Date: Fri 01-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Spendi-Bomova-Calzone-FedEx

Full Text:

The Cross-Country Calzone

(with photo)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

Spendi Bomova wasn't surprised when the phone rang and the caller said he

wanted to order a calzone.

Nearly all of the orders are take-out at Adriana's Pizzeria, a small business

located at Routes 34 and 111, just over the Newtown border in the Stevenson

section of Monroe. But this call was different. The customer said he was

calling from California.

"I thought it was a joke," Mr Bomova said. "I have Caller ID on my telephone

but nothing showed up on it, so I didn't take the call seriously."

He became a believer a few minutes later, however, when he got another

telephone call, this time from Federal Express.

"The woman was laughing. She said `We're sending a truck to pick up a

calzone.'"

"I made the calzone right away," Mr Bomova said. "My landlord, Howard Saad,

who owns the boat marina next door gave me a big [shipping] box. I was

shaking. This doesn't happen every day."

The caller, David Sonne of TV Fanfare Publications, Inc, in Valencia, Calif.,

called back later that afternoon to make sure that the calzone had been picked

up.

"He told me that a year ago he ate one of my calzones here," Mr Bomova said.

"About six months later a friend of his came to Connecticut on business and

brought him back a calzone. But now he wants one of my calzones, and there is

no one to get it for him. He says my calzones are the best he has ever

tasted."

Spendi Bomova came to the United States with his wife, Dalanishe, 14 years ago

from the Yugoslavian state of Macedonia where he worked for the government.

Their three children, Adriana, 13, Arti, 10, and Jaime, 6, were born here.

"I spoke only two words of English - `yes' and `okay' when I came here," Mr

Bomova said. "I was told I could go to work in construction or in restaurants

- I picked restaurants."

He learned English one word at a time, in the kitchens of five restaurants in

Fairfield County where he worked over the next dozen years. He watched every

operation in the kitchens, too, and learned quickly.

"I knew what I liked - what I thought was good - and what I didn't like," he

said. "But I never said anything because it wasn't my kitchen. Then 19 months

ago I saw this place was available and I decided to start my own business. The

first Friday I sold 17 pizzas. Now I sell 120 to 140 pizzas on a Friday night

and I have four [part-time] employees."

Hanging on a bulletin board next to the take-out counter in Adriana's Pizzeria

are scraps of paper with notes of praise from the store's customers. "Thanks

for the best calzone I ever had," "You have the world's greatest food.

Whatever you're doing, don't stop," and "Whenever I'm in town, I eat here.

Thanks for the greatest food" are typical.

Spendi Bomova said there really are no secrets to his cooking. With only a

take-out business - except for a few tables and chairs outside on the front

porch - he knows he has to make good food and treat the customers well if he

wants to be successful.

"I decided to buy only the best ingredients even though they cost more and I

make less profit," he said. "That's the only way to make the best food. My

father and grandfather always told me that if you don't know what is better,

buy what is more expensive. That's what I buy - the top of the line."

A purist, he sticks with the classic recipe for a calzone: the best ricotta

and mozzarella cheese, homemade dough, homemade sauce. He also sells

traditional and specialty pizzas, grinders, pasta and Italian dinners. Dinners

are served with a garden salad and homemade bread (the same dough he uses for

the calzones and pizzas) and butter.

The calzones are enormous and are recommended to serve two. Served with a side

of sauce, they are $6.50, with additional ingredients - sausage, spinach,

salami, pepperoni, bacon, garlic, onions, mushrooms, anchovies, or onions - 75

cents more.

Mr Bomova said he shipped the customer in California a plain calzone because

he was worried that other ingredients might spoil during shipment.

"He called me the next day and said he warmed it up in a microwave oven. He

said it was excellent. It might not have been quite as good as fresh but he

said it was better than anything he could get around where he lives," Mr

Bomova said.

"Then he said he remembered he hadn't asked what it cost, so he could pay me,"

Mr Bomova said. "I knew it cost him $25 for shipping. So I said the calzone's

on the house. It's not every day that I get an order from California."

Adriana's Pizzeria is open Monday through Thursday, 11-9; Friday and Saturday,

11-10 and Sunday 4-9. Call 459-8997 for take-out.