Best Bakery

Little bits of Americana we wish weren't endangered species: Delivered milk. Uniformed gas-station attendants. Dressing up nice when traveling by air. The neighborhood bakery. Luckily, that last one can be easily found in St. Louis, on a tree-canopied corner in Forest Park Southeast. La Dolce Via offers ridiculously friendly service and a ridiculous array of Italian and American baked goods: cinnamon rolls, birthday cakes, tiramisu, zabaglione, Key lime meringue pie.... Of course, everything's made from scratch -- right down to the chocolate syrup used in whipping up over-the-top creations like the Diplomatico, a rum- and coffee-soaked white sponge cake fortified with chocolate mousse inside and chocolate frosting on top. The mother-daughter team of Marcia Sindel and Carly Issitt has been operating La Dolce Via as both a restaurant supplier of breads and desserts and a cutesy café only since 1999, but their hearts are stuck in a more bygone era.