Consider having An Italian Affair

MASSENA — There's a casual, family-owned Italian restaurant in Massena called An Italian Affair that we stumbled upon recently.

It's on East Orvis Street, just off Route 37 not far from the mall. It's been around since 1995, starting out as a hole-in-the-wall place back then. But a recent attractive remodeling has increased the seating capacity and created a bright, clean and welcoming environment.

We stopped by on a Thursday night, and was it ever busy. Young people, old people, in-between-aged people. Young waitresses scurrying from the kitchen to the tables with trays filled with pizzas and calzones, jumbo wings and other fried things, salads and subs, garlic knots, pasta dishes and more.

We grabbed one of the last available tables. Desiree managed to bring menus and water to us in the middle of the rush. It was crunch time at the restaurant — and you could see controlled panic in our waitress's eyes.

Somehow, she managed to keep up with the flow. The four of us were in no hurry and planned to sample as many items on the menu as possible. We started off with two small pizzas and a salad to share, then ordered an entrée course followed by dessert.

For pizzas, you can choose from traditional, specialty or white.

From the specialty category we tried "The Works" ($9.40), topped with pepperoni, sausage, onion, green peppers, mushrooms and extra cheese. Lots of meat. Lots of veggies.

The crust was crisp, the toppings fresh and flavorful, the sauce slightly sweet.

They offer six white pizzas (no sauce, lots of cheese and garlic): spinach, broccoli, garlic and oil, Buffalo chicken, fresh tomato and Greek.

We got broccoli ($8), featuring perfect al dente broccoli over mozzarella, Parmesan and ricotta cheeses with just the right amount of garlic.

Antipasto salad ($6.80), easily enough for two or more, consisted of chopped romaine and spring mix, slices of rolled-up ham, circles of provolone cheese and salami on top all sprinkled with sliced olives and shredded mozzarella.

The neatest thing was a blob of delicious tuna salad underneath the greens.

Although we're used to Italian or balsamic dressing being standard on an antipasto, we were offered the usual innumerable choices. We stuck with Italian.

Unfortunately, it came in one of those plastic packets, plopped right on top of the pile of empty salad bowls. Good quality, though Hidden Valley brand.

Our entrées were generously portioned and sensibly priced.

Eggplant parm ($9.35) was excellent, a good half-dozen discs of eggplant with a tasty breading, deep-fried and served with linguine and red sauce. The sauce was mighty fine, mellow and a little sweet from chopped onions, garlicky smelling but not overpowering.

Chicken martini ($9.75) was a very nice pasta sauté: tasty chunks of chicken tossed with roasted red peppers, olive oil and penne.

Their lasagna ($8.75) used fewer noodles than you typically expect with lasagna, which we liked. Also lots of sauce, ricotta and a good amount of fennel-laden sausage, not too spicy — just right.

We spotted subs at the next table, and they looked great. So we got a meatball sub ($5.97). The bakery-fresh roll was spectacular and sizable, filled with meatballs, sauce and barely melted mozzarella with a sprinkle of parm on top.

Between the hot and cold subs, there are 16 to choose from.

By this time, the place had cleared out and we were one of the last tables left.

Now you've got to picture this. Among the four of us, we had asked for to-go containers for just about everything we ordered. So there were six or seven black Styrofoam containers piled up on our table. When Desiree asked if there was anything else she could get for us and we said, "How about a dessert menu," her look of disbelief was priceless.

Actually, we had no room for dessert. But duty called.

She suggested deep-fried cheesecake ($4.95), a portion big enough to share.

We took her advice, although the 12-layer chocolate "Fudgy Wudgy" cake was mighty tempting. And fun to say.

The deep-fried delight was fun to eat. They wrapped a big slice of cheesecake, probably frozen first, in what we thought was either a flour tortilla or a plain wrap. It came out of the fryer brown and crisp on the outside, warm and yummy on the inside. Desiree jazzed up the plate with whipped topping and supplied sides of chocolate sauce and berry sauce in little no-frills plastic cups.

Lots of food for four came to a mere $68.98.

Beer and wine are available. We considered wine, but when Desiree's verbal "list" started with Lambrusco, we lost interest. We're not wine snobs. We just have bad memories when it comes Lambrusco. How about you?

Here's my theory on how you can tell if an Italian restaurant has really good food. Eat the leftovers the next day for breakfast. Cold.

I did, and the pizza was great. So was the linguine and red sauce. What was left of the antipasto I polished off for lunch.

You'll want to check out An Italian Affair's Web site for their complete menu: www.anitalianaffair.com

You can contact restaurant reviewer Walter Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.

An Italian Affair

339 East Orvis St.

Massena, NY

764-9829

www.anitalianaffair.com

A casual, family-owned Italian restaurant serving pizzas and calzones, jumbo wings and other fried things, salads and subs, pasta dishes and more. Portions are plentiful; prices are right.

HOURS:

11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday

11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday

3:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday

Very good pizza. We sampled "The Works" and a broccoli "white" pizza. Eggplant parmesan was nicely done. So was the lasagna. Subs are filling — the rolls are great. Try the deep-fried cheesecake for dessert.

Rating: 3 and one-half forks