L'Italo-Americano

F o r I t a l i a n s , growing up in a h o u s e h o l d w h e r e o n e o r b o t h p a r e n t s o w n a r e s t a u r a n t i s n o t u n u s u a l . B u t h o w m a n y Italians can claim that fast f o o d p i o n e e r H a r l a n Sanders of Kentucky Fried C h i c k e n f a m e w a s a f r e - quent house guest? S e a t t l e ' s D o r e n e C e n t i o l i - M c T i g u e , c o - f o u n d e r o f P a g l i a c c i P i z z a , c a n . C o l . S a n d e r s w a s a p e r s o n a l f r i e n d o f Dorene's father Gill, the son of Italian immigrants and a legend in Seattle's restau- rant and fast food industry. T h e t w o m e n m e t i n H a w a i i i n t h e m i d - 1 9 5 0 s w h e n C o l . S a n d e r s w a s c o o k i n g f r i e d c h i c k e n a s p a r t o f a d e m o n s t r a t i o n . They became good friends. E v e r y t i m e C o l . S a n d e r s came to town, he would stay in the Centioli home. "Col. Sanders was like a second f a t h e r t o m y d a d , " s a i d Centioli-McTigue. "When he stayed overnight, he was given my parents' bedroom to sleep in. He would often get up in the night and raid the family fridge for left- over pasta. I remember he was quite an eater!" I n 1 9 7 9 , C e n t i o l i - M c T i g u e f o l l o w e d i n t h e family's footsteps and start- ed Pagliacci Pizza with her brother and cousin. It was an instant hit. The brand went on to develop its own quirky personality and cul- ture while staying focused on great taste and excellent service. Pagliacci's was very inno- v a t i v e . I n 1 9 9 2 , i t e s t a b - lished a centralized call cen- ter and began making home deliveries. It hand-tossed its pizza, a novelty for its time. Centioli-McTigue sold the b u s i n e s s i n 2 0 0 0 b u t a Centioli pizza remains on the menu, a thin crust pizza with red pepper flakes, gar- lic, fresh parsley, Fontina, and Mozzarella cheese. This article was based on a pre- sentation she gave to the Seattle-Perugia Sister City Association. T e l l u s m o r e a b o u t y o u r m o t h e r ' s s i d e o f the family M y m o t h e r ' s f a m i l y i s from Calabria; her father was the only one in his fam- i l y w h o c a m e o v e r f r o m Italy. When I lived in Italy, w e w e n t t o v i s i t t h e m i n C a l a b r i a a n d t h e y w o u l d come to visit us in Tuscany. Calabrians are such proud people. Before they came to visit, they would ship their wines ahead to my home. And I would say: you know that Tuscany has some of t h e f i n e s t w i n e s i n I t a l y . A n d t h e y w o u l d s a y : y e s , but it's not our wine. They had certain ways of doing things. They lived on the land; everything they ate, they grew. It was an amaz- ing life they had established for themselves." H o w d i d t h a t c o m - pare with your father's family in Abruzzo? M y f a t h e r ' s f a m i l y w a s not nearly as excited as the Calabrians to have relatives i n A m e r i c a . B u t w e w e r e happy to meet them and to learn more about them. What was your child- hood like in Seattle? Most of the Italian immi- grants lived around Mount Virgin Church, and we did t o o . W e f i r s t l i v e d o f f R a i n i e r A v e n u e , b e h i n d Oberto's Sausage Company. Then we moved to Mount Baker. My father worked a l o t , a n d w e w o u l d w a l k down to my grandmother's house who lived on Atlantic Street close to the church. W e u s e d t o h a v e h u g e C h r i s t m a s p a r t i e s a t t h e church hall each year. The women would cook all day long, and us kids would play all day long. It was just the c e n t e r o f l i f e . E v e n a f t e r p e o p l e s t a r t e d m o v i n g away, we always went back t o t h e o l d n e i g h b o r h o o d . We went to Borracchini's Bakery and to other places that were part of our grow- ing-up years. What do you remem- ber about your father's restaurant business? He had a restaurant in d o w n t o w n S e a t t l e c a l l e d Gill's Beachhead and Wheel Room located at Second and Virginia. My mother would m a k e t h e r a v i o l i s . O n Thursday, we'd come home from school and my mother w o u l d h a v e t h e r a v i o l i board out. We had to pack up the raviolis for the week to take to the restaurant. T h e n m y d a d w e n t t o C a l i f o r n i a a n d s a w t h e s e q u i c k - s e r v e h a m b u r g e r joints. He came back and in 1950 opened Gil's (with one L) Hamburgers, priced at 19 cents each. How did he meet Col. Sanders? My dad was very conge- n i a l . G o i n g t o r e s t a u r a n t conventions was a pleasure for him. One time at a con- vention in LA, there was a side trip to Hawaii, and he and my mother went. There, h e m e t C o l . S a n d e r s w h o was cooking fried chicken. My father thought it was the greatest thing in the world. He came back and decided he would open a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. He o w n e d t h a t f r a n c h i s e f o r more than 30 years and had m o r e t h a n 3 0 l o c a t i o n s around the state. What led you to open Pagliacci Pizza? My cousin, brother and I w o u l d a l w a y s c o m p l a i n there was no good pizza in Seattle. Also, at that time, you could not buy pizza by the slice. So the three of us d e c i d e d t o d o s o m e t h i n g about it. When we opened our first location, we did e v e r y t h i n g o u r s e l v e s : w e built the booths, we laid the floor. We didn't have sig- n a g e o r e v e n a s a f e . T h e person who closed up in the e v e n i n g w o u l d h i d e t h e money and then would call up the daytime manager to tell them where it was. But we found that people really liked us. We were one of the first to hand-toss the pizza. Lots of people used canned mushrooms then, but we would only use fresh. There was an entire culture that sprang from Pagliacci Pizza. Our goal was to make sure we had a really good product and that we took g o o d c a r e o f o u r customers. What is your favorite pizza? Red sauce and mozzarella with anchovies, Kalamata olives, capers, and artichoke hearts. When Colonel Sanders came to dinner RITA CIPALLA Dorene Centioli-McTigue opened Pagliacci Pizza in 1979 (Photo: Pagliacci Pizza) SEATTLE ITALIAN COMMUNITY THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano

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