by Sherry McCarthy For Voce Italiana*
Joe Farruggio sits in A Modo Mio, his casual Arlington, Virginia restaurant, to share his memories of more than 53 years in the pizza business. After spending the first 16 years of his life on the tranquil family farm in Sicily, he m oved to New York City and just five days later began working in a pizza parlor. He never looked back, as he relates in his book, “My Name is Joe And I Am A Pizza Man.”
Voce Italiana asked Farruggio about the path that led toward building a pizza empire in the nation’s capital, including the hugely successful Il Canale restaurant and his new 90 Second Pizza chain venture.
Can you tell us about your life back in Sicily?
I was 16 and a half when I came here. My uncle moved to America in 1953 and then around 1960 he visited us back in Sicily and asked my father if we wanted to move to America. He said he would sponsor us and it was the chance to get the kids out of the dirt and farm. Seven years later we came to America.
When I was in Italy and my uncle visited, I was ten and had this beautiful fantasy of America because of the way he described it. He said there was a lot of candy and that things were cheap. And you could find money in the street! So I had this idea that if I got up early in the morning I could go look for the money on the streets and buy candy. I was a kid so that is all I wanted.
I grew up working on the farm. I had friends in our small little town. There was a nice community. We went to school, I made it through five years of elementary school, three years of junior high, and I went to high school for six months and then we moved. Living in Sicily for almost 17 years formed me. I thought I was old and mature because you grow up with different things. We did not have the things we take for granted now. There was no air-conditioning, no refrigerator, and no television. We had water but no sewer.
The goats and rabbits, and chickens lived on the farm. I was lucky to grow up in the place I grew up.
What was it like moving to America?
I came on the ship called the Michelangelo. We saw the Verrazzano Bridge, which I thought, must be the Brooklyn Bridge. We went by the Statue of Liberty and everyone stood on the ship deck to see. It was exciting.
I made friends right away. I was living with my aunt and uncle; my uncle was my father’s brother. So the next day I dressed in my Italian clothes and walked towards the corner where four young guys were sitting. When they saw me they shouted, “Hey, Sei Italiano?” Meaning “are you Italian?” And I looked at myself saying, can you tell? From that moment on I had friends. I jumped right into this young Italian community and the party began.
How was life in New York City?
I was in New York from 1970 to 1977. It was a period of my life with a lot of parties. The disco was a big thing. But I had this dream where I would find money on the street and I wasn’t doing it in New York. There was an Italian newspaper called Il Progresso. Because I had been making pizza in New York, customers would come in and say that nowhere else has pizza like this. The places they lived did not have what was in New York. So I started thinking that going outside of New York might be better for me to succeed. I connected with a guy in Virginia and he hired me. I opened a pizza and subs shop with this guy, I knew he made a good sub and I made a good pizza. And we were really successful.
I would drive around at night time looking for a place where I could have my own store. But I didn’t have any money so I had to get creative. There was a small frozen custard place in Woodbridge, Virginia. The parking lot had a lot of cars but the place was always empty.
So I walked in and told the guy ‘I heard this place is for sale.’ And he asked who I heard that from, which I answered with, ‘Does it matter? Either it is for sale or it isn’t.’ And he said yes because he wanted to get out of there. We negotiated and I bought the place. I went back to my partner asking for 50% of the company or else I would leave. My partner offered 25% so I left. My brother joined me as we started the place in Woodbridge. We found used equipment and had friends supporting it. Then Joe’s Place Pizza and Subs opened and did spectacularly well.
How did you feel during this time? Were you terrified?
I was not scared at all. I could not fail. If it didn’t work out, I would be dead. But I knew it would work. I trusted my product and trusted that people would love it.
People debate the best style of pizza, whether it’s New York or Neapolitan style. What do you think are the differences?
I made New York style pizza for a while. My first place was New York style, not Neapolitan pizza. I started making Neapolitan pizza about 2005 when I got involved in Georgetown with Il Canale. I have friends from Naples and I learned about their pizza style. If you compare it to cars, New York pizza is a Chevrolet and Neapolitan is a Ferrari. Chevrolet is good, but you want the Ferrari.
Where did you come up with the idea for your most recent venture, 90–second pizza?
About six years ago I was in Vegas at the pizza and pasta convention. I met a guy who said he had a pizza place called 900 degrees. At 900 degrees, a pizza can be made in 60 seconds. I didn’t want to call it 60 seconds because my pizza is a crispier Neapolitan pizza, so I added the extra 30 seconds. And you can do a lot of things in 90 seconds. It says speed and it says Neapolitan pizza.
My manager at Il Canale liked the idea and we decided to do it together. We opened the first one and six months later one of the manager’s wife got pregnant, and he had said if she got pregnant they would move back to Italy. And the other manager was facing some issues and could no longer stay. I bought them out and was in charge once again. There are now three 90-Second Pizza locations in the city and one opening at the end of the year. If you give the customers what they are there for, you can succeed. It’s simple, if you’re getting a hamburger it should not be burnt and should be on a clean plate.
I am lucky, but I did not choose to be the Pizza Man.
Though you were confident in your product, did you face any challenges in your over 50 years of experience?
There was a period when I had some issues with alcohol and my life wasn’t under control. I went to Italy for six months, then came back to America and stopped drinking. My life exploded; it became what it was supposed to be.
A few years later, I faced another challenge. In 2000 I went through a divorce, which pretty much knocked me out of the water. She said I was working too hard and I took that to heart. I closed the restaurants but because I owned the building I could lease it to other people.
In 2010 I opened Il Canale, which was another beautiful challenge. But life is full of challenges. Today I am remarried. I used to only have three boys but now I have five kids because my present wife has two daughters. I am a grandfather and the younger daughter is getting married in Italy.
I’m actually leaving in July to go back to Italy until September. I will eat pizza from the best places in Naples to do research. The pizza gives me an even better reason to go back to Italy, I have to renew my taste!
**Sherry McCarthy is a recipient of the 2024 Italian Legacy Research Grant, a program of the Casa Italian Sociocultural Center Inc. /Italian American Museum of Washington DC She is a student at Georgetown University.
