Holy Cannoli

When you’ve spent 45 years in the grocery business, it must be difficult to pick a favorite food.

However, for John Alfano, president of Doris Italian Market & Bakery, the answer comes easy. The 59-year-old longtime Coral Springs resident loves Doris Market’s homemade provolone cheese and parsley sausage rings, and without hesitation says, “Cannoli is probably our most well-known pastry. We started making different flavors — pistachio and “nocciola” (hazelnut) — but I like the traditional cannoli.”

It makes perfect sense since cannoli originated in Sicily, where his and his wife’s parents were born and raised. Alfano’s father was a butcher and in 1982 relocated the family from New Jersey to Florida for its warmer climate. He purchased Doris Market’s original location in Hollywood, Fla., which the Alfano family owned until 2017 (this location is no longer in operation). Today, there are five stores, with the newest and largest location opening in North Palm Beach in 2016.

“Every time we opened another location, that was a major highlight for us. Coming from the original 4,000-square-foot store to the 22,000-square-foot one in North Palm Beach was a major accomplishment,” Alfano says.

Doris Market remains a multigenerational family affair. Alfano’s 94-year-old mother, Maria, pops into the Pembroke Pines store multiple times per week. His brother Joseph operates Boca Raton, as well as Pembroke Pines, with his brother-in-law Sergio Biscotto. Alfano married his high school sweetheart in 1984 and he calls her the “backbone” of the business. Their four children — Jacqueline, 37, John Jr., 35, Nick, 33, and Julia, 23 — play integral roles, and his brother-in-law, Gary Mulé, is a partner in Coral Springs.

“At my age, I’m trying to find ways to slow down a little bit, so I see the kids taking over,” Alfano says of his succession plan.

The family tree doesn’t end there. Alfano’s three grandkids are growing up in the grocery aisles visiting their fathers at work just like he and his kids did.