Jake Gabbard

Of the nearly 750,000 restaurants across the United States, only one can claim it started it all. Founded in 1837, Delmonico's isn't just a restaurant, it's a living piece of American culinary history. Its legacy includes inventing iconic dishes like eggs Benedict, lobster Newberg, and baked Alaska and serving legends like Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla. But how is this iconic restaurant evolving while holding onto its 190-year-old legacy?

Fortunato Brothers Bakery has been hand-making cannolis, cookies, and sfogliatelle in Brooklyn since 1976, using the same recipes the founders brought from Naples, Italy. On a busy day, the team produces up to 7,500 cannolis or 9,000 cookies, all while sticking to old-school techniques that haven't changed in decades. Between $90,000 annual insurance policies, $70,000 ovens breaking, and ingredient costs that swing without warning, keeping a 50-year-old bakery alive in New York is a daily fight.