Gina's Bakery: Return To Quality

Lemon Ice Cake

Gina's Bakery is pleased to present a new addition to our menu: Our lemon ice bundt cake. This beautifully textured round cake features plenty of fresh lemon zest and a delicate balance of lemony sweetness. Not too sweet, not too tart. Excellent eaten warm, room temperature, or cold, it serves 6 - 8 people (depending on how thick you like your slices!).

Gina's Best of New Jersey

This delectable treat is Gene's brain child - yet another way Gina's Bakery differentiates itself from the competition.

Come in and try a slice and find out why New Jersey Monthly selected Gina's Bakery as one of the Best of New Jersey!

Pain au Chocolat

Have you had a chance to try our delicious Pain au Chocolat? 

Made with the finest European butter and imported chocolate sticks, we think they're flaky perfection.  We fold the dough over 20 times and then form them individually by hand. 

Enjoy one for breakfast with a cup of coffee and you'd swear you're in Paris!

We'd love to hear from you!

Hello Gina's afficionados! We're so thankful for our great customers, and we know you always have a lot to say about our little bakery - and now we have a place for you to say it.

Please feel free to post as many comments as you want about our breads, cakes, pies, cookies, brownies, croissants, and any other treats you've had in the past or want to try in the future.  Both the Gina's staff and other customers are interested in what you have to say.

Thanks and happy posting,

Eugene Walters
Owner Operator

Gina's Makes The Star-Ledger's 25 top tastes of New Jersey

 

25 top tastes of New Jersey

BY BROOKE M. TARABOUR
FOR THE STAR-LEDGER

Gina's Bakery
110 Walnut St., Montclair
(973) 233-1010

Once inside this charming little yellow shop on Walnut Street, you'll find a small, but intriguing selection of uncommon breads, pastries and pies.

Owner Eugene Walters baked at New York's renowned Amy's Breads for a few years before buying Gina's in August 2000, and his quirky take on some of Amy's classic recipes -- along with a few of his own -- are really worth the trip. I love the traditional Mexican pan de muerto, round bread dusted with sugar that's sort of a cross between brioche and babka. His rye bread is the real deal; if you loved the strong stuff you found in neighborhood bakeries in places like Brooklyn and Newark as a kid, this is for you.

If you're craving dessert, there are some good choices at Gina's, like a stellar rugelach, plum upside-down cake or special occasion cakes made with delicious, creamy, European-style butter cream. They're all worth trying.

However, the real news at Gina's is the pies. I brought a mixed berry pie to friends who really know good food, and they judged it to be "The best. Ever." All of Walters' pies are made from fresh fruit, so the selection varies with the season, but his towering, lattice-crusted apple pies made with three pounds of apples are always available. Feel free to talk to Walters about his baking; he is so enthusiastic, it's contagious. There are always samples of bread and pastries out on the counter, and you're encouraged to try a little of this, a little of that. Be careful, though: It leads to buying a lot of this, and a lot of that.

Baristanet Reviews of Gina's Bakery

The best bread I've come across - ever. The only problem with this place is that when you walk into the store the aroma is so heavenly that you're gonna walk out with a lot more that you originally planned.

 

Try the multi-seed, it's whole wheat on steroids. Get the pan brioche, slice it yourself at home & make french toast - you'll die!

 

The people at Gina's are really nice & they obviously care about what they're doing.

Posted by Greg Spinell  January 9, 2006 10:27 PM

Best Bakery in Montclair!  Scones and pies are to die for!

Posted by C D Kreps  February 22, 2006  2:21 PM

 

I don't think anyone can bake better anything than they do. I'd bet they could take on the best breadmaker or pastry chef this side of the Himalayas. If you want real bread, the way it's supposed to taste, then get the multigrain loaf. No sugar, but tons of seeds, grains, and the best carbohydrates your body could ever ask for. Don't walk in there hungry. If you do, get a walnut raisin roll while you wait. Don't bother with butter, it takes too long to get into your mouth.

Posted by Bobby Janow  March 22, 2006  8:08 PM

 

Today I stopped by Gino's and they are now baking their own croissants! I got a taste -- and definitely the best I've had since moving to Montclair!

I am totally smitten with the Almond Brioche though!

JS

Posted by js   March 23, 2006  6:15 PM

 

They have a semolina bread wih apricots, cranberries and fennel seed - amazing. I also had a plum upside down cake that was spectacular. And the almond brioche... this place is a gem.

Posted by Angela Greene March 24, 2006  5:36 PM

 

All their pies are to die for. Their key lime is amazing from curd to crust. We also love their jalapeno corn muffins and ruggelah. Best bakery in town.

Posted by Essex Mom  January 5, 2007 11:44 AM

 

Gina's really is amazing.  They are better than any New York or Parisian bakery!

Posted by Rexem  November 13, 2007  2:34 PM

 

Please feel free to post your comments on Baristanet, a leader in both hyperlocal blogging and the online citizen journalism movement.

If you are already registered, post your comments about our bakery at http://www.baristanet.com/food/2005/04/ginas_panificio.php or if you're not registered? Click Here to register.

 

New York Times Mentions Gina's

Fran Schumer, food guru of the New York Times says, "The best loaves I've eaten recently are at Gina's Panificio in Montclair"! 

Although we've changed the name to Gina's Bakery the delicious baked goods remain the same.  Come try some of our loaves yourself and see why Fran says they're the best :)

New York Times Review of Montclair Restarant Mentions Gina's "Excellent Bread"

In a recent article about an exciting new restaurant named Passionné entitled "In a Crowded Field, Newcomer Holds Its Own," New York Times reviewer David Corcoran reserved special praise for Gina's "excellent whole-grain bread."

Read the full New York Times review of Passionné here.

The Star-Ledger Summer 2007's hot spots

A summer of good eating

Peter Genovese blogs about the best eats in New Jersey while travelling in the Munchmobile.

Peter's summer 2007's hot spots included...

"Gina's Panificio, 110 Walnut St., Montclair; (973) 233-1010. Tiny bakery offered some big hits, including the oatmeal raisin cookies and chocolate-covered strawberries."

and fellow Munchmobile participant Lea O'Shea comments:

Our first stop was Gina's Panificio in Montclair. Our first assortment was "choc" full of goodies, including several types of cookies and brownies. The best of the bunch was the double-chocolate cookies where you could really taste the flavors. Then, out of nowhere - someone handed me a sliver of a chocolate croissant. That was it for me! The creamy chocolatey center in combination with the fresh flaky bread made the perfect "I swear this is breakfast" flavor! It was a perfect ending to our Montclair experience and left me with a "good" taste in my mouth.

Check out the video of the Munchmobile's visit to Gina's Bakery. 

Muncher Lisa Mason is featured in the video and she says:

Chocolate-covered strawberries - they were mouth watering! Fresh strawberries and delicious chocolate. Couldn't really talk while Peter had the camera on me and my mouth was full!

Chocolate croissant - If you had to justify eating chocolate for breakfast, this is the way to go... buttery, flaky, soft, all-round perfect blend of taste and textures! YUMMY!!!

Oatmeal raisin Cookie - cookies were full of cinnamon flavor and just enough chewiness (if that is a word).

As we entered the bakery you could just get lost in the delicious smells of all the breads, cookies, and other pastries being made. It was a cute little place where you could grab a little snack and eat it outside.