By Jessica Easthope
Like many of the things you see on display at Settepani in Williamsburg, it all starts with a snowfall of flour.
But among the croissants, cookies, and cakes, panettone is their shining star.
Pastry Chef Bilena Settepani is the manager at her family’s bakery.
“We don’t just make it for Christmas, we make it all year round,” Bilena said. “My mom often says that she married my dad for his panettone.”
Her father, owner Nino Settepani, has been making the sweetbread for decades but Bilena brings a modern flavor to the traditional treat, adding Nutella and candy and helping create a panettone Advent calendar.
“Our family is one of the first families to be making panettone artisanally in the United States,” Bilena said. “Panettone doesn’t always have the best reputation and I’m here to change that.”
Their product is nothing like the boxed panettone you can buy at a store. Made with the best ingredients they can get their hands on, producing the Christmas classic isn’t for the faint of heart.
“It takes a lot of tender love and care to make it. It is not for the weak,” Bilena said. “I work right beside my father and our team, it’s a three-day process to make one batch.”
“It doesn’t last a year, it only lasts four to six weeks maximum and when you get it, it’s nice and fresh, it’s moist,” Nino said. “There’s a lot of aroma that comes out.”
It’s clear Nino and Bilena take their baking seriously, but what’s more important to the Divine Mercy parishioners is their faith and how they mix the two together.
“Faith for us is really part of our everyday lifestyle,” Bilena said.“ Giving back to our community and that people are less fortunate is really important to us and we don’t just say that, we mean it with everything that we do.”
Settepani hires from their own community, and has training internships for those in need, helping build skills that will put them on a path toward a brighter future. Donations to churches and hospitals are what keep them going on busy days during the Christmas rush.
“Christmas is the time to give and of course it’s great to receive gifts but to be able to give to someone who needs something is so much more powerful,” Bilena said.
“I feel like that’s the only way to do it because you cannot run a business where you only take,” Nino said. “You have to run a business where you balance and share the love and share the peace that should come with the coming of Christ.”
They bake with precision and control and package with a firm hand, but at Settepani, their panettone is all love.