment ‘Must-Haves’
We were the first to have the Faema 71 coffee machine in New York. In 1958, the Faema E 61 changed the world of espresso — the boiler of the milk, the water inside, how it was dripping, so precise. This is the daughter of the 61. That is a $38,000 espresso machine. If you don’t like quality, you buy a $6,000 espresso machine and forget about it. It’s something I’m proud to give the customer. It’s manual, but you can set it to digital. Once upon a time, there was a lever. When the espresso came out, sometimes you had six grams; sometimes 5.8. With this generation, they give you whatever you decide exactly. The blade inside doesn’t warm up the coffee. You set the temperature, the extraction to your specifics.
Secret of Success
You have to love it. So, for the kids, I say if you do this job for the money, don’t do it. You’re gonna hate this job very soon. Before I start to create my own line, I spent 14 hours, 16 hours. Sacrifice is a word I want to stress. Today, the kids come here two, three months and they want to become a chef. Just because you have two or three tattoos, that makes you a chef? I’ve been a chef all my life. I don’t have one tattoo. But still, if you want this job, you have to love it, because it’s going to take your life. Saturday, Sunday, Christmas, all my life. I started in ‘91. To open the second store, I take another nine years.
Future Goals
The future I see now is to become a New York brand, a new vision with a modern bakery. You know, if you can make it here . . .And I believe people understand quality. We want you to forget Starbucks. In 2024, we are going to open two locations. One is Lexington and 79th; one is in Chelsea. We’re going to have a commissary; we’re going to make our croissants and supply our bakeries every day and we’re going to continue to serve the coffee. We were awarded Best Pastry Shop in Italy in 2004. We want the same in New York.
Photos by Caroline Mays
For more info, visit https://www.biancolatte.nyc/
(This article appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)
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