Miss Sicily

Editor's note: As of May 22, 2011, Pasticceria Natalina is now closed.

Culinary school can provide a valuable education, but going door-to-door in Sicily, begging elderly bakers to share their secrets, has its merits too.

Before opening Pasticceria Natalina in Andersonville in 2007, Natalie Zarzour--who grew up in the south suburbs baking with her Italian grandmothers--read pastry textbooks and made pilgrimages to Sicily to learn in tiny pasticcerias (pastry shops) and fornos (bakeries).

The collection of pastries and confections at Pasticceria Natalina is the culmination of these studies, though occasionally she applies a New World twist. The most cult-worthy hybrid is the lobster tail-shaped Coda d'Aragosta ($6.50), a Neapolitan-Sicilian-American pastry that appears only on weekends, in tantalizingly limited quantities.

To make the aragosta, Zarzour fills Neapolitan sfogliatelle pastry (a delicate, layered pastry shell) with ricotta from her Sicilian-style cannoli. Traditional aragosta are filled with custard and whipped cream; this one holds a mixture of Sicilian sheep's-milk ricotta (flown in weekly), cow's-milk ricotta from New York, homemade candied orange and lemon peel, and dark chocolate.

The result is a crackly crust and a fluffy, hedonistically creamy filling. It's the perfect excuse for a weekend trip to Andersonville. But these lobsters are hard to catch: Get there by noon so you can snag one of 20 (or fewer) made each day.

Pasticceria Natalina, 5906 N. Clark St.; 773-989-0662 or p-natalina.com