June 24, 2025 • 34 mins
What if a humble pizza shop could hold the history of an entire family?
In this heartwarming episode, Erica D’Arcangelo shares the extraordinary legacy of her Italian immigrant grandfather, who began working in Pennsylvania coal mines at just nine years old—and went on to found a beloved pizzeria that became the cornerstone of a three-generation family story.
Erica brings us inside the walls of that 65-year-old institution, where the scent of fresh dough meets decades of resilience, love, and reinvention. From folding pizza boxes as a child to launching viral TikToks to support the business during her father’s heart surgery, Erica’s journey reflects a powerful blend of tradition and transformation.
We explore how her Italian and Polish roots shaped her understanding of food—where one side said “Eat! Eat! Eat!” and the other whispered restraint and discipline. Erica’s honest reflections on family, food, and identity offer a rich, relatable lens into the complexities of eating well while staying connected to our cultural roots.
You’ll meet the pizzeria itself—almost like another family member—complete with grandmother’s rocking chair, “Coach’s Corner,” and produce straight from the garden. And you’ll learn how Erica is keeping the story alive through her book A Story About Pizza, her podcast, and a potential film celebrating her grandfather’s immigrant journey.
This episode is a celebration of legacy, love, and the power of food to hold us together.
Find Erica’s book and more at astoryaboutpizza.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody and welcome back to the Real Food
Stories podcast.
You know I started this podcastbecause I strongly believe that
everybody has their own foodstory in them that deeply
influences and dictates theirfood choices, preferences,
dietary beliefs, conflicts andlove for food.
How we were raised makes us whowe are today.
(00:23):
So I'm here today with EricaD'Arcangelo, author of A Story
About Pizza.
Erika is the granddaughter ofan Italian immigrant who came to
America and started working inthe coal mines and then opened
up a pizza place in Pennsylvania.
The pizzeria turned into aplace where her family grew,
(00:45):
where they celebrated Christmasevery year, and a place where
local people of all ages wouldcome in to eat and be part of
the family.
In short, pizza got woven intoErica's food story.
While recovering from heartsurgery, Erica had the chance to
spend a lot of time with herfather and the opportunity to
dig deeper into the history andlore of the family pizza place,
(01:07):
her grandfather and the deepbond that the pizzeria linked
her family with, and she was soinspired that she wrote a book
about it.
So I'm looking forward to divinginto Erica's food story.
We're going to discuss what itis like growing up Italian, the
culture and, of course, the food, and I want to know how this
way like growing up, Italian,the culture and, of course, the
food.
And I want to know how this wayof growing up influenced who
(01:30):
Erica is today.
So welcome Erica.
How are you?
I'm great.
Thank you for having me.
Good Thanks for being here.
I love hearing about people'sfood stories.
I have my own food story whichmaybe I'll share in a little bit
, and I think that this justinfluences who we are as adults.
I mean, we can't escape rightour cultures, our values, even
(01:53):
if it was positive and sometimesthere might be some negatives
to how we grew up and maybewe'll share that as well, but it
is woven into our fabric.
So let's just start from thebeginning.
I want to hear about yourgrandfather.
I always love immigrant storiesand how people came over here
(02:16):
and got off the ground and,sounds like, created something
really amazing for your family.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Absolutely so.
You know, my grandfather wasfrom Abruzzo, italy, and he and
his family immigrated to theUnited States around 1910.
And they came from nothing.
They showed up with the clotheson their back, a suitcase, and
my great grandfather got hiredat a coal mining company called
Berwyn White Coal Company.
It was in Wimber, Pennsylvania.
(02:44):
So the whole family went there,came in through Ellis Island,
you know, did their wholeimmigration thing that a lot of
people did during that time andthen started working in the coal
mines.
Now, the interesting thing wasis that my grandfather had three
brothers, so there were fourboys.
Now, at the age of nine yearsold, my grandfather was pulled
(03:04):
out of school and he startedworking in the coal mines, as
did his older brother, and hewas in the mines for the
majority of his life.
But he, his dream was to makepizza and he was an amazing
Italian cook and he had thislife of hardship where he just
slaved away in the mines for, Iwould say, till his early 40s,
(03:24):
and then finally the minesclosed and he developed Black
Lung and he kind of goes on thisjourney of like opening this
pizzeria.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
That's amazing, I mean just even his start where
he's in the coal mines at such ayoung age, and I guess there
was that determination back then, especially to just get to the
United States.
I mean, what was the motivation?
Did he come with his family,with his parents?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, it was he and his parents, and they had four
boys.
They actually had a daughter shewas the fifth child, but she
passed away as a baby.
So they were reeling from thisloss and a lot of Italians
immigrated around that time fora better life.
Like now, you know, people aretrying to move to Italy.
So back then, you know, manypeople came over and they wanted
(04:15):
to go to America.
They wanted a better life, andI wouldn't say that they had a
bad life, necessarily, but itwas a life of struggle and it
was a life of struggle and itwas a life of unfair treatment
and especially in the mind,there weren't unions at that
time, there wasn't child labor,and so the thing that I love
most about the story and mygrandfather which I found out
(04:37):
later was just the resilience ofthe human spirit and just that
persistence to keep goingdespite these barriers and these
things that got in the way yeah, I mean, you hear stories like
that a lot back you know, whenpeople were really immigrating
to the united states, and it'sjust it's.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
They're just kind of awe-inspiring that, against all
these odds, you know you come,come and you work in these
horrific conditions, but thenyou open up a pizza place and
thrive, and then here you are,you know as the granddaughter,
and so I want to hear more aboutjust how he got then to open
(05:20):
the pizza place and how old washe at that time.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So he was in his early 40s and what happened was
the mines place.
And how old was he at that time?
So he was in his early 40s andwhat happened was the mines
closed.
He ended up developing blacklung, but he still needed to
support his family.
They still had to survive.
So he ended up buying abuilding that was owned by
Berwyn White Coal Mines I thinkthe building was built in 1905.
And he opened a little Italianmarket and they sold like and he
opened a little Italian marketand they sold like, you know,
(05:45):
pasta, tomato sauce, my grandmamade bread, like those types of
things, and so one day theydecided to start making pizza
and they started selling thepizza out of the market and then
they started to do takeoutorders and it kind of evolved.
And now here we are, 65 yearslater, and it's like a full
Italian restaurant and they havea bar and eat in and take out
(06:07):
and you know, it's been thrivingnow for a long time.
And he really opened this placeso he had something to pass
down to his kids because hedidn't want his family having to
work in the coal mines andrepeat the same cycle that he
had to go through.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah, well, so this place has been open for a very
long time.
It's still open now.
Yeah, that's amazing.
I mean you know most businesseslike restaurants especially.
You know that you give themlike maybe five years, maybe you
know, and so that's incrediblethat the restaurant's been in
the family.
So tell me what happens next.
I mean he opens it.
(06:44):
It sounds like he's fairlysuccessful.
Your dad, was he working?
Were you all working there?
You know as that now, then, ashis granddaughter, were you
working there?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Oh yeah, I mean, we started folding boxes when we
were like eight or nine yearsold.
He'd pay us 10 cents a box.
I remember like he would be like10 cents a box and we'd have
our boxes caught up with like Ifolded 80 and you know, he would
hand us some money.
And then as we got older, itwas like we learned how to bus
tables and do dishes and makepizza.
And then when you were like 16,17, 18, you were like allowed
(07:15):
to run the ovens and run thecash register and waitress and
that was like kind of when youmade it like you were in charge,
so you got more responsibilityas you got older.
Yeah, for sure.
And funny enough, you know, mygrandfather passed away in 1999.
And my father and my uncle theywere still running the pizzeria
(07:36):
Now.
They both had other careers, sowe had family members who
always pitched in and helped.
But when my father retired, hewas a high school superintendent
.
He had heart surgery and thenhe really got back involved a
lot more.
During that time it was when hewas recovering from surgery.
It was a few years after heretired and I mean I sort of
(07:56):
left and had a marketingbusiness and I lived in Florida
and that was the year I movedback because my dad had the
surgery and we both were likeyou know.
I was like, hey, why don't youget out of the house, I'll come
with you, I'll help you withyour marketing.
And it was very funny becauseat the time my dad was, he was
just out of surgery and he wasvery grumpy and he was like I
(08:16):
don't believe in marketing.
And I said, okay, well, we'lljust go together and I'll help
you and it'll be fun.
But ended up being likesomething that we really bonded
over, because we would talk onthe way there and the way back
and on the way home.
He was always excited about whohe saw and who he talked to,
and I was filming content andthen we ended up getting a viral
(08:37):
TikTok page.
So the business got really busyand it just ended up being a
really good experience for bothof us.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Oh, that's amazing.
So yeah, he was very I'm surehe was probably more old school
and didn't understand TikTok andsocial media and I mean I get
that trying to like explain thatsomething like that to my
mother would be like she wouldhave no idea what I was talking
about, that you know you have tolike make videos and you have
to.
So it sounds like yourinfluence then really boomed the
(09:06):
business back.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Oh, yeah, it was fun.
I would put him on lives onTikTok and he would be like what
is this?
And I'm like, just talk aboutthe business.
It's like just don't worryabout it.
And yeah, it was really cool.
And the coolest part was just,you know, talking to him and
being like these people saw iton TikTok and these people
traveled from this place to comein and eat and I think it made
(09:29):
him really proud because he waslike, you know, he was creating
on the business.
They restored the building,they have all the pictures of
all the ancestors on the wallsand he did a coach's corner in
the back because he was a coach.
He was a basketball coach, sothey have all the memorabilia of
the coaching times and justended up being a really cool
(09:50):
thing.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I want to talk about the food also, but it also
sounds like the space, the pizzaplace itself is what really had
an influence on you.
I mean almost like they couldhave been selling Chinese food.
I mean it wouldn't have right.
(10:11):
I mean, am I correct in sayingthat?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Nostalgic.
Even now when I walk in thereit reminds me of my grandparents
.
My grandmother's old rockingchair is sitting there, there's
pictures of all our aunts anduncles and, it's funny, it still
smells the same as when I was akid and the pizza still tastes
exactly the same.
So I think not just for me butfor people in the community it's
a place that's just been there,where people have celebrated
(10:36):
birthdays and anniversaries andreunions, and there's just
something special about itbeyond just the food, even
though I like the food.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Yeah, I mean there's always like something very warm
and comforting about like thelocal pizza place.
So that's kind of neat that youwere actually living that in
your family.
You were that family and that'snice.
My grandparents on my dad'sside, who were Jewish, taught me
(11:14):
.
What I got from them is thatfood is love, but food is love
in all the best ways.
I mean they were nurturing andcomforting and I still remember
my grandmother's warm matzo ballsoup that she would make on the
holidays and the brisket.
I mean those are the memoriesthat I have of her and I loved
her so much.
And you know, on the other hand,I have other family members who
(11:37):
were in big conflict with food.
You know, like diets, dietingvery young, always being
conflicted with food, alwaysconcerned about weight.
Women shouldn't eat a lot, youknow, just very, very fearful
around food.
Yeah, so I mean this is so.
This is what I'm talking aboutwith like food stories.
You know you really can getinfluenced by all the different
(12:01):
aspects.
So I, you know, so you grew upin a very Italian family with
you know, and from what I know,I mean food is central, right to
family gatherings, everythinglike a lot of cultures, but
especially in an Italian family.
So how did the pizza the justgrowing up Italian like that?
(12:29):
What was the influence on you?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
You know, I think it's a couple things, of course.
Like the way that I grew up, itwas like eat, eat, eat.
You know, are you hungry, let'sget you some food.
And as I got older, it was like, you know, it's not that I
don't, I love to eat and I lovefood.
But I also had to look at thefact that when food is involved,
(12:53):
there's discipline.
That's involved.
Like I, I'm not going to sitdown and eat 12 cupcakes.
Would I like 12 cupcakes?
Sure, but I like to eat KrispyKreme every day.
Yeah, I love Krispy Kreme,super good.
But it's one of those thingswhere and I think everyone has
their own kind of level of this,of like you have your own
(13:14):
integrity when it comes to food,of, like you know, being able
to control, being able to behealthy and like, for example,
like now, you know, I know thatI can't just eat pizza, pasta,
sugar, because I don't feel wellwhen I eat that kind of stuff
all the time.
So I have to have balance, Like,if I go home, it's it's, you
(13:35):
know, it's a piece pizza, pasta,cookie, extravaganza.
Well, I know that I need to getup and I need to have protein,
I need to have eggs and I needto have a shake and I need to
maybe grab, you know, a salad ora green juice, because I know
I'm going to have pizza andpasta for dinner.
So I think it was one of thosethings that I had to learn
myself of like, okay, this stuffis all available and it's all
(13:56):
delicious, but I really for me,it's important to be healthy and
to be balanced and to keep thatrelationship with food healthy,
even though you have access tounlimited amounts of quote
unquote junk food.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Right, yeah, I mean.
I mean, how did they influenceyou in this Italian pizza
environment?
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Sure.
So you know, it was veryinteresting because there were a
mix of people.
So my grandmother, she was veryItalian and she was, you know,
eat, eat, eat.
And my mom, my grandmom, evenmy grandma on my other side,
like my mom's mom, they were allgifted and fabulous cooks and
bakers, like incredible.
Now, my grandma on my mom'sside, she had modeled in New
(15:04):
York, she was a wife in thefifties and she definitely had
this idea of limiting the foodand and she was Polish and she
came from a family of, I think,13.
this is your grandma on yourmom's side, on my mom's side,
and they didn't have a lot offood growing up.
So it was definitely adifferent viewpoint and one of
(15:25):
the things that my mom said,which was interesting.
I actually I have a pizzapodcast and I interviewed my
parents and my mom said that,which was interesting.
I actually I have a pizzapodcast and I interviewed my
parents and my mom said that youknow, she, her family, was like
, very conservative and it wasdefinitely, like you know,
things were controlled and itwas more limited.
And then when she came into mydad's family, she started
working at the pizzeria when shewas 14.
(15:46):
My grandparents were like here,eat, eat, eat.
You know, unlimited amounts offood, or did you eat?
Are you hungry?
And it's just so interesting.
I think, with the way thatyou're brought up, you may have
one or the other one where itmight be limited, and then on
the other side, you might havelike a hey, eat more, eat as
much as you want, almost likeyou're being like I don't want
(16:06):
to say forced to eat, but just,you know, encouraged, strongly
encouraged to eat.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yes, I mean that's.
That's similar to my.
I think my food story is that Ihad, on my dad's side, eat like
food.
Food was love, not in a, not ina gluttonous way, you know, but
just like.
That's how love was expressedand and it gave me a lot.
(16:33):
I mean, I was trying a lot ofdifferent things, even as a very
, at a very young age, and Ithink it just expanded my palate
and and it gave me the, thecourage, I guess, to just try
new things, rather than simplygrowing up like, oh, don't, you
know, maybe you shouldn't, oryou know, which, I think, turns
people into picky eaters.
(16:54):
And so I'm I'm always, you know, I'm just very open to trying
all sorts of foods andeverything, but I, so I, it
sounds like, yeah, you, you hadsimilar.
One side of your family was alittle more like measured yeah,
and one is like food is love,yeah, yeah, which is yeah, which
(17:15):
I get you know it's.
Do you feel like from yourmom's side then, that you've
learned something, or did you?
You know what's the takeawayfrom that?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
I think a lot of it is just having that discipline
and, like you know, can I thinka lot of it is just having that
discipline.
And, like you know, can I eat12 pieces of pizza?
Sure, I probably could, but youknow, I'm going to be mindful
and I'm going to have two slicesof pizza, or three slices of
pizza, and I'm not saying, likeyou know, don't eat or starve or
something like that, but justthe difference between the
(17:47):
control and then beinggluttonous, which I think can
sometimes lead to just having anunhealthy habit.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Yes, absolutely yeah.
For me, my, my mom's side ofthe family was more.
There was some around womenenjoying food.
That was my takeaway fromgrowing up.
It's like the men got to eatwhatever they needed to get big
and strong, but women always hadto watch their weight.
(18:17):
And there was, you know, I meanI had a lot of like cooks in my
family, but there was always injust kind of lying in the
background, you know, this likefeeling of you better watch what
you're eating.
From the time I was probablyvery young and like like 11
years old, I was like, you know,it was like suggested I maybe
(18:38):
go on a diet, so it's, you know,so it's yeah, and it.
And then that takes some timeto like untangle.
That you know, and like makepeace with food and be okay with
eating and but but luckily Ihad the balance of, like my
other side of the family, whichwas, you know, which was good.
How do you feel about that?
(19:00):
I mean, do you feel like that'swas there in your family?
Any shame around food any?
Speaker 2 (19:14):
shame around food any ?
No, shame around food, um.
But one thing that was reallyimportant is that we all
exercise and we all playedsports.
But for me that's more of amental health thing than a
physical health thing.
Like I go to the gym every daymentally, like that's it helps
me mentally.
I don't even know that it is aphysical thing.
It's's like I feel like becauseyou know, I have a lot of stuff
, a lot of jobs and books andpodcasts and this and that, and
(19:35):
I need a stress relief and somepeople may eat, some people
drink.
I like to exercise becausethat's what really gets me into
a good mindset, I think.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yes, I totally agree with that.
I think that exercise, firstand foremost for your mental
health, is great.
So that's where, yeah, so, andthat's a good lesson to take
away from your family, so that Imean, if they were always
emphasizing physical activity,that's a yeah, that sort of
weaves into, you know, like thefood story, I sometimes think, I
(20:08):
, I, I sometimes think like foodand exercise, sort of one in
the same you know you can't haveone really without the other.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
You bring it on when you eat and then you work it off
.
And you know my dad was a coach.
So we were really like.
You know, we had five kids inmy family and it was crazy
growing up.
Like it was like pandemonium,people were just like wrestling.
It was when, like WWF was bigand like there, and people were
just like wrestling.
It was when, like WWF was bigand like there was just like
noise, people were fighting, andso my mom was just like please
take some of these kids tobasketball practice.
(20:35):
So my dad was like here's somebasketballs.
Like well, we'll see you whenI'm done in an hour or two.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
That's, that's very funny.
That's yeah, yeah, Well, that'sgood.
I mean, everyone has to gettheir energy out.
Yeah, what's the?
You know what's the one thingthat you loved about just
growing up with the, you know,with the pizza place and the, or
a couple of things.
I mean, what did you love aboutit and what and what do you
feel like you learned?
(21:02):
Like, what are your takeawaysfrom your experience?
I mean, it was impactful enoughfor you to write a whole book
about it and I want to talkabout the book in a second.
But what were your you knowyour loves and your lessons.
I think that you learned fromjust growing up in a you know a
pizza culture.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
I guess, if you will Sure sure I mean, growing up, I
feel like I didn't appreciate itas much.
I thought it was noisy and therewere just people everywhere and
I was just like, oh, like.
Sometimes I was like this is somuch, but now, when I look back
at it, I really appreciate it,because you only have those
times once with the people thatyou love.
(21:41):
And so the fact that, like youknow, my mom, my sister, my
grandma, my best friend, mymom's best friend we all worked
together at the pizza shop onFridays and we made bread and
they made homemade jam and welaughed and we talked and it was
like it was really special toto have that, and I feel, like
you know, as an adult, it'sgiven me a lot of stability
(22:03):
because I have this foundationof this family and we're still
really close, we're still all ina group text like every day,
and I have to silence it becausewe're, like you know, all day
long and we're talking about ourfavorite pizzas.
And my parents they're in Italythis year because my dad's
getting a citizenship and it'sjust, it's very nice to have
(22:24):
that foundation and that supportand that love of your family
support and that love of yourfamily.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Yeah, no, it sounds like the right that the pizzeria
was really like the center ofyour family, like almost like
the rock, any fear that it evermight close.
Or it sounds like it's busy, asbusy as it can be right now.
It's so busy.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
I mean, I think we for sure always want to keep it
in the family and I'm hoping it.
You know, nothing lasts forever, I guess, but I'm hoping it
will and it will just continueto be passed down.
And you know, I'm hoping thatyou know all my brothers and
sisters.
They just started having kids.
So I'm like everyone just needsto have like a lot of kids.
So somebody just ends updeciding to take it.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Yeah, Do you still?
Do you live local to the pizzaplace still?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
I live part of the time in Florida and I live part
of the time local to the pizzaplace where my parents are and I
still do all the marketing forthe pizzeria.
So I travel up there and dovideos and film content.
And my mom owns a jam companyso I help her, and during the
summer it's, you know, jamseason, it's picking season, so
(23:35):
that's a that's a prime time tobe up there, and in the winter,
though, I definitely preferFlorida.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I'm sure you do Get a Western PA.
I'm in Connecticut.
Sounds like your mom does a lotof growing then.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
She makes her own jams and.
Oh yeah, my mom's a mastergardener and one of the things
with the shop that we reallylike do is it's locally sourced
ingredients.
We do the the unbrominated,unbleached flour.
It's a healthier flour and wereally we grate the cheese, we
make the dough fresh, so theseare all really fresh ingredients
(24:14):
.
My mom grows San Marzanotomatoes so we can roast
tomatoes.
She grows peppers and zucchiniand like I mean berries and like
you name it.
She has, like, if you go therein August, you you could.
The harvest there is incredible.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
So that's one thing one thing yeah, I'm curious how
you know I I could see how itmight be easy in a piece of
places like, oh, don't use thelocals.
I mean that that must bepricier and more labor intensive
to make things you know, likeif I can just open a can and
know who will know, but yourfamily is not not, and that's
(24:52):
fantastic, and I'm just curioushow that came about.
Where did your mom get theinfluence to become a master
gardener?
And I mean, I have a specialplace in my heart for gardeners
and gardening, because I thinkit's just the most important
thing you can do towardshealthier eating for yourself.
(25:12):
Yeah, and so that's that'sfantastic, that that they do
that.
Where did that influence comefrom?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah, I think it was really from her mom and dad.
They really had a green thumb.
Like I remember going to mygrandparents and them having
like the most beautiful yard andall the flowers that they grew,
and like I remember laying inthe grass and it was the most
beautiful grass that I'd everbeen, you know, able to be
around.
And I think my mom just really,you know, when we had home, she
(25:43):
planted a lot of flowers anddid a lot of landscaping and
then that kind of turned intogrowing food and so that's just
been.
It's just so nice.
It's an added bonus andespecially, like you know, I
guess, as a creator, as amarketer, it's nice because I
get to film that process andthen show the food, which is
like a really cool part of therestaurant that you don't always
(26:04):
get to show because sometimesit is canned stuff and it's kind
of like that's not really it'sfun to, you know, show is, like
you know, this beautiful pictureof this, all the stuff that
came from the garden.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah, Is that something that's that's
influenced you?
Do you garden?
Do you have a garden?
Do you grow anything?
Speaker 2 (26:25):
I want to.
That is my goal and there aretimes you know we'll do like you
know basil outside or we'll dolike herbs and stuff like that
for cooking.
But what it's been lately Imean I really had to make a
change.
It was like 15 years, threemarketing agencies just working,
and then finally decided I needa break and I went home for the
(26:49):
year to help my family, startedto film the content and really
got so inspired and wrote thebook and wrote the children's
series now writing the nextnovel and almost became inspired
to do marketing again afterreally feeling like I hate to
say the word but just burnout,just not wanting to do it
anymore.
So that kind of revived mypurpose to do that and also to
(27:12):
live a more, I think, organic,thoughtful life.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Great.
Well, yeah, I'm sure you know.
I think all those influences,even if you know you're not
directly gardening right now,but maybe that's just
influencing you in other,secondary ways.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah, yeah, the writing.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yeah, yeah.
So let's talk about the book.
It sounds like you were havingconversations with your dad and
you started talking more aboutyour grandfather and how you
know his history and everything.
Tell me how you got just the.
(27:53):
I mean, writing a book is nosmall feat, so what really like
pushed you over to, I think, saylike this would be a great idea
to write a book to say likethis would be a great idea to
write a book.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
So, you know, it was interesting because we had one
of our companies was a movieproduction company or a film
production company and my one ofmy friends he was the director
he had made a film and it wasabout a life and culture in
Mexico and about a father, abouta son who lost his grandfather
and the grandfather raised him,and it was a very beautiful
story and we were talking aboutour next movie project and I was
(28:31):
thinking, like you know, thiswould be a really cool movie
project.
And so he said, well, yeah, butusually you first need a book.
And I was like, okay, well,like I can probably write a book
, like I've, I'm so inspired bythe story and like I kind of
wanted to put it down on paperanyway.
And so we initially were likeyou know, maybe this would be a
really cool movie to capture.
And so then I wrote the bookand they were both like it was
(28:55):
my husband and our partner, andthey were both like shocked.
They were like, oh, you wrotethe book.
I was like, well, yeah, becausethis might be a really, you
know, beautiful movie.
And so then, after I wrote thebook.
I didn't know what to do withit because I'd never written a
book, so I just let it sit forlike four months and then I
thought, okay, well, I went toschool for marketing, I've been
(29:17):
doing marketing for 20 yearshere, so like I just let me just
use what I know here and thenput the book out.
And then it almost like thebook inspired the children's
series and inspired the podcastand inspired the next novel
which I'm writing now.
So it was like the book was thecenter of it all, which was the
pizza place.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
That's great.
Yeah no, that's.
That's.
That's great.
It definitely gets the word outand I, like I said, I mean I
think I love any stories aboutyour you know grandparents or
great grandparents emigratingover and like, and how how you
then came to be you know hereand today.
So that that's wonderful.
(29:59):
So I wanted to ask you twoquestions.
Number one how often do youactually eat pizza now?
Oh, more than.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
I should.
It's so funny because now Ihave my pizza story podcast and
I do probably, like I film maybetwo or three a week, every week
maybe four, and every day myhusband be like what do you want
to eat?
And I'm like, oh, for dinner.
And I'm like, ok, well, let'shave, like you know, chicken
steak, whatever healthy.
And then I get off the phonefrom doing the podcast and I'm
(30:30):
looking at their pizza onInstagram and he's like what do
you want for dinner?
And I'm like pizza.
So, like you know, now it'sbeen like probably three, four
nights a week of pizza, which wewere trying to limit it to one,
but I could eat it every day.
I'm not going to lie.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Yeah, I think I might be able to eat pizza every
single day too, as long as it'sreally great.
Do you find that you're likekind of in pizza competition?
You know, like you do, you feellike your pizza from your
family's place is is the bestpizza, and oh it's always.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
It will always be the number one favorite.
I have a top 10 list and I haveit on my blog and I just I love
that pizza.
It's amazing.
But there's also some reallygood pizzerias down in Florida,
like there's one calledCristino's they're from Italy.
I've been in business forever.
I think we've been going there15, 20 years.
One called Verola's the guysfrom New York, it's like a very
(31:24):
traditional new york slice andso we definitely go and we find
pizzerias and and we try them.
And you know there's one intampa called forbici.
It's amazing, it's my husband'sfavorite pizza, so we're always
out and about looking for, youknow, the next great pizza.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I guess yeah, well, I live not too far from new haven
, which is sort of like thethat's supposed to be the yeah,
the pizza capital of the world,or the country I don't know,
yeah, so I've gone there acouple of times and sat and
waited in lines for half an hourto get into the pizza place.
That's kind of fun.
So where can people find you,find your book, and how do they
(32:04):
get to know more about you?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
well, if you just search a story about pizza or
you go to a story about pizzacom, you can find everything about
me in the book.
You can search, you can googleme online and you'll see a bunch
of you know author stuff onthere.
But that's probably the easiestway.
It's just a story about pizzaand Google.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Okay, great, and it sounds like there might be a
movie in the works.
Is that what's happening?
Speaker 2 (32:29):
I mean I hope I don't know, I mean right now.
So we did the book and we did atrailer for a series about
family-owned pizzerias and wedid this on my Family's Pizza
Place.
It's on my YouTube channel andwe're going to do a full episode
.
But what I'd love to do is someof the podcasts I've done with
some really cool people in thepizza industries.
(32:50):
I'd love to go do a fullepisode of like going to see
them and filming and stuff likethat.
But right now we're doing thepodcast and I guess we'll see
how it goes.
But I mean goal would be amovie would be the best.
Like that'd be the end goal.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
I think I mean goal would be a movie would be the
best, like that'd be the endgoal, I think, yeah, that would
be great, all right, well, we'llbe, you know, watching and
waiting for the movie.
It sounds great, erica.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate you sharing yourreal food story and I love it.
I love your grandfather's storyand how they came over.
(33:24):
I love your grandfather's storyand how they came over and
sounds like they obviouslyreally influenced you, and here
you are writing a book about itno-transcript.
Hello everybody and welcome back to the Real Food
Stories podcast.
You know I started this podcastbecause I strongly believe that
everybody has their own foodstory in them that deeply
influences and dictates theirfood choices, preferences,
dietary beliefs, conflicts andlove for food.
How we were raised makes us whowe are today.
(00:23):
So I'm here today with EricaD'Arcangelo, author of A Story
About Pizza.
Erika is the granddaughter ofan Italian immigrant who came to
America and started working inthe coal mines and then opened
up a pizza place in Pennsylvania.
The pizzeria turned into aplace where her family grew,
(00:45):
where they celebrated Christmasevery year, and a place where
local people of all ages wouldcome in to eat and be part of
the family.
In short, pizza got woven intoErica's food story.
While recovering from heartsurgery, Erica had the chance to
spend a lot of time with herfather and the opportunity to
dig deeper into the history andlore of the family pizza place,
(01:07):
her grandfather and the deepbond that the pizzeria linked
her family with, and she was soinspired that she wrote a book
about it.
So I'm looking forward to divinginto Erica's food story.
We're going to discuss what itis like growing up Italian, the
culture and, of course, the food, and I want to know how this
way like growing up, Italian,the culture and, of course, the
food.
And I want to know how this wayof growing up influenced who
(01:30):
Erica is today.
So welcome Erica.
How are you?
I'm great.
Thank you for having me.
Good Thanks for being here.
I love hearing about people'sfood stories.
I have my own food story whichmaybe I'll share in a little bit
, and I think that this justinfluences who we are as adults.
I mean, we can't escape rightour cultures, our values, even
(01:53):
if it was positive and sometimesthere might be some negatives
to how we grew up and maybewe'll share that as well, but it
is woven into our fabric.
So let's just start from thebeginning.
I want to hear about yourgrandfather.
I always love immigrant storiesand how people came over here
(02:16):
and got off the ground and,sounds like, created something
really amazing for your family.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Absolutely so.
You know, my grandfather wasfrom Abruzzo, italy, and he and
his family immigrated to theUnited States around 1910.
And they came from nothing.
They showed up with the clotheson their back, a suitcase, and
my great grandfather got hiredat a coal mining company called
Berwyn White Coal Company.
It was in Wimber, Pennsylvania.
(02:44):
So the whole family went there,came in through Ellis Island,
you know, did their wholeimmigration thing that a lot of
people did during that time andthen started working in the coal
mines.
Now, the interesting thing wasis that my grandfather had three
brothers, so there were fourboys.
Now, at the age of nine yearsold, my grandfather was pulled
(03:04):
out of school and he startedworking in the coal mines, as
did his older brother, and hewas in the mines for the
majority of his life.
But he, his dream was to makepizza and he was an amazing
Italian cook and he had thislife of hardship where he just
slaved away in the mines for, Iwould say, till his early 40s,
(03:24):
and then finally the minesclosed and he developed Black
Lung and he kind of goes on thisjourney of like opening this
pizzeria.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
That's amazing, I mean just even his start where
he's in the coal mines at such ayoung age, and I guess there
was that determination back then, especially to just get to the
United States.
I mean, what was the motivation?
Did he come with his family,with his parents?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, it was he and his parents, and they had four
boys.
They actually had a daughter shewas the fifth child, but she
passed away as a baby.
So they were reeling from thisloss and a lot of Italians
immigrated around that time fora better life.
Like now, you know, people aretrying to move to Italy.
So back then, you know, manypeople came over and they wanted
(04:15):
to go to America.
They wanted a better life, andI wouldn't say that they had a
bad life, necessarily, but itwas a life of struggle and it
was a life of struggle and itwas a life of unfair treatment
and especially in the mind,there weren't unions at that
time, there wasn't child labor,and so the thing that I love
most about the story and mygrandfather which I found out
(04:37):
later was just the resilience ofthe human spirit and just that
persistence to keep goingdespite these barriers and these
things that got in the way yeah, I mean, you hear stories like
that a lot back you know, whenpeople were really immigrating
to the united states, and it'sjust it's.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
They're just kind of awe-inspiring that, against all
these odds, you know you come,come and you work in these
horrific conditions, but thenyou open up a pizza place and
thrive, and then here you are,you know as the granddaughter,
and so I want to hear more aboutjust how he got then to open
(05:20):
the pizza place and how old washe at that time.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
So he was in his early 40s and what happened was
the mines place.
And how old was he at that time?
So he was in his early 40s andwhat happened was the mines
closed.
He ended up developing blacklung, but he still needed to
support his family.
They still had to survive.
So he ended up buying abuilding that was owned by
Berwyn White Coal Mines I thinkthe building was built in 1905.
And he opened a little Italianmarket and they sold like and he
opened a little Italian marketand they sold like, you know,
(05:45):
pasta, tomato sauce, my grandmamade bread, like those types of
things, and so one day theydecided to start making pizza
and they started selling thepizza out of the market and then
they started to do takeoutorders and it kind of evolved.
And now here we are, 65 yearslater, and it's like a full
Italian restaurant and they havea bar and eat in and take out
(06:07):
and you know, it's been thrivingnow for a long time.
And he really opened this placeso he had something to pass
down to his kids because hedidn't want his family having to
work in the coal mines andrepeat the same cycle that he
had to go through.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah, well, so this place has been open for a very
long time.
It's still open now.
Yeah, that's amazing.
I mean you know most businesseslike restaurants especially.
You know that you give themlike maybe five years, maybe you
know, and so that's incrediblethat the restaurant's been in
the family.
So tell me what happens next.
I mean he opens it.
(06:44):
It sounds like he's fairlysuccessful.
Your dad, was he working?
Were you all working there?
You know as that now, then, ashis granddaughter, were you
working there?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Oh yeah, I mean, we started folding boxes when we
were like eight or nine yearsold.
He'd pay us 10 cents a box.
I remember like he would be like10 cents a box and we'd have
our boxes caught up with like Ifolded 80 and you know, he would
hand us some money.
And then as we got older, itwas like we learned how to bus
tables and do dishes and makepizza.
And then when you were like 16,17, 18, you were like allowed
(07:15):
to run the ovens and run thecash register and waitress and
that was like kind of when youmade it like you were in charge,
so you got more responsibilityas you got older.
Yeah, for sure.
And funny enough, you know, mygrandfather passed away in 1999.
And my father and my uncle theywere still running the pizzeria
(07:36):
Now.
They both had other careers, sowe had family members who
always pitched in and helped.
But when my father retired, hewas a high school superintendent
.
He had heart surgery and thenhe really got back involved a
lot more.
During that time it was when hewas recovering from surgery.
It was a few years after heretired and I mean I sort of
(07:56):
left and had a marketingbusiness and I lived in Florida
and that was the year I movedback because my dad had the
surgery and we both were likeyou know.
I was like, hey, why don't youget out of the house, I'll come
with you, I'll help you withyour marketing.
And it was very funny becauseat the time my dad was, he was
just out of surgery and he wasvery grumpy and he was like I
(08:16):
don't believe in marketing.
And I said, okay, well, we'lljust go together and I'll help
you and it'll be fun.
But ended up being likesomething that we really bonded
over, because we would talk onthe way there and the way back
and on the way home.
He was always excited about whohe saw and who he talked to,
and I was filming content andthen we ended up getting a viral
(08:37):
TikTok page.
So the business got really busyand it just ended up being a
really good experience for bothof us.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Oh, that's amazing.
So yeah, he was very I'm surehe was probably more old school
and didn't understand TikTok andsocial media and I mean I get
that trying to like explain thatsomething like that to my
mother would be like she wouldhave no idea what I was talking
about, that you know you have tolike make videos and you have
to.
So it sounds like yourinfluence then really boomed the
(09:06):
business back.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Oh, yeah, it was fun.
I would put him on lives onTikTok and he would be like what
is this?
And I'm like, just talk aboutthe business.
It's like just don't worryabout it.
And yeah, it was really cool.
And the coolest part was just,you know, talking to him and
being like these people saw iton TikTok and these people
traveled from this place to comein and eat and I think it made
(09:29):
him really proud because he waslike, you know, he was creating
on the business.
They restored the building,they have all the pictures of
all the ancestors on the wallsand he did a coach's corner in
the back because he was a coach.
He was a basketball coach, sothey have all the memorabilia of
the coaching times and justended up being a really cool
(09:50):
thing.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I want to talk about the food also, but it also
sounds like the space, the pizzaplace itself is what really had
an influence on you.
I mean almost like they couldhave been selling Chinese food.
I mean it wouldn't have right.
(10:11):
I mean, am I correct in sayingthat?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Nostalgic.
Even now when I walk in thereit reminds me of my grandparents
.
My grandmother's old rockingchair is sitting there, there's
pictures of all our aunts anduncles and, it's funny, it still
smells the same as when I was akid and the pizza still tastes
exactly the same.
So I think not just for me butfor people in the community it's
a place that's just been there,where people have celebrated
(10:36):
birthdays and anniversaries andreunions, and there's just
something special about itbeyond just the food, even
though I like the food.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Yeah, I mean there's always like something very warm
and comforting about like thelocal pizza place.
So that's kind of neat that youwere actually living that in
your family.
You were that family and that'snice.
My grandparents on my dad'sside, who were Jewish, taught me
(11:14):
.
What I got from them is thatfood is love, but food is love
in all the best ways.
I mean they were nurturing andcomforting and I still remember
my grandmother's warm matzo ballsoup that she would make on the
holidays and the brisket.
I mean those are the memoriesthat I have of her and I loved
her so much.
And you know, on the other hand,I have other family members who
(11:37):
were in big conflict with food.
You know, like diets, dietingvery young, always being
conflicted with food, alwaysconcerned about weight.
Women shouldn't eat a lot, youknow, just very, very fearful
around food.
Yeah, so I mean this is so.
This is what I'm talking aboutwith like food stories.
You know you really can getinfluenced by all the different
(12:01):
aspects.
So I, you know, so you grew upin a very Italian family with
you know, and from what I know,I mean food is central, right to
family gatherings, everythinglike a lot of cultures, but
especially in an Italian family.
So how did the pizza the justgrowing up Italian like that?
(12:29):
What was the influence on you?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
You know, I think it's a couple things, of course.
Like the way that I grew up, itwas like eat, eat, eat.
You know, are you hungry, let'sget you some food.
And as I got older, it was like, you know, it's not that I
don't, I love to eat and I lovefood.
But I also had to look at thefact that when food is involved,
(12:53):
there's discipline.
That's involved.
Like I, I'm not going to sitdown and eat 12 cupcakes.
Would I like 12 cupcakes?
Sure, but I like to eat KrispyKreme every day.
Yeah, I love Krispy Kreme,super good.
But it's one of those thingswhere and I think everyone has
their own kind of level of this,of like you have your own
(13:14):
integrity when it comes to food,of, like you know, being able
to control, being able to behealthy and like, for example,
like now, you know, I know thatI can't just eat pizza, pasta,
sugar, because I don't feel wellwhen I eat that kind of stuff
all the time.
So I have to have balance, Like,if I go home, it's it's, you
(13:35):
know, it's a piece pizza, pasta,cookie, extravaganza.
Well, I know that I need to getup and I need to have protein,
I need to have eggs and I needto have a shake and I need to
maybe grab, you know, a salad ora green juice, because I know
I'm going to have pizza andpasta for dinner.
So I think it was one of thosethings that I had to learn
myself of like, okay, this stuffis all available and it's all
(13:56):
delicious, but I really for me,it's important to be healthy and
to be balanced and to keep thatrelationship with food healthy,
even though you have access tounlimited amounts of quote
unquote junk food.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Right, yeah, I mean.
I mean, how did they influenceyou in this Italian pizza
environment?
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Sure.
So you know, it was veryinteresting because there were a
mix of people.
So my grandmother, she was veryItalian and she was, you know,
eat, eat, eat.
And my mom, my grandmom, evenmy grandma on my other side,
like my mom's mom, they were allgifted and fabulous cooks and
bakers, like incredible.
Now, my grandma on my mom'sside, she had modeled in New
(15:04):
York, she was a wife in thefifties and she definitely had
this idea of limiting the foodand and she was Polish and she
came from a family of, I think,13.
this is your grandma on yourmom's side, on my mom's side,
and they didn't have a lot offood growing up.
So it was definitely adifferent viewpoint and one of
(15:25):
the things that my mom said,which was interesting.
I actually I have a pizzapodcast and I interviewed my
parents and my mom said that,which was interesting.
I actually I have a pizzapodcast and I interviewed my
parents and my mom said that youknow, she, her family, was like
, very conservative and it wasdefinitely, like you know,
things were controlled and itwas more limited.
And then when she came into mydad's family, she started
working at the pizzeria when shewas 14.
(15:46):
My grandparents were like here,eat, eat, eat.
You know, unlimited amounts offood, or did you eat?
Are you hungry?
And it's just so interesting.
I think, with the way thatyou're brought up, you may have
one or the other one where itmight be limited, and then on
the other side, you might havelike a hey, eat more, eat as
much as you want, almost likeyou're being like I don't want
(16:06):
to say forced to eat, but just,you know, encouraged, strongly
encouraged to eat.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yes, I mean that's.
That's similar to my.
I think my food story is that Ihad, on my dad's side, eat like
food.
Food was love, not in a, not ina gluttonous way, you know, but
just like.
That's how love was expressedand and it gave me a lot.
(16:33):
I mean, I was trying a lot ofdifferent things, even as a very
, at a very young age, and Ithink it just expanded my palate
and and it gave me the, thecourage, I guess, to just try
new things, rather than simplygrowing up like, oh, don't, you
know, maybe you shouldn't, oryou know, which, I think, turns
people into picky eaters.
(16:54):
And so I'm I'm always, you know, I'm just very open to trying
all sorts of foods andeverything, but I, so I, it
sounds like, yeah, you, you hadsimilar.
One side of your family was alittle more like measured yeah,
and one is like food is love,yeah, yeah, which is yeah, which
(17:15):
I get you know it's.
Do you feel like from yourmom's side then, that you've
learned something, or did you?
You know what's the takeawayfrom that?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
I think a lot of it is just having that discipline
and, like you know, can I thinka lot of it is just having that
discipline.
And, like you know, can I eat12 pieces of pizza?
Sure, I probably could, but youknow, I'm going to be mindful
and I'm going to have two slicesof pizza, or three slices of
pizza, and I'm not saying, likeyou know, don't eat or starve or
something like that, but justthe difference between the
(17:47):
control and then beinggluttonous, which I think can
sometimes lead to just having anunhealthy habit.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Yes, absolutely yeah.
For me, my, my mom's side ofthe family was more.
There was some around womenenjoying food.
That was my takeaway fromgrowing up.
It's like the men got to eatwhatever they needed to get big
and strong, but women always hadto watch their weight.
(18:17):
And there was, you know, I meanI had a lot of like cooks in my
family, but there was always injust kind of lying in the
background, you know, this likefeeling of you better watch what
you're eating.
From the time I was probablyvery young and like like 11
years old, I was like, you know,it was like suggested I maybe
(18:38):
go on a diet, so it's, you know,so it's yeah, and it.
And then that takes some timeto like untangle.
That you know, and like makepeace with food and be okay with
eating and but but luckily Ihad the balance of, like my
other side of the family, whichwas, you know, which was good.
How do you feel about that?
(19:00):
I mean, do you feel like that'swas there in your family?
Any shame around food any?
Speaker 2 (19:14):
shame around food any ?
No, shame around food, um.
But one thing that was reallyimportant is that we all
exercise and we all playedsports.
But for me that's more of amental health thing than a
physical health thing.
Like I go to the gym every daymentally, like that's it helps
me mentally.
I don't even know that it is aphysical thing.
It's's like I feel like becauseyou know, I have a lot of stuff
, a lot of jobs and books andpodcasts and this and that, and
(19:35):
I need a stress relief and somepeople may eat, some people
drink.
I like to exercise becausethat's what really gets me into
a good mindset, I think.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yes, I totally agree with that.
I think that exercise, firstand foremost for your mental
health, is great.
So that's where, yeah, so, andthat's a good lesson to take
away from your family, so that Imean, if they were always
emphasizing physical activity,that's a yeah, that sort of
weaves into, you know, like thefood story, I sometimes think, I
(20:08):
, I, I sometimes think like foodand exercise, sort of one in
the same you know you can't haveone really without the other.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
You bring it on when you eat and then you work it off
.
And you know my dad was a coach.
So we were really like.
You know, we had five kids inmy family and it was crazy
growing up.
Like it was like pandemonium,people were just like wrestling.
It was when, like WWF was bigand like there, and people were
just like wrestling.
It was when, like WWF was bigand like there was just like
noise, people were fighting, andso my mom was just like please
take some of these kids tobasketball practice.
(20:35):
So my dad was like here's somebasketballs.
Like well, we'll see you whenI'm done in an hour or two.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
That's, that's very funny.
That's yeah, yeah, Well, that'sgood.
I mean, everyone has to gettheir energy out.
Yeah, what's the?
You know what's the one thingthat you loved about just
growing up with the, you know,with the pizza place and the, or
a couple of things.
I mean, what did you love aboutit and what and what do you
feel like you learned?
(21:02):
Like, what are your takeawaysfrom your experience?
I mean, it was impactful enoughfor you to write a whole book
about it and I want to talkabout the book in a second.
But what were your you knowyour loves and your lessons.
I think that you learned fromjust growing up in a you know a
pizza culture.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
I guess, if you will Sure sure I mean, growing up, I
feel like I didn't appreciate itas much.
I thought it was noisy and therewere just people everywhere and
I was just like, oh, like.
Sometimes I was like this is somuch, but now, when I look back
at it, I really appreciate it,because you only have those
times once with the people thatyou love.
(21:41):
And so the fact that, like youknow, my mom, my sister, my
grandma, my best friend, mymom's best friend we all worked
together at the pizza shop onFridays and we made bread and
they made homemade jam and welaughed and we talked and it was
like it was really special toto have that, and I feel, like
you know, as an adult, it'sgiven me a lot of stability
(22:03):
because I have this foundationof this family and we're still
really close, we're still all ina group text like every day,
and I have to silence it becausewe're, like you know, all day
long and we're talking about ourfavorite pizzas.
And my parents they're in Italythis year because my dad's
getting a citizenship and it'sjust, it's very nice to have
(22:24):
that foundation and that supportand that love of your family
support and that love of yourfamily.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Yeah, no, it sounds like the right that the pizzeria
was really like the center ofyour family, like almost like
the rock, any fear that it evermight close.
Or it sounds like it's busy, asbusy as it can be right now.
It's so busy.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
I mean, I think we for sure always want to keep it
in the family and I'm hoping it.
You know, nothing lasts forever, I guess, but I'm hoping it
will and it will just continueto be passed down.
And you know, I'm hoping thatyou know all my brothers and
sisters.
They just started having kids.
So I'm like everyone just needsto have like a lot of kids.
So somebody just ends updeciding to take it.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Yeah, Do you still?
Do you live local to the pizzaplace still?
Speaker 2 (23:13):
I live part of the time in Florida and I live part
of the time local to the pizzaplace where my parents are and I
still do all the marketing forthe pizzeria.
So I travel up there and dovideos and film content.
And my mom owns a jam companyso I help her, and during the
summer it's, you know, jamseason, it's picking season, so
(23:35):
that's a that's a prime time tobe up there, and in the winter,
though, I definitely preferFlorida.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I'm sure you do Get a Western PA.
I'm in Connecticut.
Sounds like your mom does a lotof growing then.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
She makes her own jams and.
Oh yeah, my mom's a mastergardener and one of the things
with the shop that we reallylike do is it's locally sourced
ingredients.
We do the the unbrominated,unbleached flour.
It's a healthier flour and wereally we grate the cheese, we
make the dough fresh, so theseare all really fresh ingredients
(24:14):
.
My mom grows San Marzanotomatoes so we can roast
tomatoes.
She grows peppers and zucchiniand like I mean berries and like
you name it.
She has, like, if you go therein August, you you could.
The harvest there is incredible.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
So that's one thing one thing yeah, I'm curious how
you know I I could see how itmight be easy in a piece of
places like, oh, don't use thelocals.
I mean that that must bepricier and more labor intensive
to make things you know, likeif I can just open a can and
know who will know, but yourfamily is not not, and that's
(24:52):
fantastic, and I'm just curioushow that came about.
Where did your mom get theinfluence to become a master
gardener?
And I mean, I have a specialplace in my heart for gardeners
and gardening, because I thinkit's just the most important
thing you can do towardshealthier eating for yourself.
(25:12):
Yeah, and so that's that'sfantastic, that that they do
that.
Where did that influence comefrom?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah, I think it was really from her mom and dad.
They really had a green thumb.
Like I remember going to mygrandparents and them having
like the most beautiful yard andall the flowers that they grew,
and like I remember laying inthe grass and it was the most
beautiful grass that I'd everbeen, you know, able to be
around.
And I think my mom just really,you know, when we had home, she
(25:43):
planted a lot of flowers anddid a lot of landscaping and
then that kind of turned intogrowing food and so that's just
been.
It's just so nice.
It's an added bonus andespecially, like you know, I
guess, as a creator, as amarketer, it's nice because I
get to film that process andthen show the food, which is
like a really cool part of therestaurant that you don't always
(26:04):
get to show because sometimesit is canned stuff and it's kind
of like that's not really it'sfun to, you know, show is, like
you know, this beautiful pictureof this, all the stuff that
came from the garden.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah, Is that something that's that's
influenced you?
Do you garden?
Do you have a garden?
Do you grow anything?
Speaker 2 (26:25):
I want to.
That is my goal and there aretimes you know we'll do like you
know basil outside or we'll dolike herbs and stuff like that
for cooking.
But what it's been lately Imean I really had to make a
change.
It was like 15 years, threemarketing agencies just working,
and then finally decided I needa break and I went home for the
(26:49):
year to help my family, startedto film the content and really
got so inspired and wrote thebook and wrote the children's
series now writing the nextnovel and almost became inspired
to do marketing again afterreally feeling like I hate to
say the word but just burnout,just not wanting to do it
anymore.
So that kind of revived mypurpose to do that and also to
(27:12):
live a more, I think, organic,thoughtful life.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Great.
Well, yeah, I'm sure you know.
I think all those influences,even if you know you're not
directly gardening right now,but maybe that's just
influencing you in other,secondary ways.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah, yeah, the writing.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yeah, yeah.
So let's talk about the book.
It sounds like you were havingconversations with your dad and
you started talking more aboutyour grandfather and how you
know his history and everything.
Tell me how you got just the.
(27:53):
I mean, writing a book is nosmall feat, so what really like
pushed you over to, I think, saylike this would be a great idea
to write a book to say likethis would be a great idea to
write a book.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
So, you know, it was interesting because we had one
of our companies was a movieproduction company or a film
production company and my one ofmy friends he was the director
he had made a film and it wasabout a life and culture in
Mexico and about a father, abouta son who lost his grandfather
and the grandfather raised him,and it was a very beautiful
story and we were talking aboutour next movie project and I was
(28:31):
thinking, like you know, thiswould be a really cool movie
project.
And so he said, well, yeah, butusually you first need a book.
And I was like, okay, well,like I can probably write a book
, like I've, I'm so inspired bythe story and like I kind of
wanted to put it down on paperanyway.
And so we initially were likeyou know, maybe this would be a
really cool movie to capture.
And so then I wrote the bookand they were both like it was
(28:55):
my husband and our partner, andthey were both like shocked.
They were like, oh, you wrotethe book.
I was like, well, yeah, becausethis might be a really, you
know, beautiful movie.
And so then, after I wrote thebook.
I didn't know what to do withit because I'd never written a
book, so I just let it sit forlike four months and then I
thought, okay, well, I went toschool for marketing, I've been
(29:17):
doing marketing for 20 yearshere, so like I just let me just
use what I know here and thenput the book out.
And then it almost like thebook inspired the children's
series and inspired the podcastand inspired the next novel
which I'm writing now.
So it was like the book was thecenter of it all, which was the
pizza place.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
That's great.
Yeah no, that's.
That's.
That's great.
It definitely gets the word outand I, like I said, I mean I
think I love any stories aboutyour you know grandparents or
great grandparents emigratingover and like, and how how you
then came to be you know hereand today.
So that that's wonderful.
(29:59):
So I wanted to ask you twoquestions.
Number one how often do youactually eat pizza now?
Oh, more than.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
I should.
It's so funny because now Ihave my pizza story podcast and
I do probably, like I film maybetwo or three a week, every week
maybe four, and every day myhusband be like what do you want
to eat?
And I'm like, oh, for dinner.
And I'm like, ok, well, let'shave, like you know, chicken
steak, whatever healthy.
And then I get off the phonefrom doing the podcast and I'm
(30:30):
looking at their pizza onInstagram and he's like what do
you want for dinner?
And I'm like pizza.
So, like you know, now it'sbeen like probably three, four
nights a week of pizza, which wewere trying to limit it to one,
but I could eat it every day.
I'm not going to lie.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Yeah, I think I might be able to eat pizza every
single day too, as long as it'sreally great.
Do you find that you're likekind of in pizza competition?
You know, like you do, you feellike your pizza from your
family's place is is the bestpizza, and oh it's always.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
It will always be the number one favorite.
I have a top 10 list and I haveit on my blog and I just I love
that pizza.
It's amazing.
But there's also some reallygood pizzerias down in Florida,
like there's one calledCristino's they're from Italy.
I've been in business forever.
I think we've been going there15, 20 years.
One called Verola's the guysfrom New York, it's like a very
(31:24):
traditional new york slice andso we definitely go and we find
pizzerias and and we try them.
And you know there's one intampa called forbici.
It's amazing, it's my husband'sfavorite pizza, so we're always
out and about looking for, youknow, the next great pizza.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I guess yeah, well, I live not too far from new haven
, which is sort of like thethat's supposed to be the yeah,
the pizza capital of the world,or the country I don't know,
yeah, so I've gone there acouple of times and sat and
waited in lines for half an hourto get into the pizza place.
That's kind of fun.
So where can people find you,find your book, and how do they
(32:04):
get to know more about you?
Speaker 2 (32:06):
well, if you just search a story about pizza or
you go to a story about pizzacom, you can find everything about
me in the book.
You can search, you can googleme online and you'll see a bunch
of you know author stuff onthere.
But that's probably the easiestway.
It's just a story about pizzaand Google.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Okay, great, and it sounds like there might be a
movie in the works.
Is that what's happening?
Speaker 2 (32:29):
I mean I hope I don't know, I mean right now.
So we did the book and we did atrailer for a series about
family-owned pizzerias and wedid this on my Family's Pizza
Place.
It's on my YouTube channel andwe're going to do a full episode
.
But what I'd love to do is someof the podcasts I've done with
some really cool people in thepizza industries.
(32:50):
I'd love to go do a fullepisode of like going to see
them and filming and stuff likethat.
But right now we're doing thepodcast and I guess we'll see
how it goes.
But I mean goal would be amovie would be the best.
Like that'd be the end goal.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
I think I mean goal would be a movie would be the
best, like that'd be the endgoal, I think, yeah, that would
be great, all right, well, we'llbe, you know, watching and
waiting for the movie.
It sounds great, erica.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate you sharing yourreal food story and I love it.
I love your grandfather's storyand how they came over.
(33:24):
I love your grandfather's storyand how they came over and
sounds like they obviouslyreally influenced you, and here
you are writing a book about itno-transcript.
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