Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/438368
46 | JANUARY + FEBRUARY 2015 nshoremag.com Melita Fiore wanted to study fine art. But that's not what happened. Instead, she wound up a paralegal in a law office where things were, well…stale and, at times, sad. "People do not seek attorneys for joyous occasions," notes Fiore, who now spends her days in an anything-but-stale and nearly always joyous place— her own pâtisserie. When she was 15 years old, Fiore worked in a lit - tle bakery called Wheat Berries owned by an Italian couple in Manchester-by-the-Sea. On Sundays, "an old nonna" came in to help. Fiore remembers that everything was made from scratch and, though there was not a great variety, it was all very good. "The whole place was sensorial and made me feel happy to be alive," she recalls. "It was just a natural environ - ment for me." Today, she channels that kind of positive energy into her shop on Washington Street, which she built with the help of her late father. A week after Fiore signed the lease, he was diagnosed with a terminal illness and told he had mere weeks to live. But he survived another year and spent much of that time at his daughter's side putting up framework, walls, and tiles. There's heart in her shop, and soul. And that has much to do with the fact that her father's hand has touched it all. "It's a won - derful memory to have of him," reflects Fiore. With its pastel tones, upcycled finds, and dreamy feel, the shop is meant to be a respite from things "too serious." The décor is partially inspired by films like French Connection BY KILEY JACQUES With her Sicilian heritage firmly in pla e, Melita Fiore helms a French Pâtisserie in downtown Salem. photograph by Elise Donoghue Melita Fiore in her Salem pâtisserie MELITA FIORE'S PASTRIES P.46 | WEDDING MAKEUP P.49 | NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION P.50