Ettore Boiardi (October 22, 1897 – June 21, 1985), also known as Hector Boyardee, was an

Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

, famous for his eponymous

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

of food products, named

Chef Boyardee Chef Boyardee is an American brand of canned pasta products owned by Hometown Food Company. The company was founded by Italian immigrant Ettore Boiardi in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1928. History After leaving his position as head chef at the Plaza ...

Early life

Ettore Boiardi was born in Borgonovo Val Tidone, Italy, near

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

, in 1897, to Giuseppe and Maria Maffi Boiardi. At the age of 11, he was working as an apprentice chef at local restaurant , although his duties were confined to non-cooking odd jobs such as potato peeling and dealing with the trash. He later learned more restaurant skills as an immigrant in Paris and London. On May 9, 1914, at the age of 16, he arrived at

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

aboard ''La Lorraine'', a French ship. He is the great-uncle of American author Anna Boiardi, who wrote ''Delicious Memories: Recipes and Stories from the Chef Boyardee Family''.

Career

After his arrival in New York, Boiardi worked in a succession of upscale Manhattan restaurants, including those at the Claridge and Ritz-Carlton hotels. Then he followed his brother Paolo to the kitchen of the

Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, working his way up to head

. He supervised the preparation of the homecoming meal served by

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

for 2,000 returning

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

soldiers. In 1917, Boiardi moved to

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

and worked at first at The Union Club, then became the head chef at the Hotel Winton, where he introduced a menu featuring Italian cuisine, including

spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Una ...

dinners. His tenure at the hotel lasted until 1924, at which point he departed to establish his own restaurant, ''Il Giardino d'Italia'' (''The Garden of Italy''), at the intersection of East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue. The patrons of ''Il Giardino d'Italia'' frequently asked for samples and recipes of his spaghetti sauce, so he began selling it packaged in

milk bottle From the second half of the 19th century, milk has been packaged and delivered in Reusable packaging, reusable and returnable glass bottles. They are used mainly for doorstep delivery of fresh milk by milkman, milkmen. Once customers have f ...

s. In 1928, Boiardi met Maurice and Eva Weiner, who were patrons of his restaurant and owners of a local self-service grocery store chain. The Weiners helped the Boiardi brothers develop a process for canning the food at scale. They also procured distribution across the United States through their grocery's wholesale partners. Boiardi's spaghetti sauce was soon being stocked in markets nationwide – the company had to open a factory in 1928 to meet the demands of national distribution. After spaghetti sauce, their next product was a complete spaghetti meal, including a canister of grated Parmesan cheese, a box of dry spaghetti, and a jar of sauce, held together in

cellophane Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria, and liquid water makes it useful for food packaging. Cellophane is highly permeable to water vapour, but may be coate ...

wrap. Already then, the company was the largest importer of Italian

Parmesan cheese Parmesan (, ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cow's milk and aged at least 12 months. It is a grana-type cheese, along with Grana Padano, the historic , and others. The term ''Parmesan'' may refer to either Parmigiano ...

, while also buying tons of

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

, according to grandniece Anna Boiardi. Touting the low cost of spaghetti products as a good choice to serve to the entire family, Boiardi introduced his product to the public in 1928. In 1938, production was moved to

Milton, Pennsylvania Milton is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States, on the West Branch Susquehanna River, north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, located in Central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River Valley. ...

, where they could grow enough tomatoes to serve the factory's needs, which reached 20,000 tons of tomatoes per season at peak production; they also began growing their own mushrooms on location in the plant. Boiardi sold his products under the brand name " Chef Boy-Ar-Dee" because non-Italians could not manage the pronunciation, including his own salesforce. For producing rations supplying Allied troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was awarded a Gold Star order of excellence from the

United States War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...

. After struggling with cash flow, compounded by internal family struggles over the ownership and direction of the company in managing rapid internal growth, he sold controlling interest in his firm to American Home Foods, later International Home Foods. He continued to operate restaurants in Cleveland, including one named Chef Hector’s. Boiardi appeared in many print advertisements and television commercials for his brand in the 1940s through the 1970s. His last appearance in a television commercial promoting the brand aired in 1979. Boiardi continued developing new Italian food products for the American market until his death in 1985.

Death

Boiardi died of natural causes on June 21, 1985, at age 87 in a nursing home in

Parma, Ohio Parma is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb south of Cleveland. The population was 81,146 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Parma is the List of municipalities in Ohio, seventh-most populous city in Ohio, ...

, survived by his wife Helen J. Boiardi, who died in 1995, and son Mario, who died in 2007. He had five grandchildren. He is buried at All Souls Cemetery in Chardon Township, Ohio.

Legacy

In 2025,

Brynwood Partners Brynwood Partners is an American private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout and other control investments. Since its founding in 1984, the firm, headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, has raised five private equity fund, invest ...

acquired Chef Boyardee. The firm continues to use his likeness on Chef Boyardee-brand products, which are still made in Milton, Pennsylvania. He is referenced in the 2007 animated comedy-drama ''

Ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ; ) is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables that originated in Nice and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include tomato, garlic ...

''.

References

External links