Month: March 2022

Sometimes I make business decisions solely on what I’m feeling in my heart and not my head. For better or for worse, “Sometimes” is a very common occurrence. I have always looked out for the betterment of my customers. Many other members of the Jewelry owner community, not so much. It was never my intention to create monstrous profit through price gouging the public and it never will be. That being said, I can say that I sleep at night knowing that I have done my best to have the complete and utmost trust of my following. Being comfortable finally in the unusual “Gold Rush” streamlined situation at the store, I had free time to entertain my passion for making amazing Hoagies and Steak sandwiches. Where did the name “DiNuzios Hoagie House” come from? Well, It just popped in my head one day watching NCIS…”DiNuzio”… “DiNozzo”. Sounded like a great Italian name! The Quakertown Farmers Market was open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday so I figured that three days a week wouldn’t kill me. Wrong. When I got back from Florida, I went full go on the construction to implement my culinary dream. Auctions for kitchen equipment, seating and accessories took a lot of time. And a lot of bucks. Having my background in construction and store building helped a lot as I was able to GC and do most of the work with friends and myself. I opened up accounts with Liscios bread company, the best rolls, Dietz and Watson Meats and the Restaurant Supply superstore for all vegetables, spices, drinks, etc. September, 2012 was my opening date. Fast and furious was the pace and after Labor day we were on our way!

My friend and Florida cohort Billy Coulter was running the show. Cindy and other employees from Philly helped start us off. I was running back and forth from Cottman Ave working Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays. Back to a seven day a week grind. Thursday afternoons, I would work in the jewelry store until three, head to Pennsauken, NJ to the Restaurant supply store, load up for the week for Quakertown and drive the hour and twenty minutes up to unload the product. It was a long day. Friday was rinse and repeat, 9 to 9 minus the trip to Jersey. Saturday too. Sunday from 10 to 5….Monday a day off. Our grand opening was a major success! People loved our Steaks and Hoagies! The recipes that I learned back in Hatboro, plus my own culinary intuition and quest for perfection, crushed it! Making an Italian Hoagie is an art. The bread and the oil make the sandwich. Anyone can slap meat and cheese on a roll. The quality meats and cheeses have to be sliced thin- just right. The vegetables sliced perfectly thin too. The right distribution of everything on the roll and the perfect amount of oil and vinegar. MAYO? PLEASE!! FUGGEDABOUTIT!! Our oil was a special mix of two-thirds Virgin Olive Oil, one third Red Wine Vinegar and select spices mixed into a squirt bottle of “Wow”! There was the “Nicky Italian Classic” the “Cheesesteak Joe”, the “Mama DiNuzios Old Fashioned Italian”- a fan favorite! A Liscios seeded 10 inch roll, my special mix of Olive and Garlic Tapenaude, our famous Oil, Prosciutto, Genoa Salami, Romaine lettuce- gently pulled apart, Hot Capicola, Roasted red peppers and Crumbled Sharp Provolone cheese. A dash more of oil and Oregano and OMG! Is your mouth watering? Mmhhhmm.

We had The “Corned Beef Bernie”, the ” Pastrami Pete”- both on grilled Rye with Swiss cheeses and Cole slaw or sauerkraut respectively, the “Italian Roast Pork” with Broccoli Rabe and Roasted red peppers and Olive/Garlic Tapenaude dripping with Pork Juice. One Quarter pound Rib-Eye Cheesesteaks with melted American cheese or Wiz, wit or witout. French fries, onion rings, sides, a condiment bar. We had it all and it was marvelous. My son Nick says that he still can’t eat an Italian Hoagie from anywhere else! I was paying the price though. We sat up to sixty patrons and were full on Saturday and Sunday. My labor of love was a huge amount of labor. And stress. And miles. And $$$. The food business is freakin tough. Long hours, low markups, inventory turnover and management. A diamond is a million years old and always looks beautiful. A week old head of lettuce? Not so hot. There were so many challenges that needed to be overcome open just three days a week. Making incredible food is a great thing. Following your heart and being successful is another.

Next Up: One Tiring Year

The sense of major accomplishment overwhelmed me upon my return home from Florida. My goal achieved. Of course, there was more improvements to be made but overall the condo in Bradenton was complete. Ready to go for family, friends and eventually rental income. There was no rest for the weary. It was back to business, back to reality. I was impressed with the job that my employees were doing at the store. Business was brisk and the customers were all happy and very satisfied. That being said, my attention would be up in Quakertown Pa. where my next endeavor was taking shape.

Way back in the day, I had the honor of filling the bellies of the masses with delicious burgers, roast beef sandwiches and sumptuous French fries. I was a “Chef” at the famous Roy Rogers fast food restaurant in Abington, Pa. A high school paycheck and my first entry into the culinary arts…. I made a mean Double R Bar Burger, I must say! I also took part in a pilot program there for one of the first ever salad bars in the country. This was 1978 and our Roy Rogers was chosen by corporate to test out this new food concept. Exciting eh? Did you know that the perfect piece of Iceberg lettuce for a salad is one inch by one inch? I did. The paycheck wasn’t bad and I really enjoyed working the grill and making Roast beef sandwiches. I could have done without the cowboy hat and red paisley uniform though. I lasted there for about a year and a half. I quit after I was accused of stealing two thousand dollars from the office safe. Questioned by the Abington police, they concluded that I was the only one that worked there that was intelligent enough to pull it off. Really? Turned out to be the Bread delivery guy. The night manager forgot to lock the safe the night before and the deliveryman stole the cash receipts when he dropped his invoice off early the next day. Morons. After a stint serving up auto parts for another year and a half at Pep Boys auto parts, I landed a job at South Philly Steaks and Hoagies in Hatboro, Pa.

It was my freshman year at Temple University. Splitting classes between the Ambler and Center city campuses was like a full time job but I still needed cash flow to pay the bills. An accomplished ice hockey official at this point, I made a decent amount of cash refereeing men’s league hockey games on Friday and Saturday nights. I needed more. Enter ” South Philly Steaks and Hoagies” in Hatboro. The help wanted sign in the window stared back at me every time I passed by as I drove back and forth to the rink along York Road. Why not? It was a small Mom and Pop operation open for lunch and dinner, six days a week. The owner, an older Italian gentleman named “Wally” welcomed my offer to work there with open arms. Who wouldn’t? My experience at Roy Rogers was clutch! I also offered up the help of my good friend and officiating partner Mark Oswalt. He was also looking for some extra work at the time too. We would become a full time summer tag team at the shop doing prep in the morning and serving up delicious Hoagies and Steaks to the neighborhood for the lunch shift. I manned the Hoagie table, Mark and Wally the grill, and Wally’s wife the phones and walk in’s. I learned a lot there. Especially, the many recipes passed down through the owners family. I loved constructing the perfect Italian Hoagie. It was an art. A passion. And thirty three years later…a reality.

On a side note, I would like to extend my sincerest and heartfelt condolences to a lifetime friend whose husband battled cancer for the last ten years. He fought a valiant battle that ended last week when he passed from his disease. We ran into each other a few weeks ago, prior to his demise, at the supermarket and had a long conversation in the International foods aisle. Constantly repositioning our carts to accommodate the traffic, I listened and felt her pain while she told me about her husband’s decline and the issues facing them currently. The hospital and doctor visits, the Medicare drug issues, the finances, the pain and suffering, the new treatments and trials. Some semblance of hope too. Overwhelming. This is a caregiver. The wife or husband or partner or child whose life becomes centered and consumed with the care of someone they love so much who has cancer. An emotionally and physically draining endeavor, especially as the cancer progresses and decimates its victim. I hope that my friend finds peace in knowing that she did her best, gave her all and how incredibly special she really is…❤.

Next Up: “DiNuzios Hoagie House”

So, we had six weeks to gather an entire home of furniture and decorations and linens and kitchen essentials etc., etc., etc. The plan was to purchase everything we needed to complete the Florida home and pack it in our two car garage in Doylestown until I was ready to leave. The hunt was on! Raymour and Flanagan, the Dump, Home Goods, Pier One Imports, Bed Bath and Beyond, Carpet, Lowes, among many others. Even two wooden paintings of Pelicans from the Ocean City boardwalk! By the time Lori and I were done, you could barely close the garage doors! Hopefully, it will all match when it goes into the new house.

Luckily, the jewelry store was humming along and very busy. During Tax return season our business really picks up for engagement rings. The refund checks are a great boost for all of the young men in the market for diamonds. I was also planning for the opening of DiNuzios Hoagie House in the Quakertown Farmers Market. Was I crazy? Yep. I was on overdrive right now. Consistantly healthy for the first time in many years, there was so much time and life to make up for. Nick just graduated from Holy Ghost Prep and Joey was finishing his first year of Junior hockey. Proud Pop. Time was flying and my departure to Bradenton at hand. I had one week to finish the condo and get back to start construction on the restaurant. Time to rent the U-Haul.

Little Billy Coulter was going to be my traveling partner to Florida. A young, strong and actually huge guy, Billy was a Linsalata. They are all huge! About six foot-five, 275 pounds, Bill was the perfect traveling companion and furniture mover. He would share the driving duties on the twenty-two hour trip and then fly back to Philly a few days later. We picked up the fourteen foot truck early on a Friday morning in the end of June and headed back to my house to load the goodies. We literally had ZERO room left in the truck as we took off for I-95 South. The journey began around twelve noon as I waved goodbye to Lor, tired already!

Bill and I were driving straight through the day and night and were meeting my two contractors as well as their carpet installer as soon as we got to the condo. Our trip was pretty uneventful other than the fact that our truck was so heavy that we could barely get it up to fifty five miles per hour! The obligatory bathroom breaks and food breaks added some extra time to the trip. We also pulled over for about thirty minutes to close our eyes. We shared the driving duties too, alternating and snoozing while the other drove, to try and stay fresh. The truck pulled into Fairview Terrace around 11 am Saturday morning. Finally! We were exhausted but the contractors were ready to roll. The carpeting was the first item out the door so the workers could get right on it. After that, we all began unloading whatever we could to start putting it in the house. Long story short, by Sunday night, the house was completely furnished and Bill was on his way home via American Airlines. What a great guy! I couldn’t have done it without him.

The week ahead would be full of putting things together, accessorizing the kitchen and bathrooms and running all over Bradenton and Sarasota to get whatever else I needed to finish the job. And, oh yeah… hanging those beautiful wooden, hand painted, Pelican paintings we got on the OC boardwalk. Front and center on the main wall of the Great room, they looked perfect. The house was perfect. Mission accomplished. My friend, John Charaszyn, a former professional wrestler, helped me carry those Pelicans the length of the boards. So far, so heavy. Nice to have big guy friends.

Next up: Back to Reality