On This Date in History . . .

On today’s date 125 years ago, Friday, October 22, 1897, famous Italian-American chef Ettore Boiardi (1897-1985), better-known by the Anglicized version of his name, Hector Boyardee, who was famous for his namesake brand of food products, “Chef Boyardee,” was born at the city of Piacenza, Italy.



This undated photograph depicts the moustachioed visage of Chef Boyardee.

Boiardi was working as an apprentice chef by the age of 11. He later learned more restaurant skills as an immigrant to Paris & London. On May 9, 1914, at the age of 16, he arrived at Ellis Island aboard La Lorraine, a ship of French registration.

Boiardi followed his brother Paolo to the kitchen of the Plaza Hotel in New York City, working his way up to head chef. He supervised the preparation of the homecoming meal served by Woodrow Wilson at the White House for 2,000 returning World War I soldiers. In 1926, he opened his first restaurant, Il Giardino d’Italia (The Garden of Italy) in Cleveland, Ohio.

By the late 1920s, the Boiardi brothers had expanded into production of Italian foods that were distributed to grocery stores nation-wide. For producing rations supplying Allied troops during World War II, Boiardi was awarded a Gold Star order of excellence from the United States War Department.