Buffalo Rising Online

Dec 12th 2008, 12:07pm By queenseyes

Not being a cook, sometimes the small, but essential, gourmet production facility escapes my radar. It was not until just a few days ago that my girlfriend told me that she was heading to Gondola to pick up some pasta. I told her that I was somewhat familiar with the name of the business, but for the life of me I could not place where it was. So we took a drive over to Niagara Street to see exactly where it was located. Once I saw the corner house, I knew that I had been aware of the business though I had never stepped inside.

It was Maria Insalaco who greeted us - she was busy working behind the counter, though you could tell right away that she was accustomed to wearing many hats. I asked her how long Gondola had been around and she explained that her parents, Guido and Maria Colla, had started the business back in 1963 on Potomac Avenue. As she spoke, a steady stream of customers walked in and out of the building. "We make our pasta fresh every day," she continued. "We produce 720 boxes of ravioli (one of the best sellers) a day. We also sell to local restaurants like Marco's, Santasiero's, San Marco's and Ilio Di Paolo's. There are even a couple places in Rochester and Syracuse that order our pasta."

As I looked around, I was impressed by the amount of production that was taking place in such a small footprint. Wendy was busy making the pasta (I could see her through the window), as Sharon, Christine and Scott were busy with the packaging. It's a streamlined production process, which has got to be one of the reasons that the business has survived for so many years. Before leaving, we ordered a box of the cheese ravioli - Maria instructed us to throw it into the freezer as soon as we got home in order to preserve the freshness.

Later that night we (cough, cough) made a dinner that turned out to be absolutely delicious. It must have been the combination of supporting an old-world business and the genuine quality of the food that made the meal so great. I highly recommend picking up some Gondola pasta the next time you are looking to whip up a homemade Italian meal. The only thing that could be better would be attempting to make the pasta from scratch... and that's just not going to happen (for us at least) any time soon.

For a more in-depth look into the world of Gondola, visit this post in the BRO YUM Channel.

Gondola Macaroni Products | 1985 Niagara Street, Buffalo, 14207 | 716.874.4280, call for hours.

*The rest of the ingredients used to make the sauce were purchased at Guercio's on Grant Street.