Chef
Boyardee - Italian chef sporting a puffed white chef
hat seen on cans or bottles of spaghetti and pasta sauces made
by the Chef Boyardee Company. The Boyardee products were
originally created by an Italian immigrant named Hector Boiardi
who was
born in northern
Italy in 1898 and
came to the United States in 1914 at the age of
17. Obtaining work as a chef at the New York's Plaza Hotel with
the help of his brother, Hector perfected his culinary talents
and quickly moved
through many prestigious New York restaurants, including the
Ritz-Carlton. He
later moved to
renowned Hotel Greenbriar in West Virginia where he catered
President Woodrow Wilson’s wedding
and then to Cleveland where
he worked as the
chef at the new Hotel
Winton.
Finally, Hector opened his own restaurant, Il Giardino d’Italia.
His spaghetti and meatball recipes became very popular and as a
result, patrons asked for extra sauce to take home. Hector
eventually began to sell his sauces (adding cheeses and pasta)
in area stores and beyond.
In later years,
Boiardi (Americanized to "Boyardee" for easier pronunciation)
moved his operations to Pennsylvania where he packed food
rations for World War II. His company ultimately merged with
American Home Foods (now International Home Foods).
As of 2000, Chef Boyardee is the registered trademark of
ConAgra Brands, Inc.
Hector
Boiardi died in 1985 at the age of 87. Trivia note; There is a
urban legend that believes that
Chef Boyardee was a
fictional creation whose name was a hybrid of the company's
alleged three founders: Boyd, Art, and Dennis.
Check out Chef Boyardee's hip web
site at (www.chefboy.com).
At this site, you can compose your own Chef Boyardee commercial
or dodge potholes on your skateboard while fortifying yourself
with cans of Chef Boyardee.
The company's ad slogan is "Thank goodness for Chef Boyardee!"
