Twenty-five years ago, Syracuse.com was launched. It was, and remains, the leading source of information and advertising in Central New York. To celebrate, we’re exploring what makes Syracuse great, and we’ve come up with 25 things that fit the bill.
The seasons. Snow. A full house for an SU basketball game in February. You get the idea.
Every day for 25 days we’ll explore the stuff we brag about and wear as badges of honor as a testament to the folks who make our corner of the world such a great place. We want to know what you think makes Syracuse and the Central New York region great. Tell us here. And you can see our previous stories here.
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Syracuse’s Signature Scramble: The origin of the Central New York frittata (Or is it fretta?)
A frittata at a Syracuse diner is a sight to behold. A heaping pile of potatoes, peppers, onions, pepperoni, sausage and broccoli, bound together with eggs and sometimes cheese, the frittata stands like a mountain atop a platter typically reserved for a family meal.
But order a frittata at pretty much any breakfast spot not in Syracuse, and you’ll end up with something totally different.
What gives?
The whole frittata from Mother's Cupboard. This giant breakfast from one of Syracuse's smallest diners is among the most popular versions of the uniquely Syracuse breakfast. Katrina Tulloch | ktulloch@syracuse.comKatrina Tulloch | ktulloch@syracuse.com
The earliest reference to frittata found in The Post-Standard comes from 1966, when the former Casa Lorenzo, located at 476 S. Salina St., in what is now known as the Whitlock Building, advertised its frittata, billed as an “Italian omelette specialty with mushrooms, green pepper and julienne salami” on its lunch menu for a cool $1.45.
But the origins of Syracuse’s signature scramble likely date back much earlier than that. Anthony “Poodles” Del Priore, along with his brother-in-law, James Stagnitta, opened Poodles & Jim’s.
The diner served steaks, sandwiches and pasta. The Italian sausage and peppers sandwich, topped with tomato sauce and served in the heel of a loaf of Italian bread, was purportedly a standout, but it was the frittata—or fretta, as it’s often called—that put Poodles & Jim’s on the dining map.
The frittata at Finally Ours on Onondaga Hill. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com)Charlie Miller
Herald-Journal columnist Joe Ganley—who reported extensively on Poodles, even after the restaurateur retired and moved to Florida— traced Del Priore’s fretta back to a roadside ice cream stand along U.S. Route 20 between Seneca Falls and Waterloo that Del Priore and his wife, Ann, owned in the mid-1930s. That’s where Del Priore fried up hot dogs, onions, peppers, potatoes and eggs to feed hungry truckers along the busy pre-Thruway thoroughfare.
Del Priore later moved to the James Coffee Shop in the former Alhambra building at the corner of James and Pearl streets in Syracuse (The building burned down in 1899, was rebuilt in 1900, damaged by fire in 1947 and finally succumbed to a third fire in 1955. Interstates 690 and 81 run through the current site.).
Poodles ran that restaurant with his brother, Ralph. Ralph went on to cook at Poodles & Jim’s, as well as other restaurants around town. His son, Ralph Jr., who himself got his start serving sodas as a kid in the coffee shop in the Alhambra his father and uncle ran, owned the Miss Syracuse Diner for a stint in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
Poodles and Jims opened at a new location on New Court Avenue in Lyncourt in 1976.
Some point later, he and Stagnitta opened their spot on North Salina Street, near Clinton Square. The diner was open late—Del Priore once called police after a Syracuse football player and his buddies entered the restaurant between 3:30 and 4 a.m. and bent a metal coat rack in half. After fire destroyed the restaurant in 1975, it reopened in 1976 at 3900 New Court Ave. in Lyncourt. The space was a number of different diners in recent years. It’s now a vacant lot.
It wasn’t a 24-hour diner, but it was pretty darn close. At the time the Lyncourt restaurant opened, Poodles was open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. and then again from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Stagnitta ran the kitchen during the day and Del Priore operated it at night.
Veggie Frittata with American cheese and Geddes Bakery Italian toast. from Nestico's...too!, 4105 W. Genesee St., Fairmount. John Berry / The Post-StandardJohn Berry
Its late hours and downtown location made it a popular spot for celebrities visiting town. Ganley listed Muhammad Ali, Mickey Rooney, Tony Bennett, Cab Calloway, among others, as guests at Poodles. Julie Nestico, arguably Syracuse’s most influential restaurateur in recent history, is said to have gotten his start at Poodles, before opening his first coffee shop on the city’s North Side in 1948.
A 1997 column from Joe Ganley on the death of Anthony "Poodles" Del Priore.
Del Priore died in 1997 at the age of 81. Among the first things mentioned in his obituary is the fretta, which he “made famous in the Syracuse area," as well as his hash browns and eggs with garlic toast.
Del Priore retired in 1980. Stagnitta in 1985. Somewhere along the way, those impromptu roadside egg-and-hot dog scrambles became the frittata. Or the fretta. Whatever you call it, as long as you ask for it in Syracuse, you’ll know to expect something uniquely Central New York.
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Jacob Pucci finds the best in food, dining and culture across Central New York. Contact him by email at jpucci@syracuse.com.
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