DELHI — James Pizzo has been making pasta since he was a young boy. Growing up in Queens, New York, he would help his mother in the kitchen prepare for that big Italian meal of the day—the family dinner. Just six years old, he would knead and roll out the dough, put it on hangers to dry, cut it and work it into different shapes. Next, he would chop parsley and garlic, then grate cheese for the sauces his mother made from recipes passed down in the family from one generation to the next. The making of pasta had been a family affair ever since his grandparents immigrated to Brooklyn from a small town outside of Naples, Italy.
Today, he is carrying on that family tradition at his latest venture -- Pizzo’s Village Deli-- the first self-standing, family-run delicatessen on Delhi’s Main Street, offering a different approach to deli fare. As James explains it, “We thought to bring something new to the delicatessen experience – a deli with a Grab ‘N Go section stocked with real authentic Italian dishes that we would make fresh daily for customers to take home and enjoy.” The ‘we’ he refers to is his British-born wife, Rozlyn who has partnered James in running their well-established restaurant further up the road on Main Street and now at the Village Deli.
No newcomers to the delicatessen world, the couple owned and operated two delis in Vero Beach Florida, while running their own 70-seat restaurant at the same time. “It kept us both very busy,” says Rozlyn, a culinary arts graduate. Looking towards retirement and anticipating adopting a more leisurely pace, the couple decided to relocate to the Catskills, where James had enjoyed fishing and hunting while staying at his family’s cabin.
But retirement wasn’t in the cards. No sooner had they settled in the Delhi area, then they began bottling their own Italian sauces and packaging their pasta to sell at its outdoor markets. The markets were successful and they began envisioning the next step – owning their own restaurant. They opened their Italian trattoria --Pizzo’s Pasta & Gourmet Foods --at 191 Main Street. It had a section for a small deli that proved popular with customers.
As their restaurant and catering business grew, the couple eventually realized that the deli needed a space of its own. They also felt that the timing was right. Delhi had no self-standing delicatessen. “We wanted to fill that void,” James recalls. The perfect spot came on the market when Tay Tea moved from 159 Main to a new location on Main street. Light and airy, the new deli was reconfigured to accommodate the fixtures they would need for their new venture. Now up and running seven days a week, Pizzo’s Village Deli has settled in with new additions, such as window counter seating, having been installed this August.
The deli’s refrigerated Grab ‘N Go section is where customers will find James' specialty dishes like those served at their restaurant-- chicken Francese, eggplant rollatini, sausage with peppers, and onion; baked ziti, among others. These are packaged ready to take out for reheating and serving. Each comes with Pizzo’s homemade pasta. The Pizzos add that the dishes in this new section are based on original well-loved, passed- down family recipes, rather than from online recipes or cookbooks and that they cannot be commercially duplicated. They are prepared in the restaurant’s kitchen and delivered to the deli each day.
When you enter the deli, check out the blackboard for its signature Hero sandwiches—both American and Italian. As the board suggests, you can even customize your own sandwich. The names are a draw – The Godfather, the All American, the Woodchipper, and the Classic Reuben. There is even a hero named after the couple’s daughter Daniella at the restaurant and now this summer the deli.
New deli items introduced this summer include-Italian and American stuffed meat breads and do-it-yourself pasta sheets to take home and serve with one of the deli’s bottled homemade sauces. James has also started making his own semolina Italian bread and every morning at 4a.m he starts baking his homemade bagels. The deli has added a light breakfast and egg sandwiches for its morning customers. Bagels are 99 cents and breakfast sandwiches start at $1.99
Rozlyn makes a zingy salad dressing and all of the deli’s desserts, including napoleons, Italian eclairs, cheesecake and her famed blueberry bread pudding. “Folks have been known to drive miles for it,” says James with a smile. Her blueberry bread pudding is that good.”
