L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano SEATTLE ITALIAN COMMUNITY T h e t h r e e p i z z a ovens are fired up, a w a i t i n g t h e dough. Each oven is painted tomato r e d a n d b e a r s a w o m a n ' s name in cursive – Filomena, Carolina and Maria – the great-grandmother, grand- mother and mother of Tutta Bella founder and CEO Joe Fugere. These pizzas, though, are not headed to one of Tutta B e l l a ' s f i v e P u g e t S o u n d restaurants. Instead, they will be flash-baked for 60 seconds, vacuum sealed, and readied for shipping, most to 900 Kroger grocery stores in 28 states – part of a new deal t h a t F u g e r e n e g o t i a t e d i n March. By fall, Tutta Bella will be supplying pizzas to 1,200 Kroger stores in 40 states. This hive of activity takes place daily in Tutta Bella's Culinary Innovation Hub, a 15,000-square-foot facility south of downtown Seattle where the company's retail and grocery business is based. Opened in 2023, the custom- designed space features prep kitchens, production facilities and storage space as well as offices. Some 175 employees work there in two shifts to make d o u g h , p r e p v e g e t a b l e s , assemble salads, and package products for shipping. Rough- ly 10,000 pizzas are made daily, which pencils out to about 600 an hour. In addition to the pizzas going to Kroger, workers pre- pare a line of pre-packaged products that include pizzas, sauces, salads and tiramisù. These ready-to-eat items are available locally at more than 200 retail locations in the Northwest, including Costco, Fred Meyer, QFC and PCC Community Markets. The Take-n-Bake pizza line uses the same high-quality imported products and locally sourced ingredients that Tutta Bella is known for. Each crust is hand-stretched to keep its a r t i s a n l o o k a n d f e e l . T o accommodate the pace, the company orders about 70,000 p o u n d s o f f l o u r , 2 6 , 0 0 0 pounds of cheese and 34,000 pounds of canned tomatoes each month. The Culinary Innovation Hub is the latest iteration in the culinary journey of Joe Fugere, who opened his first pizzeria in the Columbia City neighborhood in 2004. At the time, it was the first pizzeria in the Northwest to obtain t h e c o v e t e d V e r a c e P i z z a Napoletana (VPN) certifica- tion, awarded to pizzerias that adhere to the strictest traditional Neapolitan pizza- making techniques, stan- dards and ingredients. Columbia City was fol - lowed by three more pizzerias around Puget Sound. Last fall, a fifth eatery was added in downtown Seattle, but this one has a more upscale feel. The new space occupies the ground floor of a high-rise b u i l d i n g i n S o u t h L a k e U n i o n , c l o s e t o A m a z o n headquarters, where it caters to downtown office workers and residents. Besides pizzas and pastas, the downtown m e n u a l s o f e a t u r e s f r e s h seafood, handcrafted cock- tails and gluten-free pizza crusts. The move from local pizze- ria to national pizza distribu- tor was an idea born during the Covid-19 pandemic when Fugere, along with millions of others, was forced to rethink his business. "I started think- ing about how to keep our workers employed and help out our local economy," he said. "We saw businesses leave the Seattle area every day, but rather than pack our bags and move, we felt it was important to show our com- mitment to our hometown by doubling down on our invest- ment and efforts here." A f t e r t h e s t a y - a t - h o m e order was issued in 2020, Fugere began to beef up his t a k e - o u t b u s i n e s s a n d explore new revenue streams. One of these was the "grocer- ant," essentially a take-out restaurant space inside a gro- cery store, a concept that made sense at a time when restaurant service was limit- ed. By 2021, Tutta Bella had two grocerants inside QFC grocery stores at University Village and Kirkland Urban. As the pandemic dragged o n , F u g e r e c o n t i n u e d t o brainstorm new ways to get his products in front of more c u s t o m e r s . A l t h o u g h t h e company had been experi- m e n t i n g w i t h a v a c u u m - s e a l e d p i z z a s i n c e 2 0 1 9 , Fugere used the pandemic d o w n - t i m e t o p e r f e c t t h e process. As with most new enter- prises, there was a learning curve. When the first Kroger order reached Fugere's desk in late March, the request was for 85,000 pizzas – and that was just one week. "We r a n o u t o f m u s h r o o m s , " Fugere said. "Luckily we are just a few blocks from a Cost- co. We ran over and bought every single mushroom they had on their shelves." But that first order was worth more than $1 million and the Tutta Team worked round the clock to meet the deadline. Fugere, a fourth-genera- tion Italian American whose great grandparents arrived in Seattle in 1911 from Calabria, has extensive experience in the hospitality sector. After earning a degree in hotel and restaurant management, he worked in the hotel industry in Los Angeles before moving back to Seattle as national food manager for Starbucks. Looking for a new chal- lenge, he left Starbucks and made his way to Naples to apprentice with a pizzaiolo, or pizza maker. He worked six days a week and loved every second of it. When he returned to Seattle, he decid- ed to open the area's first cer- tified Neapolitan pizzeria. The restaurant name was suggested by a close family friend who at first was dis- mayed by Fugere's decision to start a pizza joint. The field i s t o o c r o w d e d , s a i d t h e friend. You'll lose your shirt, he warned. Once the friend was convinced Fugere had done his research, he gave his approval. "Okay then," said t h e f r i e n d . " T u t t a b e l l a (Everything is good)." And F u g e r e t h o u g h t : " W h a t a great name for a pizzeria!" Tutta Bella also supports many community organiza- tions and events, including the annual Cinema Italian Style film festival. It's no wonder that nourishing lives and embracing community are company core values. After two decades in busi- ness, it appears everything is tutta bella after all! RITA CIPALLA Innovation Hub helps Tutta Bella ramp up national expansion Each month, the Tutta Bella team hand-mills some 34,000 pounds of canned San Marzano tomatoes; right: dough making at Tutta Bella (Photos: Rita Cipalla) Tutta Bella opened its fifth Puget Sound restaurant in November, this one in downtown Seattle, not far from Amazon headquarters (Photo: Tutta Bella)

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