An iconic name in the Sault’s restaurant industry is ready to make some more family history with a new venture in the city’s east-end.
In a relatively quick turn of events, the family-run Uncle Gino’s Café has grown from one location to two as the owners open the doors to Uncle Gino’s Pizzeria on East Street today.
Previously operated by Mrs. B’s for decades, and most recently East Street Pizza, Uncle Gino’s turn in the historic pizza shop will see Katie Hagerman steer the ship.
The granddaughter of Uncle Gino’s founders Maria and Gino Calvano, Hagerman says the prospect of running the new pizzeria has brought up loads of memories.
“My grandparents came from Italy in 1965,” she says. “My grandfather was working at the steel plant, and because he had a full head of white hair pretty much from the time he was 25, people were calling him ‘Uncle Gino’ as a joke, so that’s where the name came from.”
After Gino was laid off by the plant in 1984, the Calvanos had to decide how they were going to support themselves and their four children.
By the next year, the family took a calculated risk and opened Uncle Gino’s Café on Second Line West where the current Mrs. B’s Pizza & Snack Bar operates.
“It’s funny because we came full circle,” Hagerman says. “Mrs. B’s is currently operating out of our first location, and now we’re in their former location on East Street.”
The Calvanos would later move down the road and into the former Dino’s Family Restaurant where they’ve served thousands of families ever since.
“My grandmother didn’t know what to expect when they opened,” she says. “She went into this with her eyes closed. She just needed to support our family – it’s what they knew best.”
“I don’t know how she did it. She did so much and sacrificed so much, and that’s the reason we’re here today. I would never be in this industry if it wasn’t for her. I love this industry and the craziness that comes with it.”
Hagerman says her mom Laila, who was serving tables while pregnant with her, took over the restaurant after Gino passed away in 2002.
“My brother (Nick) and I literally grew up there,” she says. “I remember doing dishes and standing on a milk crate because I wasn’t tall enough to reach the tap. It’s always been a big part of my life.”
“My mom would send us lunches for school, so we’d pay for the delivery guy at the door. When I’d walk into the classroom, every single teacher would say, ‘oh what do you have today?’ and I was embarrassed because sometimes I just wanted a peanut butter and jam sandwich, and here I am eating all these gourmet meals.”
Hagerman began waitressing at the main location when she was just 12 years old.
She would eventually move on to the kitchen in her adult years and discover her passion for cooking, later graduating from culinary school at the Art Institute of Vancouver in 2011.
She came back and took over the kitchen 12 years ago.
Running the restaurant with her mother and grandmother over a decade, and most recently alongside her brother, Hagerman notes she has never been on her own before.
But with a golden opportunity to grow the name, the mother of two is excited to give the East Street venture a try.
“I’ve always sort of hidden in the back in the kitchen,” she says. “This will be a totally new experience for me; being out in the public and working in front of people. I love the Second Line location, but working there so long, I could almost go in and not think.”
“Here, it’s going to be new, and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Hagerman says her family is proud to stand with the top restaurants in town who have been around for a long time, and while the competition among pizzerias in Sault Ste. Marie can get serious, the long-time cook notes it’s important to remember why they’re in the business to begin with.
“I’ve seen some people say it’ll be hard to beat East Street, but I’m not looking to beat anybody,” Hagerman says. “I’m just here to show what Uncle Gino’s has to offer and make my grandparents proud. They’ve always been such giving people, and just to continue that is an honour.”
“I think my grandfather would be proud that my brother and I put our forces together, our differences aside, and made everything work. Even though we’ve been at each other in the past, we’re family and we love each other.”
While she gets ready to begin her adventure at the new Uncle Gino’s Pizzeria on East Street, Katie’s brother Nick Boston will continue running the Second Line location alongside their mother and grandmother.
“My grandmother turns 83 this year, and she recently had a stroke, but she’s back,” Hagerman says. “The family said, ‘you can’t come back yet,’ but you can’t stop her. She’s a tank – the rock of our family.”
Hagerman says she’s excited to provide locals in the east-end with the same pizza recipe that’s helped carry their business for nearly 40 years.
“This is the perfect location for us,” she says. “I really think this will be a good place to let everyone try our pizza.”
“I hope we’re here for many more years to come.”