It’s been a couple of weeks since my last blog post. Don’t fear, I’ve been busy eating pizza, but primarily my own. By the end of today (February 20, 2024), I’ll have made 32 pizzas just in February!
While out, it’s been a bakery month! As many know, I love bakery pizza, and there’ll be bakery pizza reviews for the next couple of blogs.
Table of Contents
- Jay’s Diner
- Nebaletan Word of the Day – Poolend
- Pizza Review – Parise’s Coffee and Cannoli Bar, Venice FL
Jay’s Diner
Since my mother (Grandma Joanne) didn’t go to college (for reasons that I don’t understand), she insisted that we go believing that college led to a life that the early offspring of Southern Italian immigrants could only dream.
But, Grandma Joanne didn’t comprehend what happened after college. Her world centered on Ashtabula, OH, and a little beyond maybe as far as Cleveland, Erie, and Youngstown; all about 50 miles away. She didn’t understand my engineering education would necessitate leaving that cocoon.
I chose Kodak. Kodak was Apple, Microsoft, and Google way before there was Apple, Microsoft, and Google. Some of the country’s best engineering talent chose Kodak because it had a 100+ year history of growth (that changed the year after I signed on…a story for another time) and led the world in technical innovation and patents for decades.
Grandma Joanne was devastated! I rationalized with her, “It’s not far! I can have breakfast in Rochester and have lunch in Ashtabula.”
That was of little consolation to Grandma Joanne. I’m not sure if she worried more about me being “away” or that she’d not be a part of her future grandchildren’s lives (even though I never had a girlfriend to that point in my life!).
After about a year, I purchased a home along the southern rim of Rochester City adjacent to the Erie Canal. Again, I heard severe protests. To her, a house meant roots likely leading to never returning to Ashtabula with my future children.
After a short time, her attitude changed as a result of two events:
- She was a prolific smoker. I protested loudly as a kid to which she replied “When you own your own house, you can tell me not to smoke in it.” So, there I was, the first day in my new house telling my mother to go outside to smoke!
- Because Grandma Joanne had to smoke outside my house, she and Grandpa Tony took frequent “trips”. One such trip was just up the street to Jay’s Diner!
I’d known Jay’s since my first days in Rochester. Jay’s was immediately across the street from the prime disco in Rochester, Club 747 (see this link) leading to late-night, drunk binging of stacks of pancakes and eggs!
But for Grandma Joanne, Jay’s Diner was a refuge for smoking and getting a coffee (which I didn’t drink at that time). Once she found Jay’s, it was “ok-ish” for me to live in Rochester.
Nebaletan Word of the Day – Poolend
My mother (Grandma Joanne) was a stickler for doing things the right, and proper, way, and not being a SHOOMANEED (see this blog post). Today’s word POOLEND is another Grandma Joann word relating to doing things properly.
POOLEND (pronounced Pool-End), aka Polenta (see here). What is POOLEND (polenta)? It’s cornmeal mush. In the southern USA, it’s grits!
Today, polenta seems to be a modern-day “delicacy”! Do a Google search on polenta (don’t search POOLEND!). You’ll find every unemployed arts major, Gen Zer who’s a “foody food blogger” writing about polenta as if it were the re-creation of sliced bread!
But, in Grandma Joanne’s mind, POOLEND was simply poor people’s mush. Eating POOLEND was nothing to brag about. Therefore, like a person being called a SHOOMANEED if he/she did something half-heartedly, a half-heartedly prepared meal was POOLEND!
Used in context in conversation with Grandma Joanne:
- Grandma Joanne to me while I was preparing a meal for her and Grandpa Tony soon after I had first moved away for work, “Michael, are you making POOLEND?“
- Me – replying emphatically, “No!” as I emptied a package of Barilla pasta and a jar of store-bought sauce.
- Grandma Joanne continued, “I think you’re making POOLEND using THAT brand of pasta! And, store sauce, bah fangool! You’re making POOLEND!”
That was the last time I made a meal when they came to visit!
Pizza Review – Parise’s Coffee and Cannoli Bar, Venice FL
As is customary on my current rides, I’ve been stopping for coffee and many times a pastry, especially if the pastry is sfogliatell (aka sfogliatella)! On warm-ish Saturday morning ride earlier this month, one of our riding buddies took us to Parise’s Coffee and Cannoli Bar.
I spotted the sfogliatell, but I also spotted a sheet of pizza! And, it’s been well established in the past, I love bakery pizza!
| Date | February 4, 2024 |
| Bakery / Pizzeria | Parise’s Coffee and Cannoli Bar |
| City/Neighborhood | Venice, FL – Near the Airport & the Italian American Club |
| Website | Venice, FL. | The Original Parise’s Coffee, Cannoli Bar and Fine Fresh Foods. (parisesnow.com) |
| About Us | About Parise’s | Parise’s Coffee And Cannoli On The Coast | Venice (parisesnow.com) We had a chance to chat with Michael Parise, the owner. It was fun to learn his story firsthand. |
| Style | Sheet – he called it Sicilian, it’s more of a Tomato Pie/Bakery Pizza |
| Ambiance | Even though it was a food truck, it had a great vibe with a line of about 20 people! There were a couple of tables adjacent to the truck that we shared with other patrons (one of which happened to be the owner of Cassariano’s (see website) Luca Cassani) for another fun, unplanned set of conversations. |
| Beverage Pairing | Cappuccio – not the ideal drink for pizza, but it was morning, and I was having a pastry, it was my riding buddy, Chuck, that insisted (had to twist my arm) on the pizza – GOOD CHOICE |
| Rating Criteria | |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Dough/Crust | Tickness – Tick, very tick Cook – Soft, Bubbly, Chewy Flavor – Buttery, Bready, Yeasty Not heavily flavored, more of a white bread type of taste that one would expect from a same-day dough, not bad but not flavorful either. A slight buttery taste likely from baking in a well-oiled pan which is further evidenced by the light brown bottom |
| Cornicione | Soft, Chewy – low flavor, same as dough/crust |
| Toppings | Sprinkled cheese, Plenty of Oregano! |
| Sauce | Tangy, Savory (likely due to the ample oregano), thin Tasty, although very thin coating of sauce, too thin for my taste |
| Cheese | Cheese Type – salty and buttery like Pecorino vs Parmagian Cheese Distribution – All over, salty |
| Cheese to Sauce Ratio | Sauce – a little Cheese – a little Balance – despite being thin on both the amount of sauce and cheese – IT WORKED! Especially as a mid-ride pizza. |
| Value | I didn’t buy our cut (square…err rectangle) but according to their website…$45 for a sheet pan for 8-10 people (which typically means 4-6) which seems steep! |
| Overall Rating | Good (but not great). |
| Would I Go Back? | Yes – the cappuccino was great while the sfogliatell was good (not great) but come on, fresh sfogliatell in Florida…can’t beat it. And, the pizza was pretty good too. Worth going back! |
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