From the Food Vault Dept.: There’s some back-and-forth to the Lanzi family’s restaurant history. A Lanzi’s Restaurant opened in Amsterdam, NY’s, south side in 1920, where there was good food as well as occasional organized outdoor boxing matches. Luigi and Amalia Lanzi, who founded the place, came from Agani, Italy; after working for his parents, their son Lorenzo opened his own place, named after himself, in 1956 on Amsterdam’s Union Street. Lanzi’s closed in 1985; Lorenzo’s in 1998. But Lorenzo’s five sons all went into the business, and soon enough began opening their own places. Thus we now have Northville’s Sport Island Pub, Lakeside Tavern in Gloversville, and Lanzi’s on the Lake in Mayfield, all three on the shores of Great Sacandaga Lake; as well as Partner’s Pub in Johnstown. (Find them online at lanzifamilyrestaurants.com/restaurants)
A century later, the Lanzi family opened another restaurant where their grandfather started: Lorenzo’s Southside, where Neapolitan pizza, cooked in an authentic wood-fired oven, is a specialty. My wife and I recently dined there and had a thoroughly wonderful meal, and we’re returning soon to try to pizza we missed our first time around. Meanwhile, I rummaged through the archives and discovered my reviews of Lorenzo’s from 1990 and Lanzi’s on the Lake from 1993, which you’ll find below.
My sense is that people don’t wander into the place on their own: they’re brought by friends who want to share this Amsterdam treasure. That’s how I was introduced a few visits ago, and it was a ritual I performed the night before the Travers cup race to avoid all traces of track crowds.
Ironically, we sat next to cartoonist John Caldwell and his wife – people who know their restaurants – who were showing off the place to fellow cartoonist Jack Ziegler and his wife, up from Connecticut for the Travers and no mean restaurant fans themselves. Making this the first restaurant in a few years of reviewing for which I can offer social notes as well.
All right: no sign. Visits from celebrity cartoonists. What’s the appeal?
I’m inclined to pin it on the Fettucine Carbonara, but there’s so much else on the menu worth trying, and so much else that’s just as good, that I know I’ll be shouted down by other Lorenzo’s enthusiasts. Still, assuming you’re in the mood for completely violating any kind of weight-loss program, you won’t go wrong with that item.
It starts with fresh pasta. “My father makes the pasta every morning,” says Joe, who’s now head chef. “He’s 73 years old but you can’t keep him away.” (If the angel hair pasta shows up as a special, get it. This is the pasta-maker’s art made beautiful upon the mountains.)
Two friends were up from the ‘burbs of Manhattan for a weekend visit, quietly skeptical that culinary proficiency could make it this far up the Hudson. City people get that way. We have to be patient with them.
I forced the Carbonara upon Harry, while his wife, Debra, ordered the rolled stuffed eggplant. Although she doesn’t eat meat, we all started with a shared antipasto platter (a medium was more than large enough for three) and she simply removed the salami slices. “I can deal with meat neighbors,” she explained.
It’s a nicely-presented plate topped with just enough of the house Italian dressing. Although the heart of it is that all-crunch-and-no-flavor iceberg lettuce, you’ll find some spinach mixed in and a generous accompaniment of artichoke hearts, red pepper slices, provolone, pepperoncini, onions, tomato slices, black olives and, of course, anchovies. (Deb: “Yuk. On the side, please.” Foolish woman.) A basket of garlic bread was served with it and replenished throughout the meal, although Deb is in the embarrassing habit of eating only the buttery part and leaving a pile of crusts on the table. We had to speak to her about that.
That Bass Ale sign makes a tasty promise, and you can get it, right from the tap, in a 20-ounce mug. That took care of my beverage requirements. There’s a wide selection of other beers, too, and a modest, modestly-priced wine list.
The entrees are simple, as you’d expect from what’s really just a neighborhood joint. (There have been Lanzis in the restaurant business in Amsterdam for three generations, so you’re talking a long time for word-of-mouth advertising to spread.)
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| Fettucine carbonara (Stock photo) |
“This is really cooked al dente,” Harry said admiringly. “It’s exactly how I like it.” And it looks so modest on the plate. The wide fettucine noodles peeking through a coating of thick, cheese-rich cream, tiny morsels of bacon spicing the mixture.
Deb’s eggplant was stuffed with an herb-rich ricotta, finished with a light tomato sauce. She ordered the side of ziti, which featured large noodles (obviously most capable bridegrooms) and a marinara aburst with freshness.
The simplest and yet hardest rule for a restaurant to learn is the one that Lorenzo’s has mastered: keep it fresh. Joe and family obviously love the work and are eager to share it with you--he frequently makes the rounds, table by table, to find out how you like his food or to share some new idea.
Service is nothing fancy but there’s a large enough staff that you shouldn’t ever feel you’ve gone into limbo. We finished a fine meal with some coffees and then left quietly so as not to call attention to the party beside us where the men were scribbling excitedly on the tabletop.
VEGETARIAN ALERT: I know, I know, all your meat-eating friends figure pasta is the easiest vehicle with which to shut you up, but this is a pasta paradise. Look for lots of eggplant recipes as well as a very nice marinara. And don’t be bashful about asking for special dishes.
Dinner for three with tax, tip and a big beer was $50.
Lorenzo’s Restaurant, 25 Union Street, Amsterdam, 842-xxxx. Serving lunch Wednesday-Saturday 11:30 AM-2:30 PM, dinners Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday 4:30-9:30 PM, Friday-Saturday 4:30-10 PM. No credit cards; personal checks accepted.
– Metroland Magazine, 23 August 1990
THE LANZIS ARE RESTAURANT BRATS who had been looking for some time at expanding beyond Lorenzo’s, their successful Amsterdam operation. Successful? It’s achieved cult status in the Capital Region.
There was talk of a banquet hall a little further north, but they came upon an even better deal in the former Rokadaga, a handsome restaurant that overlooks the Great Sacandaga Lake just north of Mayfield in Fulton County.
As Lanzi’s on the Lake, it reopened just before the Memorial Day weekend. As the Lanzis report, it’s been doing better than they could have expected. The five brothers are now split between the two restaurants, with their Lorenzo, their father, still making fresh pasta daily for both places (along with some special order accounts).
“We came up with a different menu,” says Chris, the chef at Lanzi’s, “that wouldn’t take away from what we’re doing at Lorenzo’s. This one has a different variety, and it’s a little more upscale.”
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| Lanzi's on the Lake: Seen from the lake |
Susan and I visited on a Tuesday evening, usually an easygoing night for restaurants. While by no means packed, Lanzi’s was still hopping. And it’s a good-sized place.
For larger parties, the main floor has long tables and lots of leg room; for a deuce like us, the ringside booths are attractive. Although the omnipresent television set hangs by the bar, the bar area is separated from the dining room by enough glass and wood to keep the noise from penetrating, one of the best ideas I’ve seen in a long time. The wide open airiness of the place is undisturbed, too.
We saw a lot of young people working the floor – young women, in fact, which can be a tipoff that the house is going to stint on service by stinting on servers themselves. But this was far from the case. Our server was very attentive and never far out of reach.
She got us started with a bottle of wine from the short, comfortably-priced list and helped us through the menu. Some of the items that interested us weren’t available, a phenomenon about which chef Chris is entirely unapologetic. “We make it a point to use what’s fresh,” he says, “so we’re likely to run out sometimes. But that’s better than having something that’s been hanging around for the past four days.”
Black bean soup was unexpectedly good – a little heat, a nice presence of cumin – but surprisingly thick. It had a pastelike consistency that would be more suited to use on nachos.
Filet of sole (Susan’s entree) is so good all by itself that we get suspicious when it’s enhanced. Did the Lanzi’s preparation, which adds a mountainous topping of sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts, conceal something? Nope – just the freshest slice of sole I’ve tasted all summer.
Scallops Christopher is also terrific, in spite of the general decline in quality of scallops. They picked some good ones, which must cost dearly, and sauteed them with fresh tomato and artichoke hearts, serving the nicely-seasoned result over fresh pasta (I chose fettucine, which complemented the large scallops well).
Desserts come from J & S Watkins and some more local sources; we split a wholly unnecessary slice of raspberry cheesecake before we split.
Look for a different menu and fewer hours once we wind down into winter. Chris expects to stay open Thursday through Sunday when it’s cold, although he’s hoping the snowmobilers will glide to his door over the lake. In the meantime, that’s something that boaters are invited to do.
Dinner for two, with a $10 bottle of wine, tax, tip and a dessert, was $60.
Lanzi's on the Lake, 1751 Route 30, Mayfield, 518-661-7711, lanzisonthelake.com.
Serving Mon-Tue 4-8, Fri-Sat 4-9, Sun 11:30-7. All major cards. (Current info as of this posting.)
– Metroland Magazine, 26 August 1993
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