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.

1. Their  “individual specials created just for you based on your purchasing habits.” It’s true! You know that every time you use one of those savings cards at the supermarkets, they’re tracking what you buy. Why not let that knowledge work especially for you? When you swipe your card at one of the kiosks in the store, it prints out a set of specials that reflect your own tastes, based on what you’ve purchased there in the past. The more you use it, the more accurately the specials reflect what you’re likely to enjoy.

2. Mike Sweetman, the meat manager. Yes, you want to talk to him about any meat purchase you’re about to make. Why? Because Mike is really a New York City chef who prefers fresh air, so here he is, just waiting to discuss tonight’s dinner with you. Want to do a braise? Ask him what he’d suggest you purchase. Thinking of grilling? He’ll have ideas for you that go beyond pointing to the meat case. In the  mood for some entertainment? Believe me, Mike is entertaining. All this, and more, at Green Hills.

Mike Sweetman made this stuffed flank steak just for you

We made our way over to Michael Angelo’s on a very cold night recently.  As some already know, the owner was previously a very longstanding chef at Antonio’s, and some favorite recipes from that former hotspot came along with him.  I went for the Riggies to cut the winter chill.  This Utica-styled pasta favorite was appropriately spicy, the sauce was good, and the portion was quite massive.  Lonnie opted for the fish sandwich, and we were both impressed with the flavor and how refined and delicate the breaded coating was.  Our server was very pleasant and friendly.

It’s a small, modest place, not comparable to somewhere like Antonio’s, a fairly fancy restaurant.  The new decor is tasteful, though.  It’s almost surreal to have seen such a long sequence of decor changes in that building.  We’ll see how they make out – they don’t appear to be doing a lot of advertising, so I’m guessing that their success will depend on whether they can attract former fans of Antonio’s who might enjoy a somewhat more modest meal price.

The following post is not written by me. It’s too well written for that. It’s a complete copy of a post at Ithaca’s Food Web blog.  Read it and weep.

Then DO SOMETHING:

Join the FaceBook group: No Fracking Way!

Sign the petition, write the governor

Copy this link and send this article to everyone you know

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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Farmers speak out about natural gas drilling via hydrofracking

With just a few weeks left for public comment on the NYS environmental impact statement for “horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing,” some farmers are speaking out against the method.  The public comment period ends December 31.

Please click here to read the rest of the article.

The website is a great use of Ajax programming, according to Dave. It is bright, colorful and fun to use. I chose the “build your own pizza” option and had a blast. The writing is even funny at times, such as that which appears in the pop-up when you choose shredded Parmesan cheese and it doesn’t actually show up on the image of the pizza:

TRUST US. Sometimes believing is seeing. This is one of those times. Although you can’t see it on your pizza now, we’ll get it right.

I ordered two large pizzas, given that I had a coupon code for a free one (found it by googling it). There are four crust options, and I chose the Hand Tossed and the Crunchy Thin Crust. The others are a deep dish style and a “Brooklyn Style” – thin and foldable. I then created the toppings. Each time I chose a meat or “unmeat” option, it would show up on the image of the pizza. I also chose to put completely different toppings on the two halves of one of the pizzas.

I had indicated that I would pick up my pizzas at the nearest Domino’s – it’s a short drive away – but the confirming email that arrived said, “The following order is being delivered hot and fresh to your door:…” Good thing I didn’t believe it. Would have been a long wait for a grumpy customer.  Once the order was placed, the website indicated that Jason was right now prepping my pizza. When it showed that the pizza was baking, I took off for the shop.

The order was ready on time and the young man behind the counter was very pleasant. Back home within minutes, I opened the first box and we tore into the crispy crust pizza:

1 Large(14″) Thin Pizza
Whole: Cheese, White Sauce, Italian Sausage, Onions, Shredded Provolone Cheese, Garlic Left: Roasted Red Peppers Right: Diced Tomatoes

It was absolutely delicious. The crust was a marvel of structure, really thin with just the right crispy crunch, a touch of oiliness and the slightly dark sweet flavor of properly browned bread dough. The onions were wonderfully sweet as well, nicely counterbalancing the savory spiciness of the sausage. It did not taste strongly of garlic. In fact, due to the fact that the red peppers and diced tomatoes weren’t on there at all, I can’t recall that there necessarily was any garlic. It would have been nice to taste the red veggies, but the simple onion-sausage treatment was so good, I’m likely to do it again.

The hand-tossed pizza was very good, as “corporate” pizzas go, but not quite the star that the crispy one was. Still, the crust was neither too thick nor too thin, it had moderately good flavor, with a dash of garlic salt on it, and it stayed well-formed in the hand, such that we could eat it without utensils, even the first often-sloppy bite of the tip.

1 Large(14″) Hand Tossed Pizza
Whole: Cheese, New Robust Tomato Sauce Left: Mushrooms, Bacon, Spinach, Feta Cheese Right: Pepperoni, Black Olives, Onions

The sauce was the disappointment on this one, as someone had stuck way too much sugar in it. What a difference between the natural sugars of the crispy pizza and the baby-food sweetness of the hand-tossed. I want my tomatoes, whether in sauce or not, to be strong, manly, and actually robust. Fortunately, this pizza was saved by the pronounced smokiness of the bacon.  The feta was uninspired and the spinach flat and lifeless. The other side of the pizza fared about the same. The meat was the star but, oops! the black olives were nowhere to be seen. So it was a pretty good pepperoni-cheese pizza.

So can we trust Domino’s to get it right? Umm… not yet. As Dave noted, this is a huge shift for a very large company. Imagine the training nightmare. I’d like to talk to Jason to find out if that’s really his name ask him if he got the same order I placed. One never knows with new, complex websites. There are likely a few glitches to work out.

Next time I think I’ll phone in the order after I’ve created my optimal pizza using their website.

So the question becomes one of morals and values. We strongly support local businesses and generally abhor the products and ruthless business tactics of the large chains. We should just suck it up and go on over to Cosmo’s, where they make arguably the best pizza in Syracuse, despite the rude treatment we got there last time. On the other hand, Domino’s pizza was very good and it’s much closer to our home, so driving there is just a tad easier on the environment. And I was treated with courteous respect in their shop. I have this funny feeling that next time I’m hungry and grumpy, Domino’s is going to win out.