Gary Bimonte, grandson of Pizza Legend Frank Pepe and master pizzaiolo
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Home Peter Reinhart Chris Bianco Brian Spangler Ed LaDou Tony Gemignani |
Gary Bimonte from
Legends of Pizza
Discusses the Birth of Pepe's Clam Pizza
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Excerpt from
The Legends of Pizza e-Book.
Albert: So, now Pepe�s has been passed on to the grandchildren. What do you think makes Pepe�s so special? Let�s face it. Pepe�s is not an ordinary pizza place. People wait in line every day, hours to get into Pepe�s. What are you guys doing? What makes it so special?
Gary: Well, we are continuing using the top quality ingredients that my grandfather did. We haven�t changed anything from my grandfather�s tradition and the way he did things as far as proofing the dough and all the quality ingredients we import.
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Gary: How about "the story of" the birth of the clam pie?
Albert: Yeah, I�d love to hear that.
Gary: It was great. This is just recently told to me. It was a chance. It�s unbelievable how this story came about. I was in an electrical supply house that my uncle used years ago. I was trying to find this item for a light for our oven because it has to take the high heat. I said let me go back to this old electrical supply house that my uncle used.
This is Frank Pepe�s daughter�s husband and my uncle. He ran the business for a few years after my grandfather passed away. I went in there and I was talking to the gentleman. The gentleman was about my age.
We started getting into conversation and he goes, �Well, my father ran the electrical supply for Frank Pepe. They used to hang around on Wooster Street and play cards.� Back then they used to do card playing and play dice. Back then it was the fifties; late forties or early fifties.
He just came out about the clam pizza. He said, �You know my father was there when their first clam pizza was made.� I said, �No!� He called up his father and got him on the phone with me.There was a gentleman there and his name was Maxie Beard and he would cut clams in a half shell. This was a summer afternoon in the late forties or early fifties. I couldn�t get a time from the gentleman and couldn�t get an exact date out of him. The guy was cutting clams on a half shell. They were hanging around.
My grandfather came out of the restaurant for a little breather or whatever and they were all talking. He turns around and says, �Hey pop, why don�t you put some of these on the pizza.� He said, �Sure.� So, he cut some clams and put them in a dish. He went inside and threw it on a pizza. He came outside and boom! Clam pizza. Unbelievable. From then on, the turnout was delicious. You know, he used garlic and how we prepared it. It was delicious and he put it on the menu.
Albert: Yeah.
Gary: It was a hit.
Albert: What a story. So, it was an accident?
Gary: Yeah, basically. (Continued in Legends of Legends of Pizza Download on MP3 )You can watch a video of my recent visit to Pepe's by going here:
Hear more stories, here:
Legends of Pizza Volume 1 on CD
Legends of Pizza Download on MP3
Featuring interviews with: Chris Bianco Gary Bimonte Peter Reinhart
Legends of Pizza Volume 2 on CD
Legends of Pizza Download on MP3
Tony Gemignani Brian Spangler Ed LaDou
Read The Legends of Pizza e-Book.
(Contains transcripts of all interviews)
