New Planet Pizza Orbits in Rye

Planet Pizza has come to Rye with roots stretching from Naples to Little Italy in the Bronx, and from Fordham University to White Plains.

“Don’t be deceived by the corporate-sounding name –we chose it because it’s a catchy name, it’s easy to remember, and it has enabled us to create growth and instant product recognition," said Joe Rocco, 43, the eldest of the three Rocco brothers.

Joe and his brothers, Michael, 42,  and Frank, 40, were seated around a table at their newly-opened Planet Pizza, 1004 Boston Post Road, on the renovated site formerly home to Hip Hop Wraps and Domino’s Pizza.

Three Fordham college-educated Rocco brothers, with their Neapolitan pizzaiola, father Michael and their familial meat sauce, make 25 special pizzas with choices of 32 different toppings as well as a wide variety of other menu items from salads, buffalo wings, hot and cold subs as well as entrees.

“We’re no Domino’s, we’re not a fast-food corporate Italian joint,” Michael Junior said.  “We’re very much a family business with a genuine love for Italian cooking and a passion for pizza. That explains what we’re doing here –we came in unannounced for a quality control-spot check.  We do that at all our stores. We want a consistent product.

"We want to make sure everything meets our standards. And those standards are very high.  That’s why we are ranked Fairfield County’s number one-rated independent family pizzerias, and have a growing reputation as a still-growing 10 store chain that has been family owned and operated since 1991,” he said.

They started Planet Pizza in White Plains when the last of the three brothers graduated from Gabelli School of Business school at Fordham University, named for Rye financier Mario Gabelli who has donated untold millions to his alma mater.

“I knew, maybe we all knew, that we wanted to be in the pizza business from the eighth grade,” said Michael Junior as his brothers nodded in agreement. “We all worked in our father’s pizzerias from the time we were kids.”

“When they told me they wanted to follow me into the pizza business, I told them what are you crazy,” said Michael Senior. He opened his first pizzeria in the Bronx –the Little Italy legend “Pino’s” –under the elevated trains on 241^st St. and White Plains Road in the early 1970s, shortly after he came from his native Naples.

“I was the pizzaiola, I used to cook, clean up, do the books, do the shopping. I did everything,” Michael Senior recalled. “When the boys started to come along, they began to help out and learned how to do everything there was to do in a pizzeria from the time they were kids, and I mean everything. But when they told me that’s what they wanted to do for a living, be a pizzaiola like me, I said no, you get an education first and then you talk to me.”

So they grew up in the Bedford Park neighborhood, went to the nearby Fordham University for their college degrees, and majored in business with a concentration on marketing, accounting and business management. When they graduated, they still wanted to be like their father.

The trio started in White Plains and now has eight locations in Connecticut, including Greenwich and Stamford. 

“What we have is a passion for pizza, we sell more than 1,000 pizzas per day in our various locations,” said Michael Jr. “But we also have a family tradition of great Italian cooking that starts with our father and mother and our  grandmothers. So when we say our ‘Grandmother’s Pizza’ specialty is our best seller, we know the recipe comes right out of our family kitchen.”

The brothers love working together, and envision their own families becoming part of the business someday. Each brother is married with four children; the upcoming Roccos range from age three to 17.

“Everything we cook is filled with family pride,” said Frank. “And every dish we serve is filled with family know how." 

Further information and deliveries 925-2500; www.planetpizza.com