Pizza, Gelato Create One-Two Punch

Democrat and Chronicle

(January 19, 2006) — I can brave the snow and dress against the cold, but there's one aspect of western New York winters that really gets to me: the unrelenting gray.

Muttering "Oh sun, where art thou?" while driving along West Henrietta Road recently, I spotted a quick-fix antidote for the winter blahs: Italian lemon ice at Brandani's Pizza. An easy right-hand turn into the picnic table- dotted parking lot and I suddenly felt lighter and happier, as if I really had crossed onto the sunny side of the street.

In a sense, Brandani's is really two shops with a thermal divide. To cool you off, there are frosty bright Italian ices and gelatos (that's Italian ice cream, which is typically denser than its American counterpart). To warm you up, hot pizzas, calzones and wings. All are based on the coveted family recipes of founder Frank Brandani, a lifelong baker who started out with a pizza business, then ran a bar in Italy for several years where he mastered the art of Italian ices and gelatos. When he came back to Rochester 20 years ago, he opened Brandani's at its current location, presenting a new frontier in combo meals: pizza and Italian ices.

"We are probably the only place in a long ways around that does both," says Joe Cenzi, a longtime employee who bought the business from Brandani with his father, Richard, last spring. Most first-time customers arrive with the impression that the shop does either pizza or ice cream, and are surprised to find there is both, adds Cenzi.

A small (9-inch), unadorned pizza starts at $4.70 and is more than ample for one person. I ordered the vegetable platter pizza under the specialty pizza category, and got a healthy dose of broccoli, mushrooms and fresh garlic slices sans red sauce.

The sweet-tart lemon ice that followed was both dessert and palate cleanser.

The Cenzis have added sweet fried dough, mozzarella sticks and french fries to the menu and soon will be expanding again with soups, hot pasta dishes and coffee drinks. They also will be remodeling the store, so eventually the front room will be dedicated to ice cream service.

Karen Miltner is our staff food writer. Between feedings, she can be reached at:
kmiltner@DemocratandChronicle.com.