I had the rack of lamb, which was succulent and gently flavored, a perfect fall evening dish.  It was delightfully augmented with tiny fried gnocchi.  Lonnie’s duck had a luscious sauce with cherries just bursting with flavor.  We were repeatedly cooing with pleasure.

Another great thing about Gentile’s is the service.  It has been so friendly and professional every single time we’ve been there.  We waltzed in fairly late without a reservation, and managed to get a seat at their gorgeous bar.  It was an especially convivial spot, and the bartender was incredibly sweet, friendly, and helpful.  Sometimes at fine dining places you get a certain reserved distance from the servers, which can be just fine and unobtrusive, but friendly repartee is a bonus to me.

Chef Kevin is incredibly skilled, and highly creative, two things that don’t always go together.  You can have a killer red-sauce Italian place and just crank out the 50-year-old classics ad infinitum, and many eaters wouldn’t have it any other way.  Since we’ve had that type of food since the Jefferson administration, we like things that are more bold.  The list of specials that night was almost mind-bogglingly inventive.

Someone commenting on Jim Johnson’s blog mentioned that Gentile’s will tweak a dish at a customer’s request, and though I have no need of that with Kevin’s masterful food, I have seen people do it.  So diners who are chicken picky less adventurous can make requests within reason.

There are quite a few Syracuse restaurants that are very good.  But very few can compare with Gentile’s.

My designer colleague Gertrud in Mannheim, Germany, also enjoys Gianni’s Pizza every week!  Either she really likes commuting, or Gianni’s has an impressive delivery policy, right?  Well, no – it seems that in her Mannheim neighborhood there is a Gianni’s Pizza, the food is great, and the staff and diners all put on a good, funny show.  Maybe the two Gianni’s can get some kind of sister city arrangement or something!  She has kindly provided some photos, and even tolerated my bad Mannheim Steamroller joke:  (click photos to enlarge)

Pizzateig, (pizza dough) protected by a German recycle rubbish plastic bag!

The Mannheim Steamroller, operator Pino

Salvo throwing the pizza base

I finally switched it up and ordered a calzone, something I’ve considered doing for ages.  I was not disappointed with the pepperoni and cheese one that I ordered – it was very tasty, and MASSIVE!  It could have easily served as two meals, although I went crazy and devoured the whole thing.  Calzones often come in generous portions, but this one could have blocked out the sun had I held it in the right position.

Lonnie also got adventurous, and ordered a Philly Cheesesteak with onions.  I previously made a big deal elsewhere on this blog about eating cheesesteaks and other treats in Philly, which was great fun.  But Lonnie said that this one beat all the ones she tried there!  Oh boy, that’s an argument waiting to happen!

The broccoli was cooked just right, the garlic was just the right amount, and there was a generous portion of ricotta.  We both thought it was another winner.  Best of all, it was a beautiful day, so we were able to have it for one of our first front porch meals of the season.

And wait, that’s not all!  Gianni had been touting his Dart Wings on our previous visit, and I was in a fairly gluttonous mood, so I decided to augment our order with some of these.  He had described them as spicy, and they were, but not like the level of really hot wings, just a nice little snap of heat.  The flavor was round, quite savory, and a bit sweet.  I really went for it.  Lonnie liked the flavor, too, but is not quite as fond of sweetness in wing sauce as I am.  In any case, they will go into our short list of local excellent wings; these are the first ones in awhile that I think can compete in tastiness with OIP’s char-grilled ones.

I should point out that for me, places get bonus points for varying from the classic Buffalo Wing formula, lots of butter, Frank’s Hot Sauce, etc.  I like that type of wings, too, and there are a number of places near here that do them very well, such as the Change of Pace.  Come to think of it, I have no idea what Dart Wings are, exactly, except that they taste great!  I’ll have to ask Gianni for details next time I’m there.  Go visit Gianni’s here on Burnet Ave.

I called Gianni’s after looking at their website and asked if I could place an order by phone but eat it there. The very friendly fellow on the other end of the line said, of course! and wanted to know how soon we’d be there. “Seven minutes” I said. “It will be done in twelve. Come on down!” Sure enough, it was hot and ready when we got there, a short drive down Burnet Ave from our Eastwood home.

And what a warm welcome we got, too. Gianni and his lovely wife and mom (or so we believe, having been too famished to politely get this information) were so sweet; they made us feel genuinely at home. The place is tiny, mostly for take-out, but the little room where there are four small tables was very nicely decorated, there was pleasant music playing, and there was no danged TV blinking away to distract us from what we came for: great food. Gianni pointed out that they have  wi-fi and so anyone is welcome to come with a laptop and play their own TV.

So how was the pizza?  Mamma mia! Ecco una pizza come Dio la vuole! Everything hand-made and fresh, the “Grand Concourse” (meat lover’s) pizza was indeed grand, loaded with cheese and almost overpopulated with ham, bacon, pepperoni, ground beef, all on a thin hand-tossed crust just thick enough to hold up to eating from the hand.

I really do not like mediocre pizza. There’s so much of it around these parts. I will even drive all the way up to Marshall St. and put up with rudeness to get a good pizza. Thank goodness, that won’t be necessary any more. Dave and I will be going back to Gianni’s repeatedly – there’s quite a menu to work our way through.

By the way, Gianni has worked for years at some of your other favorite pizza joints. I won’t say where – go on in and ask him yourself. While you’re there, try ordering in Spanish, the other language of this bi-lingual couple. When Gianni found out I’m a Spanish teacher, he said I should have my students come down and order their meal all in Spanish.  I think I’ll make that a very strong suggestion! They’ll be well rewarded for their efforts.

Gianni’s Pizza is located at 1428 Burnet Ave., not far from the corner of Teall and Burnet. It shares space with the Liberty Bakery, so you’ll likely go home with a half dozen cookies, including Central New York’s famous half-moons. They’re open Monday through Thursday 11-9 and Friday through Saturday 11-10.  Alas, they are closed on Sunday. If you go in, please tell them the Chus sent you.