Kevin O’Donnell was just 12 years old—an age at which many kids are obsessed with video games or sports—when the culinary world first called to him. He was soon spending as much time as possible at his family’s bakery and specialty Italian market, Boaggio’s Bread, to both learn the ins and outs of the kitchen and hone his skills, soaking up as much knowledge as he could about baking bread and cooking authentic Italian food.
Even as he moved into adulthood and started a 25-year career in corporate sales, O’Donnell would still come in on nights and weekends to make vodka sauce or fresh mozzarella for the store, just because it was a hobby he loved. So when his parents, Donna and Rich Boaggio—the company’s owners—asked him to take on a larger role as chef and president of new business development, it was a no-brainer.
“I saw an opportunity for growth and to leave a legacy for my kids down the road,” he says. “This is more of a passion for me [than my sales career]. I love seeing people’s reactions when they try our food. I enjoy making people happy, and I don’t want to sound cliché, but that’s what drives me, knowing that they love it.”
It’s a trait O’Donnell seems to have inherited from his mother. Just like her, he treats every customer like a family member and relishes the chance to share his creations with them. Whether it’s the house-made breads, pastries, stromboli, meatballs or marinara sauce, everything that comes from the kitchen is made to order using fresh products.
“We don’t have anything frozen here—we don’t even have a freezer in the building other than a small one that holds ice,” says O’Donnell, who learned all about the bakery from Rich. “Everything we do is fresh: Our produce comes in multiple times a week, our meats come in multiple times a week. We’re very particular on the products we source, so our tomatoes are constantly imported from Italy, our flour is imported from Italy. We only use the finest Caputo flours, and none of the flours we use have any bleach or bromate. That’s very important. I won’t substitute—I’ve tried using things that people told me were very similar, and they might look similar, but they don’t taste similar.”
The lunch crowd especially loves Boaggio’s specialty sandwiches, including the Donna Maria, which piles arugula, fig and goat cheese on top of a chicken cutlet; the Richie B, a chicken cutlet with stuffed Anaheim peppers and provolone cheese; the Louie Louie, featuring fried eggplant, fresh mozzarella and fried tomatoes; and the Rocky Centrone, the ever-popular prosciutto cheesesteak.
O’Donnell has also introduced Roman schiacciata sandwiches, which are a huge seller because of the unique bread.
“It’s a Tuscan bread that is large and thin, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with tons of crumb and cell structure,” he says. “It’s a very Roman, pizza-like dough, very airy and crispy, and very flavorful. It’s been a home run for us—so much so that I may do some classes here and teach people how to make the Roman dough and schiacciata sandwiches.”
O’Donnell also specializes in pizzas, both New York-style round pies and Roman pizza made with a detail-oriented process leading to a light, crisp, tasty flavor and is hard to find in South Jersey. It’s not available every day—usually Thursday through Saturday.
In fact, the menu is constantly rotating, and some specialty items may only be offered on certain days. As O’Donnell points out, Boaggio’s is not a grocery store.
“Everything is crafted by hand from scratch, and we’re not an everyday item-type of store,” he says. “We might not have everything every day—we’re aware of that and we’re OK with it, because our process is quality over quantity.”
On the bright side, if a customer’s favorite is unavailable, he or she has the chance to try something new that they are sure to also fall in love with. Boaggio’s is always rolling out new items, like the Sunday Dinner sandwich featuring mozzarella, meatballs, ravioli, marinara sauce and long hots, all tucked in a house-made roll. The Thanksgiving Dinner sandwich—with all of the traditional items—is also a current hit.
In addition to the great food, the atmosphere is warm and inviting. Earlier this year, Boaggio’s moved into a new location in Mount Laurel with indoor seating for 20 and outdoor seating for eight, along with the Italian market that offers coffee and Auburn Road wines.
O’Donnell, bringing his expertise from the corporate realm, is eyeing further expansion with more sites in South Jersey, including smaller stores specializing in fast-casual Italian fare. He is excited to continue the longstanding Boaggio’s tradition of welcoming more people into the family with the finest cuisine.
“There’s a pride factor with our business,” he says. “I’m very proud of our products. When I make pizza, the dough is a living thing for me, and when I shape it and make it, I can’t wait until the next day when I cook it, just to see how it comes out. I get fired up over that.”
Boaggio’s Bread
Mount Laurel
(856) 642-9955
BoaggiosBread.com
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Published and copyrighted in South Jersey Magazine, Volume 21, Issue 8 (November 2024)
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