06-14-2006, 04:10 PM
From the NY Times Style section, 6/14/06
Q. I was told recently that Chef Boyardee once worked at the Plaza Hotel. Is that true?
A. It happened long before his canning success, his contract for World War II rations and his easier-to-pronounce new name, but yes, Hector Boiardi worked at the Plaza shortly after coming to America in 1917. He and his brother Mario got jobs there thanks to their older brother, Richard Paul Boiardi, a popular waiter at the Plaza who later became maitre d'hotel at the hotel's Persian Room.
Hector soon left the Plaza, and eventually he opened an Italian restaurant in Cleveland, where he began packaging his sauces and dinners. According to Eve Brown in her history, "The Plaza," Hector's big break at the Plaza occurred when John Hartford, one of Paul Boiardi's customers in the Persian Room, ordered spaghetti.
"I'll make you some from my brother's recipe," said Paul, who went on to complain that his brother couldn't get his canned products into major supermarket chains.
After tasting the spaghetti, Mr. Hartford, who with his brother, George, ran A. & P., announced, "I'll help you."
Paul Boiardi resigned from the Plaza in 1941 to become a vice president of his brother's company and died in 1969. Hector died in 1985.
Q. I was told recently that Chef Boyardee once worked at the Plaza Hotel. Is that true?
A. It happened long before his canning success, his contract for World War II rations and his easier-to-pronounce new name, but yes, Hector Boiardi worked at the Plaza shortly after coming to America in 1917. He and his brother Mario got jobs there thanks to their older brother, Richard Paul Boiardi, a popular waiter at the Plaza who later became maitre d'hotel at the hotel's Persian Room.
Hector soon left the Plaza, and eventually he opened an Italian restaurant in Cleveland, where he began packaging his sauces and dinners. According to Eve Brown in her history, "The Plaza," Hector's big break at the Plaza occurred when John Hartford, one of Paul Boiardi's customers in the Persian Room, ordered spaghetti.
"I'll make you some from my brother's recipe," said Paul, who went on to complain that his brother couldn't get his canned products into major supermarket chains.
After tasting the spaghetti, Mr. Hartford, who with his brother, George, ran A. & P., announced, "I'll help you."
Paul Boiardi resigned from the Plaza in 1941 to become a vice president of his brother's company and died in 1969. Hector died in 1985.
the hands that guide me are invisible