Photo by:B.A. Nilsson

A Stone Genius for Pizza

Loffredo’s Fifth and Fifty
By B.A. Nilsson

279 N. Ballston Ave. (Route 50), Scotia, 372-4668. Serving Mon-Thu 11-9, Fri-Sat 11-10, Sun (only during football playoff season and Super Bowl) noon-9. Cash and checks only.

Cuisine: of the pizza and wings variety

Entrée price range: $4.75 (spaghetti or ziti) to $33 (100 wings)

Ambiance: very little

Clientele: very hungry

Bob Loffredo slides the fully constructed pizza onto a wire disk slightly larger than the pie, and this goes into the aged oven. “New pizza ovens look much nicer,” he notes, “with a lot of stainless steel. But this is what was here, and it works well, and the ovens are lined with good stones.”

That’s one pizza-baking key: a stone that will passively regulate the heat distribution. It wasn’t until I added a couple of pizza stones to my own oven that I lost the hot spots that once plagued all of my baking, so I’m sold on the concept.

Another thing: the wire disk. “I make a thick crust, New York-style pizza,” Loffredo explains. “That has to cook longer. So I want some air circulating around the bottom of it.” He pulls out another pie and makes a shallow cut around its circumference of toppings, giving it a more attractive appearance. “I’m also releasing air bubbles,” he explains. This one finishes its oven time directly on the stone.

The pies emerge golden and redolent of the oregano in Loffredo’s homemade sauce. Mine sports broccoli and sausage on a red pizza ($13), a combo devised after a torturous discussion with my daughter. Who, I should note, proceeded to eat the pizza without first tearing off the top layer of ingredients, a rarity.

This was also true of the barbecued-chicken pizza we shared on an earlier visit, but that’s long been her favorite despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that it’s hard to find. Small bits of chicken are interspersed with a dark, sweet sauce, then covered with mozzarella.

Loffredo’s offers that and more. We didn’t explore the Greek, Hawaiian, taco or lasagna pizzas, but I suspect I’ll get around to them, because I’m sold on the place.

Bob’s current restaurant is celebrating its first anniversary, but his work is familiar to Schenectady-area pizza lovers who patronized his old place in Sheridan Square (now run by the city’s former police chief). Loffredo wanted to get out of that city, and his current restaurant is not far from where he had his first restaurant job: Carm’s, on Freeman’s Bridge Road.

There’s not much to speak of in terms of ambiance. The dining area is large—too large for the tiny parking lot in front of the place—but most of the business is takeout and delivery. Too bad, I think, because our experience as dine-in customers is that the staff couldn’t be more attentive.

During our first visit, we also lit through an order of wings (12 for $5), which were worth the attention. A “regular” Greek salad ($4.75) turned out to be a whopping affair: mostly iceberg, no surprise, but rich with feta and a good contrast to the pizza.

On a recent Friday, there was a line at the counter that stretched to the door, and, as the skies darkened, the pizzas were flying. Pickup, delivery—it was a steady stream of boxes of red, white and green.

This caused my dine-in order a little delay, but we (a threesome now, with my wife along) were always kept apprised of the progress of our too-large meal. For your sake—of course—I ordered a cross-
section of items.

A cup of chili ($3, but huge) turned out to be your typical beef-and-kidney-bean stew with some added heat. Jalapeno poppers ($5)—well, there’s no need to report on them. They’re all the same, it’s a silly excuse for a foodstuff, and I’m addicted to them. Sweet potato fries ($3) were crisp and sweet, a pleasant alternative.

Dinner items are available, such as baked ziti ($6.25) and eggplant, chicken or veal parmigiana ($6.25, $7.25, $8.25). You can also get your parm in a hot sub, a smaller portion that costs a couple of bucks less. We sampled the Italian hero ($5.35), which sported salami with provolone on a torpedo wedge.

The list of cold subs includes what you’d expect, as well as variations like triple cheese and a vegiwich, all of them priced around $4 for a small, a dollar more for a large.

When you find pizza, calzones can’t be far behind. I’m happy to report that the capacious sausage calzone ($6) kept me going for three days.

Where I live, there are only a couple of pizza joints nearby, and they’re just not consistent. In a more urban area, the threshold of difference among pizza restaurants can get quite small, so a friendly, accommodating staff can make all the difference.

Bob Loffredo’s philosophy about food and food service is another key ingredient: “It’s all hands-on here. First of all, all of our ingredients have to be fresh, have to be the best. And I’m involved with it every step of the way. I want to see your face when you come in.”

Click here for a list of recently reviewed restaurants.

We want your feedback

Have you eaten at any recently reviewed restaurants? Agree or disagree with B.A.? Let us know what you think...

Your Name:
E-mail Address:*
Location:
Rate It:
Comments:

	Send A Letter to Our Editor
	Back Home