Salt City Woods Builds Bianchi’s Pizza Countertop Bianchi's Pizza Countertop

Cole Kirst: Flatbread dough with fresh sauce topped with cheese, pepperoni and basil. That is Bianchi’s taste of good food and good life. However last December Bianchi’s Pizza Pad was destroyed in a fire. The restaurant has since been rebuilt at the same location. Owner Sam Mangano walks through the changes to his newly built restaurant.

Sam Mangano: “So this was looking this way. And that was the ceiling. This is different. It used to be one straight shot. It’s been redesigned so it’s easier to work here and things are done differently. But thats how much it’s changed.“

Kirst: Before the fire, Sam came to the Owner of Salt City Woods, Tom Derby to have a custom countertop built.

Tom Derby: “Initially it was two separate countertops in an L formation that we put in and he absolutely loved it.”

Kirst: The countertop was included in the fire. But that didn’t stop Tom from continuing his work.

Derby: “And were repurposing these were putting the old countertops back in for his countertop so were going to do that today.”

Kirst: “Now that the wood has been repurposed the countertop has traveled to its new home.”

Mangano: “It’ll be here another 50 years because everything is brand new. Literally brand new.”

Kirst: As corners were cut and the table brought in, a repurposed natural resource will continue to live on. And a slice of pizza to complement a job well done. In Syracuse, Cole Kirst… N-C-C News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Bianchi’s Pizza was struck with tragedy when owner Sam Mangano woke up one morning to find out a fire had destroyed the pizza restaurant.

The tenant who was living upstairs at the time called Sam and asked if he had left pulled pork in the oven as the smoke began to rise. Mangano didn’t think so and within minutes saw the aftermath of a ceiling electrical problem that caused the flames. 

However the community helped Bianchi Pizza get back on their feet raising thousands of dollars for the business. The new restaurant is a sight that Mangano is excited to share. 

“It’s been redesigned so it’s easier to work here and things are done differently,” Mangano said. “But that’s how much it’s changed.”

Before the fire, Sam came to the owner of Salt City Woods, Tom Derby, to have a custom countertop built. It served its time before the business suffered the fire, but that didn’t stop Tom from helping again.

“Initially it was two separate countertops in an L formation that we put in and he absolutely loved it,” Derby said.

Derby continued that he enjoys working with his hands and being in his shop. It allows him to dream and help others.  

The countertop traveled to Bianchi’s Pizza to be placed before the opening of the refurbished pizza parlor in the next couple months.   

Mangano said it will be in the restaurant another fifty years because everything is brand new. “Literally brand new,” Mangano said.

The restaurant hopes to please customers not only with its food, but new venue too.  

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