BMW of Boston, Drink That & De La Posta

.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You are listening to Food for Thoughtwith Billy and Jenny, brought to you
by the Box Center. For morethan fifteen years, this dining duo has
been eating their way through New England, mixing it up with top chefs,
jumping behind the line of the hottestrestaurants and giving you the inside scoop on
where to wine, dine and spendyour time. So get ready, it's
Food for Thought giving you something tochew on. Hello, everybody, welcome

(00:23):
into Food for Thought brought to youby the Box Center. This is Jenny
and we have a really exciting showfor you this week. It is at
least in New England, things arestarting to thought. You know. You
can see people wearing no longer theirgiant down jackets and there's more of a
spring feel within the city which isreally nice. And one of the things

(00:45):
that that means is that there's alwaysnew opportunities in the hospitality industry, which
is obviously our focus on Food forThought. As you guys may know,
we have our television show Dining Playbook, which also supports the hospitality industry by
showing the delicious dishes the delicious chefs, much like we do on this show.
So one of the things I alwayslike to do is kind of promote

(01:07):
what is happening on the show thisweek, because it often has to do
with a lot of the conversation that'shappening in hospitality. So some of you
may have heard of the James BeardAwards. This is basically the Oscar Awards
of the hospitality industry, and thathappens during the spring. And so they're
in the process right now of havingtheir semi finalists which have been announced.

(01:29):
And one of the great restaurants thatwas part of the semi finalist is a
restaurant called Gustaso and that's one ofthe restaurants that we check out on Dining
Playbook this week. And they havetwo locations, one in Waltham and one
in Cambridge. And this is avery special restaurant, not only because chef
Patrizia is so talented, but becauseit's Cuban food, and I think if

(01:52):
you're familiar with the various flavors thatare in and around Boston, there was
sort of a there was a lackingin in this particular area. And what's
so incredible is her coming here fromHavana. She really sought as an opportunity
to bring to Boston and the Bostonsurrounding areas those flavors. So you know,

(02:13):
we are also celebrating Women's History months, So on the show, we're
celebrating a number of different women inthe area, and so I want to
take some time to be able topromote some of those businesses that maybe you
want to take some time to checkout this month, any month. I
mean, I don't care if yougo this month, next month, if
you go. I just love tobe able to showcase some of the great
work that women are doing in ourcity. And I think it's worth noting

(02:36):
that the women within Boston have beenmaking up the culinary scene for a very
long time, where it wasn't necessarilythe case in other major cities across the
country. So you have Joeann Chang, who has flower Bakery, many many,
many, many, many flower bakeriesacross the city, and she's been
here for decades and is certainly oneof the most celebrated females in Boston.

(02:58):
We have Tiffany Faison. She isSweet Cheeks and Tenderoni's and a bunch of
great spots in Fenway. Obviously,there's Kathy Sidell who's there has Stephanie's and
Salty Girl. We love Tatiana Rosanawho runs Envoy Hotel and has a fantastic
roof deck where she really pays homageto her culinary traditions as well. Grace

(03:19):
by Nia is a fantastic spot togo visit in the seaport that's owned by
Nia. Grace and we're talking someof the most incredible musical entertainment you will
ever experience in our city and alsosome great food with a lot of Southern
flavors. Christ and Canties another friendof ours from Woodshill here for that.
We always love to support beautiful restaurantright there in the harbor. Such a

(03:42):
great time to be able to dothat. But back to sort of the
James Beard Awards and Chef Percizia atGustazo. She is one of the semi
finalists, so we're so excited tobe able to feature her some of her
dishes and hear a little bit abouther history on Dining Playbook this week.
I also recently got to be akeynote speaker for a group that's called Let's

(04:02):
Talk Women. And Let's Talk Womenis an organization that is made up of
women who are in hospitality. Sothese are women who are in beverage,
these are women who are in restaurants, these are women who work for the
businesses that support restaurants. And Iam a member. And this group was

(04:25):
founded during COVID and there's been sucha strong camaraderie that was formed from them.
And so you'll be able to seeon Dining playbooks kind of a recap
of their annual gala which was heldat the Boston Harbor Distillery. And if
you haven't been to Boston Harbord Distillery, you must check it out. The
owner, Ronda Coleman, is asort of legend in the drink space in

(04:49):
Boston. She was part of theSam Adams Crew Boston beer company for about
twenty years until she spun off andis creating her own whiskey there. You
know, her whisky pays homage toBoston, obviously it's made here in Boston.
And she has this beautiful kind ofold mill space that is in Dorchester,

(05:11):
really high ceilings, beautiful wood andit's a great place to gather,
great place to learn more about whiskey, but also a great place to have
a party. So we had aparty there with a number of different chefs.
They all brought awesome, you know, different dishes to enjoy, and
we were I was one of theseekers and we were able to sort of
talk about the women that have inspiredus in our lives and in our careers,

(05:34):
which was a lot of fun.So that's also something that you'll see
on Dining Playbook. And as areminder, our show airs on Neston at
nine am on Saturday and nine pmon Sunday, and then I think Billy
and I have talked a little biton the show. I had one of
our sort of correspondents of our newshow on food for a thought, but
just as a reminder, within thepast couple of months, we launched a

(05:55):
program called Meat Boston, which isaimed to sort of help bring people to
the actual city of Boston in allareas, and we work with a lot
of influencers in the social media spaceto tell the story of Boston. So
that happens right after Dining Playbook.So if you're looking for something to do
sort of closing up this Saturday,if the weather is an ideal, or
Sunday night before you start your week, we'd love to be able to see

(06:17):
you there. So one of thethings that we're going to be talking about
on the rest of the show thisweek is a very special event that I
was part of just a bit agofor BMW of Boston. I think this
sort of shows just so much excitementthat happens in our city and how people
sort of group together, come togetherto support one another, to support their

(06:39):
own businesses, and then really createreally awesome experiences for people that do want
to support them. So BMW connectedwith some of their longtime clients and brought
them into a space called the SowaStation, which actually reminds me of the
Boston Distillery space I was just describing, And they in some unbelievable cars,

(07:01):
including a new line of BMW thatmany people that really no one had seen
at this point before. And thenthey also brought in some antique cars,
which are really cool to be apart of. But I love sharing some
of these events with our audience becauseI think it's a glimpse into sort of
all of the happenings that are thatare taking place in our beautiful city of
Boston. So when we come back, we'll be talking with Melissa Steppie,

(07:24):
the general manager of BMW, Bostonand about this really great event. We'll
be back with more Food for Thoughtin just a minute. You're listening to
Food for Thought, brought to youby the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel
and Suite. One of the greatthings about being out of the COVID years
is that we are all able toget back to those fun events where people

(07:45):
gather to support various organizations, nonprofits, for profits, just getting together as
friends. It still seems like somethingthat we missed for so long, and
I have the pleasure of them seeinga number of events over the course of
the year, as does Billy.And I had a recent event that was
so much fun I had to shareit with all of you just because I

(08:07):
think there's so many details about thisevent that are worth sharing. And I'm
thrilled because this one was BMW ofBoston and it was in celebration of a
new line of BMW's and their generalmanager, Melissa Steffie, brought together a
group of wonderful people in a verybeautiful space in Boston called the Sowa Station,

(08:28):
which just sort of has such aBoston vibe with such a big,
old brick building that is just anopen space and they were able to transform
it into just a magical place tobe able to unveil these cars. So
I'm so excited to introduce Melissa Steffie, who I've known for a very long

(08:50):
time. Melissa, It's great tohave you, Oh, Jenny, and
you were actually wonderful. Thank youso much. You know, one thing
we really love is your enthusiasm themand you added so much to our event
and having it at the SOA Station, Oh, I mean beyond magical.
That space is outrageous and it wasjust so fun because we were launching four

(09:13):
cars for BMW. Probably the mostavant garde one is our x M,
which is a hybrid suv. Insaneperformance on that car absolutely positively outrageous design.
And then we have our first fullyelectric I seven and we have an

(09:33):
individual car which is Rolls Royce ispart of BMW, and it really has
the earmarks of a Rolls Royce.I mean it's a two tone body color.
I mean you saw that car.It's absolutely beautiful. We have a
M A Coop which is our highperformance car. M is for motor sports

(09:58):
and that car after has the firstservice, it has an unpublished screaming seven
hundred and seventeen horsepower. That caris an absolute showstopper, I know,
absolutely beyond enthusiasts. Yeah, Imean, I think one of the things
that I love about you, andone of the things I love about Herb

(10:18):
Chamberge, which is the organization thatBMW Boston is part of, is there's
this kind of celebration of excellence andof innovation. And so, you know,
Billy and I spend so much timepromoting the hospitality industry, and the
truth is there are some of thesame sort of like the moral compass is
the same in these two industries becauseit is about excellence in service. So

(10:41):
talk about like how important that is, Like as you're talking about the specifics
of the car, That's what itmade me think of, because as incredible
as these cars are, you guysstrive to be as incredible as as a
company. Well, and you know, I know you're very close friends with

(11:01):
Herb Chambers as well, Jenny.And one thing that Herb does always say
to us is a person comes intothis world with no reputation. You leave
with a reputation, good or bad. You've earned it. And that's one
thing he really does strive to dowith all of our employees is have due
north level of integrity and a moralcompass, and I think that's very apparent

(11:22):
if you do business with us.You know we're human beings. If we
do make mistakes, we try andrectify them as quickly as possible and always
do the right thing by the clientsand our employees. But you speak so
beautiful about beautifully about the ethos ofour company, because that really resonates with
all of our employees as well.And we try and have fun because obviously

(11:43):
we're not selling dental work. We'reselling enthusiasm and fund especially at my dealerships
would BMW and many But I thinkyou're spot on it. I mean,
it really speaks to the philosophy ofour company. Then I know you,
in particular are also a huge supporterof hospitality and can certainly see the crossover

(12:05):
in your businesses. And I watchyou sort of support so many small and
local businesses because while there are manyHerb Chambers dealers in our area. You
know you're it is about how youcan have a touch point for both small
and local businesses. So do youdo you kind of are you able to
compare and contrast those two industries abit. Uh. You know, I

(12:30):
think that's a really cool question becauseyou know, we're ladies and gentlemen serving
ladies and gentlemen, and you wantto make each client when they come in
feel really special. And I knowyou have a strong relationship with uh Davio's
restaurants as well as eud Felipo,who is a wonderful client and friend,

(12:52):
has written a book called All Aboutthe Guest, and I think that really
emulates our philosophies too, because itis all about the guests or we call
them clients, and making people feelreally really special. And at my stores,
we have a very very small turnover, so when a client comes back,
there's continuity. They deal with thesame service advisor or the same client

(13:13):
advisor they've dealt with for years,and there's a trust and similiarity that you
have in you know, in yourfavorite restaurants. And we have such an
incredible restaurant scene in the city ofBoston, and happily for me, most
of these people drive BMW's so yes, so true, so true, and
your your reputation proceeds yourself in additionto to you know, herbs, and

(13:37):
I think that is what creates suchcamaraderie among these industries too. So you
know, we talked a little bitabout these cars, so correct me if
I'm wrong. This is a launchof the gk L line of cars within
BMW. So is this something thatwe're Do you think that these are what
we're going to be seeing the mostof this year or what has you most
excited about this new launch? Well, GKL it's German. It's basically the

(14:01):
Grand Class. It's the highest levelof cars at BMW make. So we
will have an X seven Alpina,which is a new collaboration. I mean,
the Alpine has been around for awhile, but BMD actually owns it
now. So it's the highest andbig SUV that we have. And these

(14:22):
are basically the flagship models for whatBMW offers to our clients. So do
I think this is what BMW holdsfor the future, Yes, in terms
of electric technology, but you know, the high volume cars for us are
more of the smaller SUVs an Xone or an X three or the three
series. This is the highest endthat BMW has manufactured, very very close

(14:46):
to the Rolls Royce line. Andback to the events that I was so
lucky to be a part of Ilearned so much your your partner in creating
that extraordinary event. Jack gave mesome really interesting information to share with the
audience. And I had no ideathat BMW originally built plane engines, which
is such a fascinating plane that wasn'ta lot of stuff and obviously when you

(15:15):
you learned about it, Rondell,so talk a little bit about that.
Yes, I mean, I meanthat part was so fascinating, and I
think the other piece was that BMWwas actually ahead of the curve as it
related to electric cars, right.So so even though like there's other cars
that we think of when we thinkof, you know, the electric cars

(15:35):
coming to market, it was reallya lot like in you know, there
was the first electric car was inlike the eighteen hundreds, and for various
reasons, it wasn't revived until veryrecently. But it's it's I think it
just shows kind of the commitment toinnovation that BMW has always had and now

(15:56):
we're able to see it sort ofin the forefront. Yes, and thank
you so much for being part ofthe celebration because that's what we really brought
together. And we have a veryspecial client who brought three of his very
special BMW's to the event, andthat was a B eight M five touring

(16:19):
Sedan which is a wagon, anineteen seventy two CS, and a Z
eight and that just added to themagic of the evening as well. And
then we have our Jeff Coons car, of which in the entire world,
there were ninety nine produced, andthis is a twenty twenty three M eight

(16:40):
fifty Grand Coupe and it was actuallypainted by Jeff Coons. Wow wow,
I mean that, yes, itwas. It was incredibly spectacular. Everyone
in the room's job was just dropping. I think being to be a part
of one of only ninety nine ofsomething is such a rarity. But that's
another example of the things that youdo. So Melissa, we adore you.

(17:03):
I have loved knowing you for Ithink twenty years at this point,
and I know how much you celebrateso many different organizations, nonprofits, and
you're such a supporter of so manybusinesses in our city and beyond. And
I'm happy we got to give ourlisteners a little glimpse of this fun event
that we just had. So MelissaStephanie, general manager of BMW of Boston,
part of a Herb Chambers organization.It's been a pleasure having you my

(17:26):
friends, and thank you so much. And Jenny, thank you so much
for what you do for our community. You're so involved in so many incredible
philanthropies. Is it just it givesme goosebumps every time you speak, so
thank you for bringing that enthusiasm toour events as well. You are the
very best. Melissa. We'll talksoon and we'll be back with more Food

(17:48):
for Thought. In just a minute, you're listening to Food for Thought brought
to you by It's the Box Centerand Sale and Waterfront Hotel and sweet welcome
back to Food for Thought brought toyou by the Box Center. So perfect
thing that goes along with any events, any evening, any celebration, is
some kind of specialty cocktail. AndI'm so excited because this next guest is

(18:11):
a person that Billy and I haveknown for a very long time and whose
father Billy is known for basically hisentire life. The Deepest Squally family is
sort of of the most sort ofconnected and revered within the hospitality industry.
And we'll talk a little bit moreabout that, but first, this is
such Joey deepest Swally who has launcheda proprietary blend of espresso martini that is

(18:37):
brand new in hitting the shelves calledDrink That. So Joey, welcome to
the program. Thrilled to have you. Okay, So tell us about Drink
That and what people can expect.Yeah, So basically, I think that
was an idea that we created overCOVID when the restaurants were obviously closed,

(19:00):
and I think, you know,Brico's whole thing is that we always have
the award winning best of stress ofmartini in the city. So during COVID
when we were closed, we hadto find a way to obviously keep the
doors open and keep everyone happy.So we were doing like these to go

(19:21):
style cocktails. But because of thepopularity and everything and all my staff collecting
unemployment, nobody wanted to come intowork the bars and do these to go
cocktails. So we decided to takeanother out and say, how can we
get our same recipe to a battlestas forwarding three years later. It took

(19:42):
three years to create the recipe becausewe had to deconstruct each component that goes
into the Brico martini, and wehad to make our own calure di Serono,
Bailey's Angelico, Sanela Vodka and soforth. And I think that we
finally put together the that's rested withme possible. Well, I think it's

(20:03):
so important to sort of hear thatprocess, and I think that is where
your your company, your dad.You don't take any shortcuts, right.
So some may think, oh,how hard would it be to sort of
recreate something like that, And I'msure you could have done it a more
inexpensive way or it's for or lessdelicious way, but that was never going
to be the way that you guysdidn't so you took the time to make

(20:26):
sure that all the components were thesame. And yes, if you hadn't
been into Brico, Brico is theplace in our city and probably well beyond
to get the very very very breastlespressoMartini. And now the cool news is
they're going to be able to havedrink that inside your own home. As
you entertain, we're going to takea quick break. We're going to be
back with Joey Deepasqually talk a littlebit more about drinks that as well as

(20:48):
Deep as Squally adventures. You're listeningto Food for Thought brought to you by
it's the box center and sale inWaterfront Hotel and sweets. Hey, everybody,
welcome back into Food for Thought.Joey Deepasqually is our guest. He
told us a little bit about hisbrand new proprietary Glen's Espresso Martini drink that
that people can now enjoy it ontheir own. And you told us a
little bit about what's in it.But Joey, can you tell us a

(21:11):
little bit of the background, likehow it became the best espresso martini that
there is in Boston? Absolutely soour bartender Glenn Lematrie. He's been with
us for over twenty years. Glenncreated this recipe a while back, and
once free Co started having the uhthe momentum during the early two thousands of

(21:37):
you know, having a signature calltailon the menu, Glenn's recipe started taking
off. And here we are todayselling over one hundred thousand units a year
just at the off the one drinkalone at Brico and Mare in the North
End. That's unbelievable. And Ilove the story of Glenn and how he's
just one of many of the examplesof people that have been with you so

(21:57):
long. Tell us a little bitmore about deepest qually ventures and why you
guys are in such a good positionto launch a brand like drink that.
Yeah, of course. So obviouslymy dad started the company in nineteen eighty
seven, and he's obviously, youknow, my mentor, my best friend,
and obviously you're a visionary where hecreated this small little company now turning

(22:22):
into almost a thousand employees with abunch of other new concepts opening up this
year. And you know, Ithink we have a lot of employees that,
you know, they believe in ourvision as a family and what we've
grown and have stayed with us forover decades and decades I'm sure you know,
gives a good feeling when you comeinto work every day, have the

(22:44):
good stuff that leaves behind you soawesome, and it's so nice to hear
you talk about your dad in thatway. It's such a special relationship.
We have to reference the facts thatyou know, Billy, you know,
who is obviously the co host ofthis show, actually grew up with your
dad and they kind of grew upcoming up through the ranks of this industry.
Huh he did, indeed. Yeah, Yeah, they definitely have some

(23:08):
good stories that they share together.But but the hospitality industry in general,
you know, Deepes Squally Ventures hasalways been an organization that everybody loves to
promote and loves to support because youguys do such a great job and so
and and and so drink that whereare folks are going to be able to
get this new blend? So yeah, so we just launched. We just

(23:30):
launched on Monday, So this weekis where the first orders are coming in.
There's a bunch of different local liquorstores. In the North End.
We have Handover Liquor, which isright on Hanover Street, and we also
have Boston Bottle, which is oncommercial to local stores that are going to
be carrying us. And then alsoall throughout the suburbs and different towns,

(23:52):
we're trying to go after at leastone or two stores per each town.
And then also there's a huge pushedfor the on premise. You know a
lot of places such as nightclubs andyou know pubs and concert halls or sporting
arenas that don't have the capabilities tomake an express of martini or it's the

(24:12):
annoyance of making it. Well,you have to fill up fresh spress.
Soever if they have a coffee machineand go through the process. I think
we have a huge opportunity here wherewe can just shake and serve our product.
It's going to taste as good aslike it was if a bartender was
shaking it right in front of you. Well, the convenience of this is
so is something that I know thatpeople are going to be so happy to

(24:36):
have, certainly getting into the warmermonths here in New England. Can you
tell us a little bit about howyour work within Deepest Qually Ventures is kind
of bringing this into now you've beenhere for so many decades here at twenty
twenty four. Yeah, So I'vebeen with Deepestqually Adventures myself for eleven years,

(24:57):
starting off Abrica, so you know, as a whole trying to work
my way up in the rains andobviously a family business, watching the best
interest for my dad's vision. Butyou know, as time goes on and
we all get older, with moremature and more responsibilities, you have to
find out ways to modernize the businessand try to grow the business from what

(25:19):
the groundwork has already been laid outfor me, you know, and I
think we express of Martini right nowand ready to drink or ready to serve
cocktail is a huge market right now, where I think if we become the
one on the market, which Ibelieve our flavors meet every aspect of what

(25:40):
everyone's looking for, I think it'sa huge opportunity where we can capture the
number one spot. No, it'sa huge opportunity. And I love that
it's all locally produced in Massachusetts becauseI think that I know that you guys
are so supportive of local businesses aswell, and we're so so excited for

(26:02):
you. I know you probably can'ttell us, but can you give us
kind of an idea of what someof these new concepts are that are coming
down the pipeline. Yeah, So, my dad and his partner Nick Morano
at the casino opening up Jardino,which was the old garden cafe above the
escalator there at Encore, so thatwill be their third location together at Encore

(26:25):
and then separately on the side inthe North End, we took over the
old existing corner store which will beenlarging our gelateria and canoli factory making homemade
little pastries, cakes and still keepingthe shelves with some Italian products and expanding
that into our area, and thenalso the face of Hanover Street on Cross

(26:48):
Street where we used to have theold Silamaria passa shop. We ended up
taking over that half a block rightthere, and we're trying to expand that
into some retail shops, maybe anothercafe, potentially culinary, potentially culinary school,
and maybe a roof duck. Wonderful. Well, Joey, we are

(27:11):
always so thrilled to hear all thegreat things of Deepest Quaal Adventures, and
we are so excited for drink thatmake sure you look for it at any
places near you. Joey, thankyou so much for joining the show.
Thank you you're listening to Food forThought. Rough to you buy at the
Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel insweets? Okay, Well, we just
talked a lot about wine, andI don't know what goes with wine any

(27:33):
better than pizza, although I justdon't know anything that doesn't go well with
pizza or any day that you can'tfeel good about having pizza. So I'm
excited for this next guest. DellaPosta is located in Newton, Massachusetts,
and it's been around since November oftwenty twenty one. Obviously an interesting time
of opening sort of during COVID.Chef Mario Laposta is its owner, and

(27:56):
he is doing so many cool thingsthat make you think more that this is
not really just your average pizza.I think I could say so, chef
oposed to thanks so much for joiningus today. Yeah, absolutely, thanks
for having me. So in thebeginning, we'd like to give our listeners
just a kind of idea of whoyou are, where you came from,

(28:17):
and why pizza is such an importantpart of your life. Sure, absolutely
so. I grew up in thetown family. My dad was born in
Italy and my mom's parents were bornin Italy, and they were my mom
was an incredible, incredible cook growingup, and you know, obviously visiting

(28:37):
Italy quite a bit as well,there was that influence there and lots of
my grandmother used to visit all thetime, and aunts and uncles and cousins
and just growing up, pizza wasalways a part of you know, being
from southern Italy, being my dadwas born just outside Naples, pizza is
a big part of the culture.On top of that, my mom,
like I said, was an amazingcook and made this incredible homemade pizza so

(28:59):
I was like pizza SATs from avery young age. People used to tease
me about it. I had anickname, Mario Mozzarella, and so food
was like always like, you know, a part of our family, something
I was always really passionate about.And I always said, mom, We're
gonna have a pizzeria when I getolder. And you know, as I

(29:22):
started to get into my teenage years, I started working at local pizzerias in
Connecticut, just out in between NewHaven and Hartford. So I grew up
on the Haven style pizza, anduh, I just got into cooking and
got really passionate about it. Andyou know, once to college, not
sure which direction I was going togo, and my sister married a chef

(29:44):
and I started working for him andhe became really inspirational. I worked at
in a fantastic restaurant Connecticut called Brico, and then I decided, post college,
let's move to Italy and apprentice andlearn the real way to make pizza.
So I moved to Rome with mysister who lived there, and started
calling around local pizzerias and basically askingif I could just come and learn and

(30:04):
work for free. So I workedin Rome, for a few months,
and then I moved closer to Naples, just about an hour north of Naples
and Campania, and lived at agrandmother's house for the summer and worked with
an amazing piece iolo there and youknow, learned to bake pizza in thousand
degree ovens in sixty to ninety seconds, really Neapolitan inspired pizza. And then

(30:30):
I came back and started running thepizza program for Terry Lodge in West Chestern,
New York, which was a partof the Battalion Bossionis Hospitality Group.
And there I had an amazing mentornamed Andy Knusser, and Andy trusted me
with developing the pizza program there.The great thing about Andy was he really

(30:52):
pushed me to be a chef andlearn all aspects of the kitchen and aspects
of the business and pushed me tome know, make better piece of so
over the years, I you know, I was the piece I was making
fifteen years ago was probably not verygood. But I started learning about flour
and different types of ingredients and sourcing. So about twenty fifteen, when I

(31:17):
moved to Boston, I opened upa restaurant in the seaport called Babo and
I got in touch with a companycalled Central Milling, and me and the
owner, keithschu So, we hadabout a five hour call the first time
I ever spoke to him. Wejust talked about flour and baking, and
Central Milling started sending me flour andI was hand mixing flour trying to develop
my own blend of flour. Thatwas, you know, achieving the type

(31:41):
of piece that I wanted. SoI developed a blend of flour with different
types of flour from Central Milling,mostly organic wal wheat. There's double zero
in there. There's a couple otherdifferent types of flour in there. And
then I flew off to California inSonoma County and in dates with Keith and
and learn more about the flower.And there I learned about sourdough, you

(32:06):
know, being just outside San Francisco, that's what bread there is all about.
And Central millin started they loved myflower blend that I created, and
they started bagging the flower for meand sending it into Boston. And on
top of it, I learned aboutsourdough. So seven and a half years
ago now I developed my own sourdough from local organic grapes. And yeah,

(32:28):
we've been I've been feeding that thatstarter ever since. And uh,
it's seven years old now and youcan still take the break. That is
so that's so amazing and so andand do you think that that was because
of all of the different places thatyou went, all of the different kinds
that you chose, and what like, if you were to describe that what
makes the starter so special? Sothe great thing about the starter is,

(32:54):
I mean the reason why I starteddoing this, I was always I'm always
on the never ending quest to makebetter peace. So how do I how
do I get that? How doI learn more about dough? How do
I make my pizza taste better?And the great thing about sour dough is
there's a natural flavor there and thedough is all naturally leven. There's no
yeast in the dough, so thedough is naturally much much lighter, and

(33:16):
then it has a lot more flavorbecause it has all these this wild naturally
yeast that is naturally, you know, a little bit sour. That's why
it's called sour dough. And uh, the pizza just has so much flavor.
You you're allowed to you don't haveto use as much salt to season
your dough, so we have avery h our salt content is very low.

(33:38):
And then on top of it,the flour we use. Sometimes we
have flour from the mill to therestaurant in two weeks, that's how fresh
it is. And combined with theflour and the flavor of the sour dough
and the ingredients that we used,you know, the piece is just really
special. So okay, so nowyou're in Newton with a famous dough and

(33:59):
uh, a little bit about yourspace. So we opened at It about
two years ago and we have agreat little restaurant about seventy seats, and
the goal was to do a artisanalpizzeria. So we're Ballopostat Pizzeria Artiginale and
the pizza is Neapolitan inspired. Butthe reason we say we're artisanal is because

(34:21):
we use domestic flour. We useCalifornia tomatoes, Biangle denopoly. We source
a really amazing mozzarella from Computer BrothersCreamery in Pennsylvania, which is naturally lack
those free so we're not importing.We still get Montreal Dei boomflum for sure
of the parma, but we're notimporting all these ingredients from Italy and saying,
oh, we're one hundred percent Neapolitan. I mean, you can't replicate

(34:43):
pizza from Italy. It's just it'sdifferent. The things that grow there are
different. So really the essence ofItalian cooking is the source has close to
home. Right. If you're fromthe ocean, you eat a lot of
fish. If you're from the mountains, you eat more meat, you eat
more heavy. So we're taking thatprinciple and we are and we are just

(35:05):
bringing that into our restaurant with oursourcing ingredients. So that's why we call
ourselves an artisanal pizzeria. But wealso have fantastic starters, so we focus
on you know, I think therestaurant is very authentic. There's a lot
of passion that we put into it. There's a lot of Southern Italian influences
as well as the rest of Italy. So we have great starters on the

(35:27):
menu, you know, highlighted bymy mom's meatball recipe that we source all
local be four from Chickening Chicks Farmin New Hampshire. We grind all the
meat and house the meatballs is justfantastic. We grossman are wood fired up
and we have Rome new food likeFree which is a rice ball. We
do homemade pastas on the menu.We have an amazing chicken part of genre,

(35:49):
which is done with actually a bonushalf chicken. So I think,
you know, we are first andforemost of pizzeria, but the rest of
our food is incredible as well.So we always encourage us to come in
order a few appetizers, you know, share a pizza or an entree,
and then certainly always tried the pizza. Now is your sister still living in

(36:12):
Italy? My sister will lives inRome. Up. We still have quite
a bit of family there and soand so what do they think about your
starter? Obviously they come home andtry it, and they try your pizza.
How does it feel because there's culinarywith such a big part of your
family obviously growing up? Yeah,I mean my family is my biggest fan,
you know, so they're they're alwaysvery complimentary, love what we're doing

(36:37):
here. You know, my wifeis my biggest critic in such a good
way. She's always there to say, hey, you know we could this
is amazing, but how do youmake it better? And she's always right,
So I love having her input aswell, and Yeah. I think
everyone's just just really happy that,you know, I get to share a

(36:58):
little piece of our family through therestaurant. Oh well, we're going to
take a break. But I lovedhow much you talked about the octagonal experience
is really about bringing what is closeto you, and yes, to bring
something from Italy, not only doesit lose its freshness, not only does
it lose the quality of the ingredientsdoes not you know, people sort of

(37:20):
don't quite understand that, but likestill paying homage to the fact that these
recipes are you know, generations andgenerations, but that the quality of things
are going to come from being herelocally, I think is such a great
twist to making something as authentic asyou clearly are. We're going to take
a break and we'll be back withSeth in just a minute. You're listening

(37:42):
to Food for Thought, brought toyou by the Box Center and Salem Waterfront
Hotel in Sweet Welcome back to Foodfor Thought, Rock you buy the Box
Center. Cheth Mario la Pasta,owner of the Dala Posta right there in
Newton, Massachusetts, right on WashingtonStreet. He's been around here Newton for
a couple of years, but he'sbeen in the pizza world for a very
long time. I want to startby referencing you competed in a world pizza

(38:07):
competition in Italy and you placed.Yeah, yep. So annually there's a
pizza competition in Parma, which wasin northern Italy. It's called the World
Pizza Championships in Italian and I've competed, I believe, about four times,
and it's really challenging because there's sixor seven hundred competitors roughly over thirty countries.

(38:29):
Obviously some really amazing pizza makers.Usually the Italians always win and get
You get the opportunity to make onepizza and that's it. So however it
comes out, that's what you're livingwith. And one year I competed,
I believe it was twenty eleven.We had about six hundred competitors and I
played tenth overall in the neapolis andwhich is which was pretty exciting at the

(38:52):
time. My plan to hopefully goback in the future and improve on that.
That is so cool, Chef.I mean, I can't wait to
see you do better than that.But oh my god, tents in the
world. That's pretty amazing. Okay, So Chef you're bringing back something that's
been very popular at the restaurant calledMargarita, mondays tell us about it.
Yeah, so last spring we starteddoing Margarita Monday, and really, you

(39:14):
know, so it's a ten dollarsmargarita pizza every Monday. And last year,
you know, being a new restaurant, being a little under the radar,
not a lot of people in thearea knowing about us yet, it
was really an opportunity for us toshare our story about our pizza and obviously,
you know the hard and soul ofour pizzas the Margarita. So we

(39:34):
thought this would be a great opportunityto bring back Margarita Monday. We ran
it throughout the summer, and youknow, being that people are home a
lot, it's cold, you don'tgo out as much, it'd be a
good good way for people to eatour pizza, come in the restaurant or
to take out the great thing tolook forward to on a Monday, for
sure. Okay, Now, whatabout catering, that's something that you're also

(39:57):
offering. Yeah, we just startedcatering in the last couple of months,
so we're really excited about that.It's another way for guests to really enjoy
enjoy our food and you know,whether it's at home with the party or
or through you know, your officeor work. We're really excited to have
launch catering. So that's uh,that's been received really well. And I

(40:21):
think, you know, being inNewton and close to Boston and a lot
of businesses in the area, it'sit's a great place to do it well.
It sounds like it's delicious. Andlastly, was about a minute left.
I want to talk about your winelists because you really spend a lot
of time curating it. Yeah,so you know, everyone has an amazing
wine from Tuscany and Piamonte and ordernItaly. You know, Sicilian wine is

(40:42):
really popular nowadays. We've really curateda wine list that's focused on southern Italy,
specifically Campanya. One of my favoritewines, ali Ainico is just an
amazing wine. The wine from Compagnais wine that you know hasn't been heavily
marketed, doesn't have a lot,you know, isn't marketed through tourism in
Italy, and I just think it'san untapped region in Italy and these wines

(41:07):
they're amazing. They're called the barlOver, the South, and I think
over the next five or ten years, as more marketing goes into these wines,
we're going to really see them explodeand become sought after. And you
know, right now we're really tryingto bring these wines to the forefront at
the restaurant. That's awesome and itis so nice to be able to pay

(41:27):
attention to little parts of this worldthat we don't necessarily know about, which
you clearly do. Anyways, Seth, it's been so nice to chat with
you. Congratulations on all this success. We look forward to seeing all the
things that are going to come downthe pipeline for you. But it's just
really beautiful to see like a familialstory have so much success. And everybody,
if you're not salivating, you willbe when you go into Dalla Posta

(41:50):
right there in Newton and Washington Street. Thank you so much for joining us.
Thanks Shenning. I hope to seeyou soon and we have more food
for Thought coming up next week onSunday, But now it's time for sixty
minutes. Thanks so much,