BY MICHELE MILLER
What’s What New Port Richey
Published July 2020
“People are stuck at home. They want something special. When I show up at the door it feels like Christmas. Sometimes when I come up the walkway and ring the doorbell, I hear them them say, ”The cannoli guy’s here!” They open the door and they have the biggest smile on their face.”
Tony Landi
“Mom always made the best…
A lot of people can finish that sentence in their own way, whether it be the “best” meatballs or meatloaf, blueberry muffins or blueberry buckle, sauce or gravy.
When it comes to a specialty Italian dessert with a sweet, creamy filling, Tony Landi figures there’s no beating Mariella Landi’s recipe.
“My mom makes the best cannoli,” he said. “I know everybody says that about their mom. But this is true.”
These days her son is proving his point by making one delivery after another of a shareable version of his mother’s traditional pastry called, Mama’s Famous Cannoli Chips.
Business has been pretty good lately, as is the response on the”Mama’s” Facebook page where orders are taken via direct message – $5.99 for a snack pack, $29.99 for a party tray – with free delivery
“Omg!!!!! Sooooo good!!!!!,” Neeta Lujan, chimed in on a post. “The filling is not too sweet or heavy. Looking forward to ordering more. And great customer service, free delivery right to your door:)”
“They were fresh and the cannoli cream was the best I have had,” said Lee Keon, who recently purchased a tray for an outdoor event – “social distancing, of course,” – held at a friend’s home. “They delivered them to my house exactly when they said they would. I will definitely order again.”
Bonnie Howard, the owner of Minuteman Press in Port Richey, purchased trays for the New Port Richey police department as a way to thank them for their service and ended up purchasing 10 trays for herself and her friends.
“When we tried them we were like, ‘Oh my God, these are so good,’ she said. “We just love them.”
“I love cannoli but these (chips) are so much better. Cannoli break apart and make a mess and this was easier,” she said. “Mama’s got it down.”
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The recipe for Mariella Landi’s cannoli originates in her home city of Palermo, Sicily.
The ‘secret sauce’ so to speak, is the filling, said her son – the kind of thing people go on about after tasting it for the first time.
Mrs. Landi made cannoli as a treat for family, but also for holiday parties for former employees at J.C. Penney’s where she worked as a manager before her retirement. She also prepared trays of her cannoli as gifts for clients of the family insurance agency, Landi and Associates.
“Everyone loved them,” Tony Landi said. “When mom retired we started thinking of something she could do.”
Cannoli came to mind, as did a different way to market them by making them a shareable indulgence.
Unlike other desserts, cannoli is not something you can share easily, Landi said. “In fact, cannoli can be an intimidating choice for people when they see them in a bakery case. You have to pick them up with your hands and take a bite. They can be messy.”
When a traditional cannoli sits too long the pastry dough gets soggy, leading to a less-than-desirable experience, Landi said.
That can ruin it for people.
“I thought, ‘Why can’t we make them into a cookie shape where people can dip them with the sauce on the side?'” he said.
Landi said he started selling trays of chips via Facebook a few years ago, “But not promoting it much.”
“We put a picture (of the product) on Facebook kind of just to see what would happen,” Landi said. “Really didn’t have a plan, so it was kind of putting the cart before the horse.”
As the pandemic geared up, he decided to package the product in smaller snack packs and offer free delivery to all.
“People are stuck at home. They want something special. When I show up at the door it feels like Christmas,” he said. “Sometimes when I come up the walkway and ring the doorbell I hear them say, ”The cannoli guy’s here!” They open the door and they have the biggest smile on their face.”
While it’s his mom that is at the heart of the business and her likeness on the label, Landi is the face and voice of the business these days.
Mariella and Tony Landi
“My mom is very excited, but she is also a very humble woman,” Landi said. “She’s surprised at how people have reacted to her dessert.”
“I’m so happy that so many people love the Cannoli,” Mrs. Landi wrote through direct message. “I was humbled by our customer’s reviews and kind words that they shared with us on how much they enjoyed them…many saying they were the best they ever had.”
Tony Landi promotes the product on social media, sometimes with a video “shout out” to remind people in Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas to get their orders in ahead of time so he can get them delivered on their designated day.
In January Mama’s Cannolli Chips Facebook had about 300 “likes” Landi said. “Now we are at 3,500.”
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Mama’s Famous Cannoli Chips are prepared and packaged in a commercial kitchen at My-Rent-a-Kitchen in Clearwater. Landi takes them from there, delivering to residents and businesses in his white Mercedes, going as far south as Brandon and north to Spring Hill.
The pastries are also available in freezer cases at local businesses such as Johnny Brusco’s New York Style Pizza in Trinity, County Line Produce in Lutz, Marketplace Produce & Country Store in Largo, and Sigmone’s Acropolis Meats & Deli, Ceraranno’s New York Pizza and Roger’s Chicago Beef & Pizza in Hudson.
“They can’t keep them on the shelves,” Landi said while stocking forty snack packs in a fridge on a recent Saturday morning at County Line Produce.
PHOTO| MICHELE MILLER
As business bustles, Landi said there’s thought of expansion; maybe acquiring a commercial kitchen and/or storefront for the family business.
“It might make more sense to have a place where people could pick up their orders,” he said, adding that the eventual goal would be to “have Mama’s Famous Cannoli Chips in every state.”
“We’ve always been entrepreneurial, ” he said of his family, noting that the insurance agency started with his father Frank Landi, and sister, Grace Haimes. “Never in a million years did I think we would be doing this.”
“Part of the success is the timing of it,” he said. “With COVID coming in people want something delivered. This is an indulgence – a comfort food. A way to treat yourself.”
Check it out: For information on Mama’s Famous Cannoli Chips, such as how to order and delivery days for your area, check out the Mama’s Famous Cannoli Chips Facebook page.
Mama’s are the best by far! They do a fantastic job! Thank you Michele for “what’s what New Port Richey”!