A year after leaving Live Oak, Italian bakery Emozioni opens in Soquel Village

Soquel Village just got a little sweeter. Emozioni Pasticceria, a bakery specializing in traditional Italian pastries, opened on Porter Avenue on March 22 with a menu of high-end, decadent desserts, plus slices of Neapolitan pizza.   

I ducked into the shop during a rare break from the rain a few days after it opened. The entrance is located off of the courtyard behind Soquel Drive, and co-owners Michele Tartaglia and chef Crescenzo Pelliccia plan to add bistro tables once the weather warms up. Inside, Tartaglia greets guests next to a case filled with plump, rum-soaked babà, crisp mille-feuille filled with layers of pastry cream, glossy chocolate-glazed éclairs and shining, domed chocolate bombs – all picture-perfect and ready to grace the cover of any high-end food magazine. 

There’s a window from the shop to the kitchen in the next room. Inside, Pelliccia is in constant motion. He cracks eggs by hand, then whisks in sugar while checking the temperature on a gentle simmering pot of milk. The aroma of vanilla fills the air as he combines his ingredients and a silky custard begins to form. He is committed to using the best whole ingredients in his pastries – real butter, cream and eggs – and tweaks the flavors to reflect the current season.

Pelliccia was born in Naples, Italy, and studied culinary arts there for five years before fine-tuning his pastry skills in Tuscany and Switzerland. He immigrated to Santa Cruz in 2014, but remains dedicated to the flavors of his hometown. 

Italian patisserie was heavily influenced by France, Pelliccia explains, and shares some of the same components like choux pastry, puff pastry and custard. “But at the same time, in Napoli, we make it ours,” says Pelliccia. “That’s our goal, too. We want to present something Italian other than tiramisu and panna cotta, or something really delicious that people don’t really know.” 

It’s early days for the storefront, and Tartaglia and Pelliccia have a lot of plans in the pipeline, including Italian coffee, an expanded menu of pastries, desserts to order, breakfast and savory items, bread and a market with Italian products. They’re also discussing a possible partnership with the owners of Melamore, an Italian cafe at Love Apple Farm in Scotts Valley, although nothing has firmed up yet. 

But Pelliccia and Tartaglia are excited to have a brick-and-mortar location for customers to visit once again. Pelliccia originally opened Emozioni, which means “emotions” in Italian, inside Lago di Como restaurant in Live Oak in February 2021. He quickly earned fans for his well-crafted fine patisserie and traditional Neapolitan desserts rarely seen in the Santa Cruz area, like pastiera Napoletana, an Easter cake made with wheat berries and ricotta. 

Pelliccia partnered with Tartaglia at the end of 2022, and, in March, when Lago di Como underwent a major remodel, the two relocated the shop to a shared commercial kitchen in San Jose and expanded their catering services while sussing out their next move. 

Now, Emozioni is glad to have a retail shop and hopes to grow organically with the local community. “It’s a slow rollout, but we’re just trying to let people know that we’re here and give them some good stuff to try,” says Tartaglia. “Soon we’ll have five or six tables outside, maybe some benches along the windows, and have a lovely little cafe space for people to hang out and enjoy.”

2841 Porter St., Suite B, Soquel; 831-334-6820.