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The Lanzis' Story

When we were seven years old, we started helping out: mopping floors, peeling potatoes, washing dishes," says Lou Lanzi. "My parents always said, 'A little work will never hurt you.'"

That simple approach has carried three generations of Lanzis to success in the restaurant business.And nowhere can you see the success more clearly than in Lanzi's on the Lake in Mayfield.

The only waterfront restaurant on Great Sacandaga Lake, this newest Lanzi success came about by chance, according to Lou, the restaurant's manager. "We were going to build a banquet house in Amsterdam about eight years ago," he says. "But this came up, and we thought we could make a good go of it."

Have they ever. Part of "making a good go of it" involves the ambience: high ceilings and natural wood add a casual lakeside touch to the decor, which also boasts a stone fireplace and a back wall lined with windows.

The outdoor deck, which seats 135, yields a spectacular view of Sacandaga itself. The lake holds the key to many facets of Lanzi's business. Daily in summer, it provides a quick route to dining for vacationers, who sail in for a meal or a drink; they can moor their boats at the restaurant's marina. And throughout the year, the sparkling blue water serves as the backdrop for Lanzi's cornucopia of lakeside events.

Summer is a natural for such events: during the warm weather, Lanzi's sponsors a reggae festival, a home-brewed chili cookoff, and beach parties that feature local radio stations and 4,000 partygoers. But the lake doesn't stop drawing patrons to the restaurant when the cold weather comes.

"We found that you can do well here in the wintertime," Lou says, "because of all the snowmobiling, ice fishing tournaments, cross-country skiing at Lapland Lake, and downhill skiing at Gore." To that list, Lanzi's has added a few events of its own: professional snowmobile races, winter volleyball, and "frozen lake bakes"-outdoor clambakes amid the snow and ice.

While the lake may draw patrons to Lanzi's, the food plays a major role in bringing them back. "We didn't want Lanzi's to be just like Lorenzo's," says Chris, Lanzi's executive chef, referring to the family's traditional Italian establishment in Amsterdam. "So we created an upscale menu, more of an American-Italian flair, using a lot of roasted peppers and artichokes in some of our dishes."

That intriguing step away from traditional Italian extends to the sauce as well. "The only sauce we use up here is a marinara; at Lorenzo's, we use a marinara and a traditional tomato sauce."

Health consciousness forms another part of Chris's distinctive approach. "I use all pure olive oil, and I don't overstep my bounds with the oil," he says. "I also use herbs instead of salt for flavor."

And when Chris says that "everything's homemade," he means everything, even the pasta which Lorenzo, the family patriarch, continues to make from scratch at age 80.

"Homemade" also extends to the family's own salad dressing. "We've had it since 1957," Chris explains. "My father had just opened up Lorenzo's, and he wanted something unique to draw people in. My brother Lou first made up the dressing; my father tasted it and said, 'Geez, it has potential.' It's kind of a creamy Italian, but we threw a few other things into it, and there's really not another one like it." Salad devotees can buy bottles of the special dressing, not only at both restaurants, but also at Chatterbox in Amsterdam - owned, naturally, by two Lanzi sisters.

The reward for such outstanding cuisine comes from the patrons. "I get tons of comments," says Lou. "Just last Friday, we served people from New York City that have a camp near here. His job is entertaining clients in Manhattan, so he goes to all the best restaurants. He told us our food was as good, if not better, than any restaurant in Manhattan. That was quite a compliment."

Creating all this success began with the ingredient that carries it to this day: hard work. "When our grandfather came over from Rome, he worked on the railroad and in the carpet mills," Lou recounts. "He worked two jobs because he wanted to own his own business." In about three years, he realized that dream by buying a small store. From that humble start, he eventually owned a Prohibition-era speakeasy and Amsterdam's only banquet house complete with professional boxing in the back room.

Growing up in those circumstances was Lorenzo, who learned the trade at his father's restaurants and shared his entrepreneurial spirit. "In the '50s, Dad wanted to get out on his own," Lou says, "so he broke away and opened his own restaurant" - the same Lorenzo's that still delights Amsterdam patrons. True to his upbringing, Lorenzo set his own nine children to work in the new restaurant. The result? His five sons: Lou, Chris, Tony, Joe and Larry now operate both Lorenzo's and Lanzi's on the Lake, not to mention a flourishing off-premises catering business.

Even with this kind of success, the Lanzi vision is not yet complete. The brothers have already set out plans for a 300-seat lakeside banquet hall to cover the increasing traffic in weddings and parties. That would serve as a perfect introduction to their next step: a convention center on the lake.

And then there's the work of passing on the business to the next generation - a process that, according to Lou, is already beginning. "My eight-year-old loves to be a waiter - he puts the apron on, writes the specials down, takes water to the tables, sets up. He's very serious about it. He said to me the other day, 'Dad, how old do you have to be in order to be a busboy?' I said, 'Thirteen.' He said, 'Darn it!"'

Not to worry. His day will come - because the Lanzi legacy should continue pleasing patrons for generations.

Even with this kind of success, the Lanzi vision is not yet complete. The brothers have already set out plans for a 300-seat lakeside banquet hall to cover the increasing traffic in weddings and parties. That would serve as a perfect introduction to their next step: a convention center on the lake.

And then there's the work of passing on the business to the next generation - a process that, according to Lou, is already beginning. "My eight-year-old loves to be a waiter - he puts the apron on, writes the specials down, takes water to the tables, sets up. He's very serious about it. He said to me the other day, 'Dad, how old do you have to be in order to be a busboy?' I said, 'Thirteen.' He said, 'Darn it!"'

Not to worry. His day will come - because the Lanzi legacy should continue pleasing patrons for generations.

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