By Jill Nagy
Alex Rodriguez made good use of the COVID lockdown by brainstorming ideas and improvements to reconfigure his restaurant, Gennaro’s Pizza, as well as revamping his menu.
One big change planned was making space for him to bake. Beginning earlier this year, he now bakes fresh focaccia bread and club rolls every day, along with fresh cookies.
The menu features 20 specialty sandwiches, named after cities in Italy and Spain. The sandwiches, on freshly baked focaccia bread, feature fresh mozzarella cheese, imported deli meats, new takes on chicken and eggplant parmigiana, fresh pesto, and fresh vegetables, peppers, and chilis. The menu includes several vegetarian options as well. All are priced at $15.
“Everything is either homemade or imported using very high-end ingredients,” Rodriguez said.
Pizza remains the mainstay of Gennaro’s, however. A new sweet and spicy pizza includes Calabrian chilis and hot honey to flavor a mix of pepperoni, soppressata, and mozzarella. The most popular of the new offerings, according to Rodriguez, is a sausage and kale pizza that begins with a béchamel sauce, made to order for each pizza, and finishes with a flourish of kale toward the end.
Rodriguez moved to Saratoga and took over the restaurant in 2018. Gennaro’s will deliver within a seven-mile radius; Mealio takes over from there.
No one named Gennaro is involved in the business. Rodriguez explained that it is a take on the name of one of the first Italian immigrants to open a restaurant in the United States and appears in many restaurant names.
Rodriguez got his start in the hospitality business in 1995, owning and operating a neighborhood bar and grill in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Later, he owned, operated, or partnered in nearly 20 restaurants, including Greenwich Brewing Company, 121 Fulton Street, Sushi Samba, and Bocadillo. Most recently, he was the COO of a national hospitality group based in New York City before moving to Saratoga. His wife, Carina, also got her professional start working in restaurants and is currently an event planner.
Gennaro’s is located at 16 Marion Avenue in Saratoga Springs. The full menu and other information can be found at gennarospizzaparlor.com.