Speaker 1: From the city of presidents, it’s the all about Quincy podcast. This is your host, John Melley. Join me as we explore the history, hidden gems and highlight the businesses with great stories that I’ll tell the tale like Quincy, Massachusetts is a great place to live. Hey, there, it’s John. Welcome to the All About Quincy podcast. This is episode seven and we are recording from our comfortable, but not overly ostentatious studios. And we actually went on location to record this episode, October is national pizza month, and we interviewed Gerry He and his wife owned Gennaro’s eatery. I’m going to get to that episode in just a second, but I want to thank you for listening to the All About Quincy podcast and sharing it with your friends, family, and neighbors and coworkers. We’ve had 414 downloads of the All About Quincy podcast , all the various and sundry episodes of the All About Quincy podcast by far, our most popular episode to date was the last episode titled coyotes and coy wolves in Quincy, all my, with a total of 117 downloads as of this recording huge episode, huge interest.
Speaker 1: And so what I did was I reached out to everybody. I said, October’s national pizza month among other observances during the month of October. But I, I thought, you know, let’s talk about pizza because Quincy has a lot of pizza shops. So I reached out, I said, Hey, where do you folks like to get pizza I got all kinds of restaurants sent to me. So I reached out and a gentleman by the name of Gerry Martocchio who owns Gennaro’s he and his wife own Gennaro’s eatery. He said, I want to be on the show. So I went to his restaurant before they opened and we sat down and had a conversation about his history, how he is making it through the pandemic, the changes that they had to make during the shutdown and, all about the art and science of making delicious pizza. So let’s go listen to my conversation with Gerry chef owner of Gennaro’s eatery.
Speaker 2: Well, as I said, at the beginning of the show, my guest today is Gerry who is the owner of Gennaro’s he and his wife own Gennaro’s restaurant here in Quincy.
Speaker 3: Quincy AB and in the dining room aside, but it’s, Blanchard road as you’re pulling into the parking lot. Yeah. So it’s right on the corner
Speaker 2: Diagonally across from the Quincy credit union union location, Gerry October is national pizza month, right And as you recall, I reached out to pizza shops and pizza restaurants all around the city of Quincy. And I said, Hey, let’s talk about Quincy pizza. And at the beginning of the very first episode of the podcast, I said, I started the all about Quincy podcast because I was walking around during COVID and I saw all these shops and restaurants closed, and I come from a small family business background. Right. And I know that business owners, such as yourself, your money is tied up in your inventory. Be exactly be it, food supplies, napkins, all that kind of stuff. Right So your money’s tied up and unless it moves, the cashflow is not going right. Things shut down. That’s right. And that’s true for a lot of shop owners.
Speaker 2: And I just was walking around saying myself, my folks retired about 20, almost 20 years ago. Right. And I was thinking if COVID had happened back then, I don’t know what we would’ve done. And so I said, you know what I love queen Z’s history. It’s got a lot of businesses, a lot of great restaurants. And I said, what can I do Take my interest and knowledge of small family businesses and history and do something to support the businesses in Quincy. So that’s where this show started from. When I saw that October is national pizza month. I said, Hey, let’s, let’s, we’ve got plenty of pizza places. Let’s go to corner. So anyway, tell us the story of Gennaro’s, how you got started and how your wife got stuck.
Speaker 3: I started in Watertown and a small deli sub shop. And, I grew up in Belmont. Oh, you did Okay. Yeah, it was right off of Mount Albany street. But before that, you know, even growing up and I was 12, 13 years old, I’ve worked in bakeries and, you know, learn how to make bread among other stopping. And I just really took an interest. It was my purpose, you know what I mean, to get into it. So I worked in a lot of places, a lot of bakeries, a lot of restaurants, I went to college, you know, a couple of years, I learned the business end of it. And just been very lucky over the years, working with the right people. I worked with the old school chefs and I’m telling you, it’s nothing like it because schools are good, but schools are textbook. This is the real deal. You know, the art. Yeah. You know, when you work with a good chef that knows his stuff, boy, you follow him around, you know, and you learn. And that’s, that’s what I did. And I was in Watertown for a long time, then opened up a second place in Watertown. Gerry’s kitchen. And I was there for about eight or nine years off of Belmont street. And I was right on the corner. I think I remember that right near Francis food market. I
Speaker 2: Know exactly how to go pay your phone bill.
Speaker 3: Everybody told me that I would never do anything there because there was no packing. There was, it was right on the corner. Yeah. I says, okay. And I turned that into a lucrative business. Thank God. And then after that I got married and I bought a house down the south shore. I was commuting back and forth every day. And it was just killing me with the hours I was working. So we decided on Quincy as a landing spot. And like the pilgrims I’m here, I’m here for good. I liked the area. The people are so warm there, they’ll back you a hundred percent, you know, you have good to people here. They’ll give it right back to you. You know what I mean And I just love what I do, you know, and my son’s going to be taking it over after I retired down the road, you know, once he learns the business really well.
Speaker 3: And, I’ve, I’ve had a good run here, but like you said, covert was nothing to joke about because I had a going business, a known business. I was well-versed in takeout, which probably saved me from covert. You know, there was non-existence in the dining room, catering non-existence and those are the two things that carried me before. So I lost two components right there. Boom. Yeah. So, but we made ends meet, you know, we had a couple of meetings with the staff and we took the waitresses and we made them drivers or counter people and we focused on takeout doing it, right. Getting it right out, driving, you know, delivery, you know, so that’s what we focused on and it got us through, you know, and now slowly was starting to get back. But this, this is far from over and not just for me, but for all these shop owners, these poor guys who either just opened up a business at the end of it or opening up now, it’s still, we’re not getting hit with the COVID as bad as we were before. And this almost at the end, then that X aspect. But as far as our business, anyways, supplies are had to find prices a skyrocketing on anything you do. I mean, you know, you order less food in the bill is the same as it was when you were ordering three times that, because that’s the price step.
Speaker 2: Yeah. My sister and her husband own a, an ice cream stand up in Maine. And so they were having to put, because last summer they were saying anybody who wanted a cone, it had to go in a cup and then a cone on top. Right. So, whereas before people walked off with a call and they just walked off with a cone. Right. But everybody walked away with a cop. And then of course the supplies became scarce because restaurants that weren’t doing takeout right. Did take out. So there was just a run on all those things. And it’s, it’s people don’t think about that stuff. And I think that’s why these, this is important to us.
Speaker 3: Yeah. It’s, it’s gotten really, really bad and it’s getting worse. I noticed too, like in, in, I use companies that are Italian based, like, you know, product companies and they’re finding it hard, keeping up with product they’re running out of a lot of stock or they’re outrageous, you know what I mean And then there was the other big thing was the help. We, nobody in this business had any help. If you noticed going down the street anywhere, help wanted signs where like, you know, on every corner, because it was, it was bad. People was stealing other, people’s help paying astronomical wages and what’s going to happen to those people is they’re gonna let them go. As soon as they get other people, normal rates, you know, and not this high end, you know, I didn’t know
Speaker 2: That was going on. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah. It’s, it’s a lot of good friends of mine who didn’t happen to me, but a lot of other places that I had good friends at work and in this industry, people stole their help from them. Oh yeah. It’s it’s, you know, it’s just people,
Speaker 2: You know, people have families to feed and
Speaker 3: That’s right. Exactly, exactly. Right.
Speaker 2: I suppose. So talk to me about your love of your craft.
Speaker 3: Well, I’ve always believed in one thing, and this was, you know, like an argument with my father, God, rest his soul for years. You know, how, why are you buying this And why are you buying that Because I’m a believer, you start out with something good. You have a good base to start out with. You’re going to make a good product. So I don’t, I don’t, you know, cost is no object to me when I want to get the product to a taste that I like, yeah. I don’t care what it costs to make it, I’m going to make it. And I’m going to be the best at it. We really try that hard with all our foods and our pizza, especially at pizza. Now we want to a, a best in Massachusetts contest at about two or three years ago at Gillette stadium, best in Massachusetts, best
Speaker 2: Pizza in Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: And, I mean, that was, that was a really nice award because you put in the hours, you put in the work, you know, and you help has a lot to do with that too, because you could make, I could make up a hundred recipes if they don’t carry that out and are consistent with it. Right. You’ve done nothing. Right. You know what I mean So it goes a lot to the help I have here. So they’re a good bunch of people, a good core that were Cod, you know, and they make it right. You know So, you know, it’s just using good ingredients and the experience, you learn something every day, especially pizza, you learn something day, every day, I’m still learning and I’m 62 and I’m still learning even as far as when to take the dough out of the refrigerator, when it’s more pliable, when it’s going to give you more air, ear in a pizza is very important to it because you’re going to get that nice fluffy crust. You know what I mean So all these little things come together. Three people could make the same pizza with the same dough in the same sauce and everything else, but it’ll come out three different ways. Know So, you know, you gotta be consistent. That’s what it is.
Speaker 2: Marion’s sure. I mean, you’re just saying all this stuff with this. One of the things that I love about doing what I do is I get to talk to people who are masters at what they, right. And there’s always some nuance or subtlety that the person who just loves your pizza comes in, eats your pizza, has no idea about all those little things that you do to make that pizza tastes the way they
Speaker 3: Exactly right. Which is fascinating to me. Oh yeah. I mean, there’s so many things and I’ve, and I’ve done some crazy things in the past too. Like I’ve, I’ve experimented, you know, and my kid thinks I’m off the wall. Like I even made a pizza dough one day would instead of water use Coca-Cola really. And it gave the pizza such a brown color, Amber color, like because of the sugar content in it. And that gave it a nice taste to, I mean, you, you really didn’t know what it was, but you knew it had a nice taste, but somebody who has diabetes, wouldn’t like, that means like,
Speaker 2: No, but I knew a guy made brownies with Coca-Cola in it. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So there’s a lot of, a lot of things that, you know, go on behind the scenes experiment thing, you know, like if you love your craft, you’ll never stop. And if you say, you know, it all you’re bull out us because you’ll never know it all I learn every day. So every day that’s great. That’s great. That’s, you know,
Speaker 2: What is your favorite pizza to make
Speaker 3: I like the margarita because it’s, it’s simple, simple ingredients. Bazell leaves fresh tomatoes, garlic, you know, and Buffalo mozzarella, you know what I mean And, it’s, it’s just all comes together and a little olive oil, you know what I mean Okay. I mean, there’s, I have the crazy pizzas here. I have the barbecue, bacon, French fry, pizza, chicken, ZD, broccoli, Alfredo.
Speaker 2: I saw the video as I was waiting in the lobby and all like, huh,
Speaker 3: They, they like it. They buy them. But me I’m a traditionalist. I, you know, if you go to a place and they have a good cheese, they have a good pizza. You know, if you like the cheese pizza, then you’ve done something. Right. Because that’s not hiding anything. That’s true.
Speaker 2: That’s yeah. Yeah. I hadn’t thought about it that
Speaker 3: Way, but yeah. And there’s so many different styles of pizza too. Like I like other people’s pizza too. Once in a while, you know, I like a good Greek style pizza, you know, if it’s made right. It’s a nice pizza. Italian pizza was made like Mayan is made on a hot stone, you know, the old school way, which I like to, I also make a Sicilian pizza too, in a pan
Speaker 2: Now, see, this is where I’m learning. So what’s the difference between Greek Italian insistent pizzas. Basically
Speaker 3: Greek is basically a pan pizza, but it’s, it’s a, it’s a softer dough. It’s a crispier though. you know, it’s made with a lot like shortening in it and stuff with the Italian pizzas of very lean dough. It’s, it’s basically good, good olive oil, salt, flour, water, and yeast. You know what I mean And I use fresh sheets. I don’t, everybody likes that dry yeast because it’s easy to store and it fares better and everything, but you buy good fresh sheets. You’ll never go wrong with taste, you know, but Sicilian is almost on the idea of a scaly loaf of bread. It’s the same type of dough, you know, a little sugar added into it, oil again, but it’s a mixture which I can devolve. It’s not all red flour. There’s other flowers mixed into it to give it a softer texture. And then an Italian leaner thin crushed stone.
Speaker 3: But mine is, I learned that from Rhode Island, a guy in Rhode Island who was like probably the biggest sales towards any chain. And he’s a single operator. Wow. I mean, he’s, he’s up there, but they’ve been doing it for a hundred years. So, you know, I learned from him step-by-step, you know, and he makes a good Sicilian, you know, it’s a nice pizza. It’s a little thicker than you. Like, if you like a nice thick pizza, that’s what to buy. And it’s good when you’re having parties or events. It goes well, because you get a full sheet, $24 and it’s, it’s a big, full sheet pan of pizza. So it’s not the
Speaker 2: Square. Yeah.
Speaker 3: It’s rectangle, but it’s actually 24 pieces. Wow. So it’s a good size pizza. You could cut it into like appetizer sizes, which is very popular here on events and stuff I do. Or what Paul Ortiz or events or anything, you know, it just goes, well,
Speaker 2: What’s the most popular pizza that you shouldn’t sell
Speaker 3: I would say the, sausage, I use a real good sausage. Ya. I don’t buy those sausage bits. No, I use the real sweet Italian sausage and I cut up myself and it’s, you know, nice. I’d like to use on my pepperoni, but some people wouldn’t probably go for it. I liked the real Italian margarita pepperoni, which I don’t know if you’ve ever seen it. It comes in a stick. It’s very dry is you’d have to put it on the pizza midway during the cooking, because if you did it at the start, it would just out and like, you know what I mean But the flavor, oh my God, you know, it’s so good. You know what I mean It’s really good. I mean, if somebody requested it, I would do it for them. There you go. Because that’s a phenomenal pepperoni pizza. No,
Speaker 2: That’s my favorite is pepperoni pizza. But at any rate, you’re getting ready to, we, we are here in your dining room right now and you’re getting ready to open up. So is there anything that you want to share with our list
Speaker 3: Well, just that I want to basically thank them for the 26 years. So far that I’ve had here. It’s been a good run so far and I hope it continues. they’ve been really loyal to me. They’re really, really loyal. Even during bad times, they came in and supported us. I mean really nice people. I don’t have any like friends, you know, when I leave here, I go home. They go from work to home. I don’t go anywhere. I got my kids and my wife. I have so many friends here that have met over the years and I consider them friends because they are. And just, I mean, if something’s ever not right here, you know, that you get or whatever, you know, talk to me, call me, I put my cell number on the hotline number every day. If you have any suggestions, tell me, you know what I mean I want to be the best. I don’t want to be good. I want to be the best. There you go. You know And, I just wanna, you know, give it a lot of gratitude out to the, to the customer for a change because they’re, they’re the reason that we’re here still, you know Yeah. So good to me. That’s all. And I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Now one last question and I’ll probably put this in a little bit earlier. You’re working the business. Yup. What time did you get here today
Speaker 3: three 30. Three 30 in the morning. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, this is a man who is dedicated to his business and his customers. So I mean, you, you probably got up at two.
Speaker 3: Well, it came to the point where, you know, I didn’t do this all the time. You know, like at three 30, I come in at like five or six, but I’m coming in earlier now because the way I feel is the help is not out there yet. You know Like they haven’t fully come back to work. A lot of people. And the morning prep is such an important position in any restaurant because that guy is going to be able to pump food out the right way, not just pump it out the right way. You know, it’s got to have good flavors and making soups. Like I do all my soups every morning. I do my sauce every morning in big vats. Wow. Sharp cook. All my Pasa, cut all the vegetables, make my orange cheese red might chicken cutlets in all my veal. You know what I mean So all that, if you don’t have somebody good in the morning, good day starts off bad. Well, you come in. Well, the next set of cooks comes in to actually cook. Lunch is not the knives ready. It’s just everything. You know, it just turns your stomach because it’s like, your whole day is behind now. You know Yeah. It was, if I come in, they could blame me.
Speaker 3: I don’t mind taking the blame.
Speaker 2: That’s amazing. So you’ve already put in an eight hour day and, that’s just amazing when you think about it, it doesn’t, you don’t just come in and turn the ovens on foods, ready to rock and roll. It’s
Speaker 3: A lot of people think there’s a magical microwave. Yeah. That just brings up. Oh, I, I wish it was, but it’s not that way,
Speaker 2: You know
Speaker 3: Okay. You know,
Speaker 2: Not at all. Well, listen, sir, I want to thank you for taking time out of your very busy day to talk to me and thank you very much. I hope you have an awesome national pizza month for October and a fantastic year. And I hope everything gets back up to speed. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Real shit that I really do. And think everybody out there again too.
Speaker 1: Well, that’s it for this episode of the alibi Quincy podcast. I want to thank you for listening. Hey, if you know of someone, maybe it’s yourself. That is a business owner, a historian, something need going on in the community, an unsung hero in the city of Quincy. We want to hear about it. If you think you should be on the show, or if you think of someone who should be on the show, we want to know, just go to all about Quincy podcast.com, click on the contact button in the upper right-hand corner. Fill out your name, email address, and a short paragraph of why this person should be on the show. We would love your suggestions. we’ve got more episodes coming up, perhaps in another couple of pizza shop episodes. It’s October it’s national pizza month. And also Halloween’s coming up. Knows what we could come up for a Halloween episode for the Olivette Quincy podcast. But I know you’ll just have to stay tuned and listen anyway until next time. Thanks for listening. And I’ll talk to you real soon. Take care.
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