Tony Pizza's Questionnaire

I live in Little Italy, NYC because it's the best FAUKIN place on Earth. The people, the sights and smells, the marinara sauce that flows like rivers through the streets, and the family runs deep here.

I was raised here, never seen the homeland of Sicily, but I'll be damned if I'm ever leaving. The love of my life, 'Tony's Pizzas' is right here, and I couldn't imagine goin nowhere else.

Yeah sure, I got family in the *mob* but I never wanted to be a part of that life. Why should I be dealing with wise guys and fuckin pigs when I can spend time making pizzas for the Don and raking in the money. I'm happy here, I just want to make better and better pizzas...

Obviously, I get my money from my restaurant, 'Tony's Pizzas' and that's where most of my money goes. It's important to invest in my business if I want it to grow and get better ingredients.

Yeah, I keep a bit for myself and I buy some nice things now and then but what do I need to splurge on material shit for. It's all about pizzas, baby, and that's where the best investment lies.

My brothers in the *mob* more or less own this part of town, so I'm not too worried about going broke or running out of anything. I know they got my back as long as they can get an authentic Tony Pizza.

I grew up around these mob guys and I've seen what that life leads to. I've rubbed elbows with Bosses, Underbosses, Consiglieres, and the rest of them. The money and power seem really nice at first but you can't live any kind of normal life with the amount of heat you got breathing down your neck.

No, my ambition is simple. I just want to fly under the radar with my pizzas, I want to improve my ingredients and my dough recipes as much as I can. I plan on staying in the good graces of The Family, though. They have a whole lot of parties and that means a lot of pizzas being ordered. It's nose to the grindstone for me, Tomy Pizza, and for 'Tony's Pizzas.'

I want to make the best pizza the world has ever seen.

The most defining moment of my life was a few years back when my brother, Dino (real name Dominic), started his rise in the mob. He became a soldier for the toughest, meanest Capo (that's Captain) currently in the Family. Since then, he's been roughing up local shops and shaking down the bigger chain stores that try to squeeze in. He's been talking to me less and when I do see him, he looks stone-faced and focused. I don't like what the life has done to him so quickly, and I'm sure I don't know the half of it.

Anyway, just one more reason to stick to my pizzas.

The first person would have to be my brother, Dino, who got sucked into the mob as a soldier under the toughest Capo in the Family. We grew up as best friends, protected each other on the mean streets, and we even live on the same block nowadays. But relationships fade fast when someone gets busy in the Family.

The second person has gotta be my Nana. She's from the old country, Sicily, Italy. She makes the FAUKIN best Gabagool and the most delicious pasta sauce you could imagine. Since she's from the old country, the Family keeps an eye out for her, and I get to spend lots of quality time with her.

The third 'person' is my shop, 'Tony's Pizzas.' I love that place like I'd love a kid, like I'd love a fine broad, or like I'd love a fast car down the Almafi coast. That restaurant means more to me than... most anything else.

I, Tony Pizza, was your standard little Italian-American boy. My mama and papa loved me and Dino as best they could, even though they were busy trying to make it as a couple of first-generation Italian-Americans here in New York City. My papa worked harder than I've ever seen anyone work, as a bricklayer for the City. He would leave before sunrise most mornings, and usually wouldn't get back home until near sunset. His arms were strong, and his back was muscled, but even as a kid, I could see it took a toll on him.

My ma stayed home most of the time, she was real traditional that way. She took part in some bake sales here and there, but mostly she was a friend and mother figure to many of the kids in the neighborhood. 

Now that me and Dino are grown, and Ma and Pa are getting older, I look back fondly at my upbringing.

I've been in love before, who hasn't? In a place where you're surrounded by family and friends, like down here in Little Italy, you can't help but feel the love.

I always seem to fall for the ladies who are into the guys involved with the Family. They see the power, authority, money, and security that comes with being a soldier or a capo and they get swept up in it. I can't blame them, though. I mean from time to time I even wish I could get some of that action. But that kind of high-risk, high-reward, up-in-flames lifestyle just isn't for me. That's alright, I'll be here with my pizzas, waiting for the right one to come along and appreciate the simpler life.