The People Along the Way. . .Franco

Image by Vidiot via Flickr

I have shared with you many of the places we visited on our recent vacation, and even many of the things we ate along the way -- I would love a piece of that Red Velvet Cheesecake from Rocco's pastry shop right this moment!

I thought I'd like to share with you some of the people we met.

One of the people who stand out in my mind is Franco from Pasticceria Rocco.

Rocco's is the most incredible pastry shop I have ever visited. On our second visit there, we sat at the table by the front windows. In the window was a case of cookies and brownies. The glass doors of the case were directly behind my chair and as the employees of Rocco's would scoot behind me to remove items from the case, often they would not close the doors. What a temptation it was to slip my hand in there for one of those brownies!

We watched the hustle and bustle in the shop and marveled at the constant stream of customers in and out, even though one person behind the counter said they were having a "slow day". At one point, one of the customers directed his comment to an older looking gentleman behind the counter. "Hey, Rocco," he began.

Quietly and without apparent indignation, Franco said, "My name's Franco, not Rocco."

A few minutes later, Franco came to retrieve a goodie from the cookie case. I joked with him that I was tempted to help myself. "Go ahead! And if I see you do it, I won't say anything."

Something about the way Franco took to being called by the wrong name with grace, and wasn't offended by my joke about pilfering the brownies, really endeared him to me. He is definitely on my list of people in New York to remember.

By the way, I didn't take any of the brownies.

You can find the Pasticceria Rocco on Facebook.