His entrepreneurial skill became polished and well known when he opened his first restaurant, Il Giardino d'Italia, whose name translates as "The Garden of Italy", at East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, in 1924. At this point in history, fine dining was synonymous with French food, according to NPR. [16], Chef Boyardee is one of the only brands to request to be removed from an episode of Seinfeld. With his brothers Mario and Paul, Chef Hector starts the Chef Boyardee Company. He also garnered a summer job cooking at the historic and ritzy Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia (for 30 years, it was also the site of an underground bunker for Congress in the case of nuclear war). In 1928, as we said already, Ettore and his two brothers founded "Chef Boyardee," a food company specialized in the production and commercialization of Italian style ready-to-eat meals. Cooking up recipes from his hometown, he so impressed customers that he was hired away to be the head chef at Barbetta on 46th Street (where it is still located to this day). The company, which is today known for its canned meals, especially its ravioli, has changed hands a number of times since. At the age of 24, he moved to Cleveland and opened a restaurant with his wife. The most interesting brand names based on fictitious people, by far, are those that were devised with the express purpose of playing up the concept of "idealized domesticity," which was a big marketing trend around the turn of the 20th century. And in 1928, the Chef Boiardi Food Company was born, launched by Hector, Helen,and Hectors brothers Paul and Mario. He stayed on as a consultant there until 1978. 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He is buried at All Souls Cemetery in Chardon Township, Ohio. Does Chef Boyardee Still Make Chili Mac? | Greengos Cantina And that picture on the product labels, of course. 1. Doesn't pancake syrup called Mrs. Butterworth's just sound delicious? So the next time you're in the supermarket and see a brand that you think might be named after someone, don't automatically assume it is. 16 Foods You've Probably Eaten But Didn't Know They Were - BuzzFeed The Milton factory started operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week in 1942, according to the company website. Weird History Food said, Chefs significant contributions to Milton, Pennsylvania were never forgotten. [4] The idea for Chef Boiardi came about when restaurant customers began asking Boiardi for his spaghetti sauce, which he began to distribute in milk bottles. He thus began bottling up his sauces in old milk bottles and packaging his special blends of cheeses and spices with dried pasta and selling these meal kits to customers. Chef Boyardee was a very real, very successful chef. Kat Eschner is a freelance science and culture journalist based in Toronto. Did you know this already? As Anna Boiardi told NPR in 2011, they were the largest importers of Parmesan cheese from Italy. The rest is history. Lets talk about it. A real persona and a real legend. So impressed with Boiardi's cooking, Wilson chose him to supervise the homecoming meal of 2,000 returning World War I soldiers in late 1918. The wedding, which took place after a brief courtship, was held at Galts Washington, D.C. home. In some cases, the name simply sounds good. You know his raviolis. One of the more famous he worked at as a youth was New Yorks famous Plaza and Ritz-Carlton hotel. Even though its now a household name, the people of still have very sentimental memories of Chef Boyardee. What Chef Boyardee real? From Italian immigrant to selling his company for millions, Boiardi's story is the very embodiment of the American dream. They also procured distribution across the United States through their grocery's wholesale partners. Ettore and his wife Helen opened up Il Giardino d'Italia in 1924, quickly attracting attention for the quality of their traditional cooking at a time when Italian cuisine was much less common than it is today. The classic ready-made pastas are iconic and well known. Green made her public debut in character at the1893World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where she charmed the crowds and doled out pancakes from a booth.The Jemima brand soon became so popular that Green secured a lifetime contract, and the business was renamedthe Aunt Jemima Mills Company. Four years later, Boiardi and his brothers started the Chef Boyardee Company. Look at Chef Boyardee, for example. They spell the name phonetically to keep American tongues from twisting on the Italian pronunciation. The drink was named by Aldertons boss, Wade Morrison. Your email address will not be published. In a world of fake food mascots, Ettore Boiardi was the real deal. Fields began franchising in 1990 and then sold the business while staying on as the companys spokesperson. Today, Chef Boyardee sells a variety of classic pasta dishes in both cans and those little microwavable cupsSpaghetti & Meatballs, Beefaroni, Lasagna, and, of course, both meat and cheese ravioli. He and his wife would hand them out using old milk bottles. Others, like Mr. Coffee, well, we don't think they were trying to fool anyone with that one. He's become a household name, but few people actually know the chef behind the brand. As of 2021, the following products are no longer in production. Born 119 years ago this month (October 22nd, 1897) in the northern Italian city of Piacenza (part of Italy's famous "food valley"), legend has it that cooking was so ingrained in Boiardi that he used a wire whisk as a rattle. Believe it or not, Chef Boyardee was a real live chef, and Chef Boyardee's history is pretty amazing. These names are probably all over your kitchenbut did they belong to real people? However, there was one tiny detail to figure out. At first, the revised name was Boy-ar-dee, a phonetic spelling of how the family name was pronounced. Far from some dated Italian caricature, "Hector" was actually a model immigrant who made his name cooking for discerning diners in New York and Cleveland not to mention a sitting president long before his likeness ever graced a can of Beefaroni. This article is about the canned pasta product line. He opened the first Famous Amos store in Los Angeles in 1975 and then began supplying cookies to grocery stores around the country. Chef Hector plays a major role on the home front by making food for the troops. Fast forward around 4 years and the volume of his carry out meals being sold per day required a factory to produce. He sold the company to American Home Foods in 1946 for nearly $6 million, and remained as a spokesman and consultant for the brand until 1978. [9][10] His last appearance in a television commercial promoting the brand aired in 1979. The classic ready-made pastas are iconic and well known. Chef Boyardee Juan Valdez Colonel Sanders Duncan Hines. According to his New York Times obituary, Boiardi handled the catering at the reception for Woodrow Wilson's second marriage in 1915, still the most recent example of a presidential wedding. When stirring sauce, you should always stir with the spoons rounded side down, rather than stir sideways like pretty much everyone does. Once he arrived, he landed a job at the famous Plaza Hotel. Who Was Chef Boyardee? Lets try!. It is an excellent and convenient meal that can be consumed quickly and has delighted generations of families. Behind the label is a whole impressive history, beginning with the origins of Ettore Boiardi, who became Hector Boyardee . Unlike the friendly but fictional food faces of Betty Crocker, Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, Chef Boyardee that jovial, mustachioed Italian chef is real. Ettore "Hector" Boiardi was born in Italy and immigrated to Cleveland in 1914. When World War II erupted in Europe, the food company was put to work making Army rations. At the persuasion of a couple of restaurant regulars, including a couple who owned a local grocery store chain, Boiardi built a small canning and processing plant in Cleveland. That was because Chef Boyardee meals were included in American soldiers rations. It then expanded when the production was moved to Milton, Pennsylvania, and there, the Chef Boyardee empire was born. [12] He had five grandchildren. Boiardi quickly rose through the ranks, earning a spot as the Plaza's head chef just a year later. So he changed his last name's spelling to make it easier to pronounce, slapped it on a can, and boom, Chef Boyardee was born. He supervised the preparation of the homecoming meal served by Woodrow Wilson at the White House for 2,000 returning World War I soldiers. WSCQ 96.3 FM - SUN RADIO TRIVIA Question: Which of these - Facebook It was confusing to some people and that was beginning to affect sales, staff, and customers so that is when the brothers decided it was best to anglicize their name to make it easier for others to recognize. This was too much for Boiardi and his brothers to handle. But not all brands involving a person's name have origins that are so cut and dry. Known affectionately as 'Chef Boyardee,' he founded his food franchise of products with his wife, Helen. While we may think of him as the man on the can, Ettore "Hector" Boiardi was, in fact, one of the top culinary talents in America who even cooked for a president. Take a Break from Tuna with the Best Canned Salmon, All of the Tapatio Products You May Not Have Known Exist, The 5 Best Bread and Butter Pickles Are Sweet, Sour, and Sensational, Sporkeds Guide to the Best Nachos Fixins, 3 Best Frozen Chicken Patties for DIY Fast Food. Bummer. Hector teamed up with his brothers Mario and Paul to found the Chef Boyardee company, using a phonetic spelling of the family's last name to make it easier to pronounce. Meet The Real Chef Behind The Chef Boyardee Brand But what about the chef behind the raviolis. Chef Boyardee is an American brand of canned pasta products sold internationally by Conagra Brands. With Boiardi serving food from his northern Italian home of Piacenza to a population that wasn't already inundated with Italian food, his restaurant was perhaps the one of the most unique (and popular) in the city. She loves spicy snacks, Oreos, baking bread, teeny tiny avocados, and trying new foods whenever she can. Betty Crocker, Uncle Ben, Orville Redenbacher, and Dr. Pepper are a few that come to mind. Another example of this trend (while not a brand name) is Cream of Wheat's African-American mascot Rastus, who graced boxes of the stuff, wearing his chef's whites, from the 1890s until the 1920s. Chef Hector Boyardee was born in 1897 in Piacenza, Italy, not surprisingly with a very Italian name: Ettore Boiardi. The best. The kit included uncooked pasta, tomato sauce, and a container of pre-grated cheese. [5], The U.S. military commissioned the company during World War II for the production of army rations, requiring the factory to run 24 hours a day.