meat.indah.link
CLOSE
Autoplay
Show Thumbnails
Show Captions
Last SlideNext Slide
When Joe Scala and Sylvia Persico started making plans in April 2019 to open Fanny's Fried Chicken in Cape Canaveral, they didn't factor a global pandemic into their plans.
The cheerful restaurant on North Atlantic Avenue opened April 11, just weeks after COVID-19 restrictions had closed restaurant dining rooms across the Space Coast. The setback didn't faze Scala and Persico.
They opened a takeout window and served fried chicken, fried fish and other home-style favorites by the bucket as people lined up outside.
Fanny's is designed to be mainly take-home, which is what diners craved this spring, and continue to appreciate today.
The new restaurant is Fanny's second home.
Scala has spent the past 40 years in the kitchen. He's been in Brevard County for about 15 years, working at beachside restaurants including Zarella's Italian and Wood-Fired Pizza, Sandbar Sports Grill and Long Doggers.
After his last chef job, he'd planned to retire his apron. But he kept passing a small restaurant space near his Cape Canaveral condo.
Though Scala grew up in New York, his mother, Fanny, was from South Carolina. She'd learned her own mother's secret to fried chicken, and she shared it with her son.
He began practicing her recipe, which includes eight herbs and spices and significant time marinating in buttermilk. With a small fryer and using his neighbors as guinea pigs, he perfected it.
He opened Fanny's in a 500-square-food space in 2018.
While this was going on, he and Persico were rekindling their relationship.
High school sweethearts, they had gone their separate ways after graduation. They reconnected through Facebook.
Persisco owed a competitive cheerleading gym New York. She was planning to sell it and buy a house when Scala approached her with an idea.
A building that once housed a carwash, where North Atlantic Avenue forks away off of State Road A1A, was for sale. With that building, Scala could expand Fanny's from 500 square feet to 3,000 square feet.
"We bought the building instead of a house," she said.
She moved to Florida in October, and so far is happy with the decision.
"It's the smartest thing I ever did, in all honesty," she said.
Scala now has a roomy kitchen in one of the car wash bays, with separate fryers for fish, chicken and French fries. The other bays are now used for storage and a walk-in cooler.
Fanny's guests order at the counter. There's limited seating inside, and a large, shaded outdoor dining area.
The menu includes fried and rotisserie chicken, fried ribs, sandwiches, wraps and hot and cold sides. Sides include mac-n-cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, collard greens, slaw and red potato salad.
Buckets and family meals are perfect for dinner at home or on the beach.
The Mom's Country Special includes eight pieces of fried chicken, a half rack of fried ribs, a large box of fries, a 1-pound hot side and a 1/2-pound cold side, plus four dinner rolls for $33.
More: Beachfly Brewing relocates to Rockledge
More: Take a culinary vacation in Orlando
Fanny's also offers gizzards and livers by the pound, as well as country fried steak, pork chops, fish, shrimp and clam strips.
"Joe and I, we're hands on owners," Persisco said. "We take pride in everything we do."
Persisco handles the front of the restaurant while Scala is in the kitchen.
"I'm the business person," she said. "I'm the brains, he's the talent."
"Beauty and the beast," Scala said.
For Scala, Fanny's is more than just a business. It's a tribute to his mother.
"When I come in in the morning, I feel like I am home," he said.
Fanny's Fried Chicken as at 7900 N. Atlantic Ave., Cape Canavera. Call 321-613-0077 or visit facebook.com/fannysfriedchicken. Hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Email sleonard@floridatoday.com.
Facebook: @SuzyFlemingLeonard
Instagram: @SuzyLeonard
Supportlocaljournalism:Find offers for new subscribers at floridatoday.com/subscribe.
Read or Share this story: https://ift.tt/3jt5P6a
The Link Lonk
September 01, 2020 at 07:29PM
https://ift.tt/3jt5P6a
High school sweethearts reunite and open Fanny's Fried Chicken in Cape Canaveral - Florida Today
https://ift.tt/38mRq7q
Fried Chicken
