"I have people that come here on a weekly basis from Long Beach and from The Bronx," Biancavilla said.
At Duck Island Bread Company, the ingredients may be simple, but Biancavilla credits the bakery's hands-on approach for setting it apart.
"The butter we whip ourselves, brioche dough filled with diplomat cream, our chicken pot pies are really special because we make everything from scratch," he said.
For Biancavilla, bread making is more than a profession.
"This is like a calling when you make bread," he said.
He said the work can be demanding and imperfect, but that is part of the craft.
"And we get very frustrated when it doesn't come out the way we want it. The good thing about it if it doesn't come out good today, we get to do it again tomorrow," Biancavilla said.
Before opening the bakery, Biancavilla served as a police officer and later spent nearly 30 years as a prosecutor.
"In the 30 years, I've had a ring side seat to more human tragedy than I care to even remember," he said.
His path to baking began after seeing an advertisement for an artisan bread baking course in Manhattan.
"I happened to see an ad in a newspaper for an artisan bread baking course in Manhattan, and I did it. I took the course," Biancavilla said. "I was just hooked. I fell in love with bread baking."
He later began baking for the Northport Farmer's Market while continuing his legal career.
"I started baking shortly thereafter for the Northport Farmer's Market. I found a smaller space where I opened the first bakery. That was just a Saturday bakery. That's the only day I worked because I was still trying cases at the time," he said.
Balancing law and baking often meant thinking about one while doing the other.
"I formulated more than one opening statement or more one closing argument while I was, you know, rolling out baguettes," Biancavilla said. "It's just a process where your mind is free to formulate other ideas. And it works pretty well."
The bakery also became the setting for a friendship with the father of Eyewitness News entertainment reporter Joelle Gargiulo, who shared a passion for bread making.
According to Biancavilla, the two first connected during a court case when Gargiulo's father approached him with a question about kaiser rolls.
"The first thing your father said to me was, 'how do you make your kaiser rolls?'" Biancavilla said. "We became acquainted and friends after that."
Over time, the friendship continued at the bakery.
"He would come into the bakery, and I would say, 'Judge Gargiulo.' And he would say to me, 'oh, we're in the bakery. You call me Jerry,'" Biancavilla said.
During the interview, Biancavilla and Gargiulo made kaiser rolls together in memory of Gargiulo's father.
"To Jerry," Biancavilla said.
Running a bakery, he said, requires constant commitment.
"It's seven days a week, twenty-four hours of dayless nights. It's constant fires that have to be put out. You don't do it unless you love to do it," he said.
Rather than slowing down, Biancavilla is looking ahead. He said he plans to expand with a café serving breakfast and lunch alongside the bakery's products.
"A dream of mine that I always wanted to have. We're gonna do a cafe. We're gonna serve breakfast and lunch. We're gonna have some of our baked goods here, but we're also gonna be able to serve items right out of our kitchen," he said.
Asked whether the venture represents a second act, Biancavilla had a different view.
"Probably my third, and I probably have another one in me," he said.
For now, the former police officer, prosecutor and baker remains focused on whatever comes next.
"I'm not sure yet," Biancavilla said. "We'll see how life unfolds."
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