WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE: Lanci’s Bakery Back, Fresher Than Ever

BY MARIA MERLINO/ When I was freshman at Temple University, I made pocket money with a part-time job at Cilione’s, a genuine Italian market at 17th & Jackson Streets that sold fresh eggs, butter, cheese and imported delicacies. It’s now defunct, but I have fond memories of the patriarch Dominick Cilione inspecting each egg through a candle light for freshness; his son Joe shouting, ‘Stay out of the beans, Junior!’; and his daughter-in-law, Barbara Jean, running over to Lanci Bakery to buy bread for our lunch. The prosciutto was delicious on bread that was outstanding. Cars would line up on Jackson Street to wait for the ovens to birth its product; it was that good.

Five years ago, Lanci’s closed and the neighborhood suffered a big loss. But, good news everyone! Lanci’s is back and better than ever.

When the families on Colorado Street got that nostalgic whiff of baking bread, the excitement turned feverish. After all, the 90-year-old recipe never changed; the ingredients are flour, yeast, water and salt.

After renovations, Lanci’s Bakery at 1716 Jackson Street has reopened. In front of the brick oven, is Donna Braff, office manager; VP of retail sales Barbara Lanci Leonetti; and “Bread Boss” Larry Lanci. Photo by Maria Merlino

56-year-old Larry Lanci, who looks half his age and twice as handsome, is the 4th-generation baker. He took two years to refurbish and remodel the store and even had the hand-lettering on the window re-painted in the old-fashioned style. “If you look slightly sideways on the glass, you can see the ghost image from the 1900s,” he tells me and sure enough, Panetteria d’Abbruzzi appears like a hologram from long-ago. “My great-grandfather Rafael Lanci and his brothers came to this country as masons. They built the communal brick ovens in Lanciano, Abruzzi where everyone took their bread to bake. The oven was heated with wood, since coal was scarce, and after 24 hours, the bricks would glow and the time was right to bake. When the oven was filled, the door would be bricked up and the chimney closed. It was a tight oven.”

I asked Lanci what a tight oven meant. “Today,” he tells me, “most ovens are made of metal and consequently, air escapes the oven through the door. With a tight oven, no air gets out and the bread gives off steam which helps develop the crust.”

The bread Lanci makes holds up in any situation, especially dunking and dipping. It doesn’t get all flabby on you when you break off a hunk and sop up the juices, sauces and gravies on the plate. It’s dense and chewy with a fine texture and the tiniest bubbles of fermentation. And you’re not left with a plate of fragments when you finish your sandwich. The more bread he makes, the better it gets. How does this happen? I ask.

“The oven is a huge thermal mass,” he begins. “As particles of flour permeate the bricks, the chemistry changes and the molecular qualities in the air impart an additional level of flavor. My bread is made in small batches, hand shaped and baked in a coal-fired oven. The texture and taste of artisan bread is different from a mass-produced product. The ancient techniques perfected for thousands of years in Europe happens right here in the store.”

His grandmother Josephine named the breads and he still honors her. “She would call the small loaf with one long slash, a Spoilet. It’s the original small loaf. We also have two round loaves, the Alta, a puffed-up loaf with a cross cut into it and the Flat Bread with its distinct four-cut square design. This is the bread that is solid and dense, with a great oven flavor as it stays the longest in the oven.” Lanci also has a Whole Wheat Loaf made with a coarse grained organic flour that has a nutlike flavor. You’ll also find the Piccolo Roll, the Bambina, the Big Fat, a Baguette, fresh dough, partially baked pizza shells and a Peasant Bread with fresh toppings.

Lanci also expounds on his bread crumbs. “They are so pure, not like the dust you find in cans. When you make a chicken cutlet, dip it first in flour, then a beaten egg and finally press on my bread crumbs. You can cook it the way you like and the coating will brown and not fall off.”

After living in Drexel Hill for a few years, Lanci’s marriage didn’t work out. “I love the suburban life and even though I grew up here, it was still a culture shock returning to the old neighborhood.” He has help from his domestic partner, Donna Braff. They wake each other up at dawn to get the baking done. And it’s done with love and intelligence.

Says Braff, “Every morning, I take a picture of our Peasant Bread and upload it to Facebook.The first week we were opened, we gave away 800 loaves of bread to the neighbors to thank them and let them know that we’re back in business.”

Lanci Bakery 1716 Jackson Street 215-463-0169 www.lancibakery.com Closed Monday and Tuesday

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