Comments (0) Best Desserts - 2010

Mona Lisa Coal Oven Pizza

Many a wiseguy has killed for a cannoli. And judging by the dozens of photos of axed mobsters that adorn Mona Lisa's red brick walls, here's where they come to collect. They utter their last words (likely "fuhgeddaboudit") as they eat dense pastry shells piped with cinnamon-enhanced ricotta. They make amends for their sins as their lips touch orange-scented sfogliatelle one final time. But one penultimate trip is not enough to savor all the selections, every last bit of them made in-house, including the tiramisu and rainbow-colored Napoleon cookies filled with fruity jam. The place has been around for more than 80 years, beginning as a humble bread shop in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. These days, the South Florida leg continues the family tradition of making pastries (and pizzas) to die for.