The walls of Pacific Street Pizza are lined with the family’s history, from where the late Attilio Renny grew up and of his famed Attilio’s Pizzeria in Roslyn Heights for more than 30 years.
“I remember the day my father opened Attilio’s; it was 1992,” Joe Renny recalls. “My brother and I worked there for him over many summers.”
Joe and his brother, Richie, owners of the newest pizzeria addition to the North Shore, grew up in Herricks. They are no strangers to the business, growing up around food their whole lives.
“We wanted a place here that honored our father and what he did in the business for more than 28 years, what he did in Roslyn Heights and tying it all into his heritage,” Renny says.
Attilio “Tim” learned to cook at his family’s restaurant off Pacific Street in Brooklyn as a kid. He was third-generation American.
“COVID was not a help to our business model over there at Attilio’s; since we were already a takeout and delivery establishment, we suddenly gained a tremendous amount of competition with every other food place,” Renny adds.
Attilio’s closed on Christmas more than two years ago.
“Attilio’s Salad on the menu is a nod to the old restaurant; we tried to get the recipe and the dressing as close to the original as possible,” Renny says.
Attilio’s Salad is chopped iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, Kalamata olive, fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers, marinated mushroom, artichoke hearts and Attilio’s balsamic dressing.
“Our Angry Attilio Pizza is a shout-out to my father, not that he was angry ever, just loud,” Renny says fondly.
The Angry Attilio is a margherita pie with pepperoni, spicy soppressata and Mike’s brand of hot honey.
“Starting something from scratch is not easy, especially a pizzeria on Long Island,” Renny says. “Hopefully the connection to Attilio’s helps carry us for a long time.”
Pacific Street Pizza was formed with the help and support from nearly all of Attilio’s former employees.
“We have many generations of Attilio’s employees too, fathers, uncles, nephews, sons.”
Tim Attilio’s brother, Gerard Renny, has owned many places over the years. He currently owns Ethyl’s Alcohol & Food, a funky 1970s-themed haunt with bar bites and specialty cocktails, plus go-go dancers and DJs on the Upper East Side in Manhattan.
Check out Gerard’s look back into the history of times before the Korean War in Brooklyn in his 1999 book, The Men of the Pacific Street Social Club Cook: Home-Style Recipes and Unforgettable Stories, which is available at Pacific Street Pizza.
“We got a lot of useful advice from our uncle before opening Pacific Street Pizza,” Renny says. “We picked everyone’s brains for everything they are good at when we began planning this place.”
The Pacific Street Pizza dough recipe, a three-grain blend, is specially crafted with the help of a close family friend of the Rennys who is the dean of students at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park.
“Everyone has pizza ovens in their yards now,” Joe Renny says. “The dough is the hardest part; we ferment ours here for a couple of days.”
The home pizza kits are extremely popular, made in part by the COVID pandemic lockdown.
Some of the popular items on the menu are their Classic Brooklyn and their Burrata Pizza.
The signature Burrata slice is the inside of Burrata cheese, the stracciatella portion, scooped onto the pie and then accented with a little bit of olive oil, fresh basil and some pecorino to give it a little tang.
If you are not in the mood for pizza, check out one of the classic entrée dishes like the chicken francese, made to perfection in a rich, creamy wine sauce.
Pacific Street Pizza is open every day from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
There is plenty of parking in the lot directly behind the pizzeria, located at 38 Glen Cove Rd., in Greenvale, just north of Northern Boulevard.
Visit www.pacificstreetpizza.com or call 516-231-1950 to place an order or for more information.
