Last week, something pretty special happened at our Watertown store, and if you were there, you already know.
We hosted an in-store event with Chef Scott Conant and the Martone Street team, and the response from our community was something we won't forget anytime soon. Customers lined up as early as 8am, some waiting nearly two and a half hours to meet Scott, grab a signed copy of his cookbook Peace, Love, and Pasta, and share a moment with someone who has roots right here in Connecticut. By the end of the day, Scott had connected with hundreds of people.
Eyewitness News 3 also came by to capture some of the craziness, and Scott put it best when he spoke with their team: "People didn't pay this much attention to me when I lived here, I'll tell you that much, so I think you gotta leave and come back. But this is a blessing, it really is. To be able to talk about Martone Street and the family lineage and the legacy, in the spirit of that family legacy that we started this company with, and see the reaction of people, what's better? Honestly."
For those who may not know Scott's story: he grew up in Waterbury, CT, took his first cooking classes at a local community college at age 11, graduated from Kaynor Tech, and went on to build one of the most respected careers in American Italian cuisine. He's a two-time James Beard Award winner, the author of four cookbooks, a longtime judge on Food Network's Chopped, and the chef and owner of acclaimed restaurants across the country. His most recent cookbook, Peace, Love, and Pasta, is exactly what it sounds like, personal, warm, and rooted in the same New England upbringing that inspired Martone Street.
That's what made this event feel so fitting. Martone Street is named after the street in Watertown where Scott's grandparents built their family home in 1945, a house filled with Sunday meals, garden tomatoes, and the kind of cooking that stays with you for a lifetime. Scott's mom Anne and sister Becky were both there on the day, and the emotion was real. Becky said she pulled into the parking lot and started crying at the sight of the crowd that had gathered for her brother.
The stories we heard from customers waiting in line that morning reminded us exactly why we do what we do. This community has always shown up for us, and moments like this are our chance to give something back.
A huge thank you to Scott and his team for making the trip, to our incredible crew who worked behind the scenes to pull it all together, and to every customer, friend, and neighbor who stopped by to be part of it. More footage from the day is on the way, stay tuned.
Martone Street sauce is available on our shelves now. Pick up a jar and let us know what you make with it!
