Pasticceria Taddeucci

Pasticceria Taddeucci has operated on Lucca's Piazza San Michele since 1881, putting it at roughly 145 years in the same square. Its signature is the Buccellato, an aniseed-and-raisin ring loaf associated with the city, sold alongside PanPuccini and a range of Tuscan cookies — pistachio biscuits, cantuccini, ricciarelli, pinolate.

The bakery's own account of its history includes a notable outside endorsement: New York Times food critic Mimi Sheraton featured the shop's "Antico Buccellato" in her book of foods to eat before dying, and the Taddeucci family has also hosted Prince Charles as a visitor. Seasonal production extends to panettone, pandoro and colomba, including cherry-chocolate and fig-walnut variants, plus tortes, chocolates, pralines and liqueurs sold from the same shop.

For visitors who want more than a purchase, the bakery runs "Taddeucci for a Day," a hands-on session preparing Buccellato and fresh pasta with the family. Between the recipe's age, the shop's unchanged location and a running list of visitors it's fed, the business leans on continuity as its main credential — the same square, the same ring-shaped loaf, for nearly a century and a half.