Dalers Pizza Opens In Farmingdale: 'We're Ready To Rock And Roll'
FARMINGDALE, NY — It was a long time coming, but Dalers Pizza is open.
The pizzeria, at 331 Main St., Farmingdale, has been in the making for 25 months and endured several delays. Owner Ben LoManto said he is “relieved” to have finally opened his doors in late November.
“I want to focus on the actual business of taking care of my customers,” LoManto told Patch. “I want to focus on the product, the service, the hospitality, making sure everything is properly cooked, properly seasoned. The kitchen works cohesively. Everything gets made properly and quick. That’s what I hang my hat on. Unfortunately, you’ve got to go through the mud before you can do that, and the mud part was building the place. But now that we’re here, I’m going to focus at least two solid months on really honing my craft.”
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Much of the “mud” was brought about by Staller Associates’s plans to build a residential-commercial hybrid on the strip of Main Street that Dalers now partly occupies. Staller withdrew its plans of a multi-story building, but not before all the utilities were severed. Gas and electricity had to be reinstated, LoManto said, and a moratorium on gas two years ago caused an early delay. There were multiple other roadblocks, too, the owner said.
“But we’re finally here. Hard work pays off.”
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Dalers Pizza occupies the space that Gino’s once held for 35 years.
LoManto said he doesn’t go around tasting his competitors’ food, but he believes he and his staff’s work ethic sets them apart from other pizzerias. He’s found himself fine-tuning recipes he’s had for years because of the way recipes translate from building to building.
“Whether it be the ambient temperature, the water of that place, there are a lot of different things to take into effect,” he explained. “Where the dough mixer is placed in the building, maybe there’s a draft. Then you’re changing between seasons: come wintertime, come summertime, come springtime. When it’s hot, when it’s cold. The water comes out different temperatures sometimes. There’s a lot of stuff. It’s not a plug-and-go situation. You really have to hone your recipes and constantly evolve with them. Not be afraid to make changes. Not be afraid to do things a little differently. Get out of your comfort zone. If that’s what it takes to make that particular spot work, then so be it. Hard work always pays off.”
LoManto said people have a lot of choices among places to eat in the Farmingdale area, pizzeria or not. Providing a good product is important, but he said there’s more to it. Venues need to be pleasing to the eye and welcoming.
“You’re putting a place together where people are going to come here and spend an hour-and-half here from whatever they’re doing and appreciate the space you’ve built, the product, the hospitality and the customer service,” he said. “All of that combined is what I’m all about. We’re here and we’re ready to rock and roll.”
LoManto, over a year ago, said he would like Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports who is also known for his pizza reviews, to come visit. But not yet. LoManto wants to work out all the kinks before the pizza-loving entrepreneur shows up. While LoManto said he hopes Portnoy will eventually come down, his goal is to make a product that he himself is comfortable with and wants to sell and eat.
“And if [Portnoy] happens to show up and he likes it, that’s great. A bump from him doesn’t hurt, obviously. He has made a lot of pizzerias a lot of money by giving them whatever score [his audience] deems to be really good. It’s not a goal, but if it happens, it’d be great.”
LoManto said he and Portnoy do share a similar taste when it comes to pizza, though: well-baked pies, thin crust and no flop.
“But it takes time to do that,” he said. “The ovens react differently every time you open up in the morning. It’s a craft that needs to be honed. You need the right people to do it. I couldn’t do everything myself. I have an amazing staff. I have a good crew in the kitchen, a good crew behind the counter, a really good pizza man. So again, you put all that stuff together with hard work, and it pays off.”
LoManto said he plans to get involved in giving back to the Farmingdale community when the holiday season ends.
“Everyone’s already involved in their own things, whether it be parties or donations or things like that. Once the smoke clears, once we kind of get comfortable in our space, maybe come January after the holidays and after all the hoopla is done, and everyone settles down, I want to definitely do something with the community and give back a little bit. Show my appreciation. Listen, I love Farmingdale.”
LoManto’s other restaurant, Vespa, also on Main Street in Farmingdale, is almost 9 years old. He said he’s been “really, extremely blessed” with Vespa.
“So, Farmingdale has really taken a liking to us. For me, Farmingdale and the Dalers themselves are special people. They’ve shown their support, and I definitely want to do the same thing with them and show my support for them.”
LoManto plans to show his support and will likely pitch in with helping out with the bus crash tragedy. Farmingdale High School band director Gina Pellettiere, 43, of Massapequa, and Bea Ferrari, 77, of Farmingdale, a retired teacher who chaperoned the annual band camp trip to Greeley, Pennsylvania, were killed when the bus they were on crashed and tumbled down a 50-foot ravine in Orange County on Sept. 21.
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