It's three o'clock in the morning and Brady Street is dead. Restaurants and stores have been quiet for several hours. The bars have closed their doors for the evening. Nighttime tranquility has taken over.

Almost.

On the corner of Brady and Humboldt, one establishment is busy at work, frantically preparing before the arrival of the new day — Peter Sciortino's Bakery.

"We actually start baking bread the night before at 8 p.m.," owner Maria Vella-Sali said. "Then at 6:00 a.m. the next crew of guys come in and take over. (After the bread) they start up with the pastries and cookies. We bake from 8 p.m. to roughly 1 p.m. in the afternoon and during the holidays it's almost 24/7."

An historic site, Sciortino's has been specializing in breads, cookies and cannolli at their 1101 E. Brady St. location since 1948 when Sciortino moved his Third Ward business to the East Side.

In 1997 the Sciortino family (who hails from Sicily), sold the bakery to Vella-Sali and her two brothers, Giuseppe and Luigi Vella, also a Sicilian family. But despite their ages at the time (Vella-Sali was 24, Giuseppe 21, Luigi 19), the three siblings were old hands. Vella-Sali started working at Sciortino's when she was only 12 years old.

"We've all been here over 10 years," Vella-Sali said with a laugh.

Thanks to this experience, Vella-Sali, Giuseppe and

Luigi have been able to maintain the same standards and quality that Mr. Sciortino started more than 50 years ago.

"We kept it the way it's always been," Vella-Sali said. "We added to the pastry line, trying to add a bigger variety, but our specialty items — cookies, breads, cannoli — are baked in the same traditional way. It's the original recipe that Mr. Sciortino taught my brothers."

The bakery offers several traditional Italian pastries like tiramisu (similar to an espresso-flavored cheesecake), cassatini (made up of cannoli-filling, sugar cake and icing) and sfogliatelle (a clam-shaped dessert filled with a light, citrus-flavored custard).

Then there are the more basic pastries, such as eclairs, napoleons and cream puffs. And for those who are looking to satisfy that early morning appetite, croissants, cinnamon rolls and other breakfast items are also sold.

But Vella-Sali said it's the breads and cookies that keep customers coming back for more.

"That's what distinguishes us," Vella-Sali said. "Most of the customers come because of the tradition and familiarity. We don't diversify with wheats and ryes, just Italian breads."

Sciortino's also sells Italian pastas, salted squash seeds, olive oils and Nutella. And on the weekends you can stop by for a Sicilian-style pizza known as sfincione, topped with a tomato sauce, onions, cheese and seasoned breadcrumbs.

But the food products are not the only items that reflect the bakery's Italian roots.

"We have hanging on the wall the patron saints of our village," Vella-Sali said. "One of our showcases has a candle on top that burns seven days a week with the Holy Family behind it. You don't find that in most bakeries."

And Vella-Sali said their location — the building has a mosaic mural on the outside — adds to the longstanding tradition of the bakery.

"It kind of represents the multiethnic culture that is found in Milwaukee," Vella-Sali said. "And we're just a small part of that."

Peter Sciortino's Bakery is open Tuesday-Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday from 7 a.m. to 1p.m and is closed on Monday.