Fresh Hot Bread Every Hour Since 1962

00:04
[Music]

00:21
[Applause]

00:24
until i hit the stage

00:28
[Music]

00:35
what's up everybody welcome to the first

00:37
ever episode of the greetings from the

00:38
garden state podcast i'm your host mike

00:40
ham and we have a very special kickoff

00:43
guest for this show we're here at

00:44
calandra's italian village in caldwell

00:47
new jersey with the one and only tom

00:48
calandra tom welcome thank you good

00:50
morning this is my first time doing a

00:51
podcast very excited first time doing a

00:53
podcast you're in good hands let's hope

00:55
so let's hope so i mean i've done a

00:57
couple of these with some other shows

00:59
but um so i'm gonna kick i'm gonna kick

01:01
off this particular episode with a story

01:04
so when i was getting ready to do this

01:06
podcast um and i have not told you this

01:08
because i wanted it to be a real

01:10
reaction to what i'm about to say

01:12
so when i was putting together this idea

01:14
for this podcast my idea was the first

01:17
one of the first guests i had to have

01:19
was calandrius and there's a reason the

01:21
reason is so when i was

01:23
all the way through basically my entire

01:26
life that i can remember

01:28
every thanksgiving morning my dad and i

01:31
go to come to calandra's in fairfield uh

01:33
pick up bread pick up pastries pick up

01:35
whatever uh for thanksgiving that is a

01:38
tradition that has been passed down from

01:41
hams all the way back to his father and

01:43
i think his father before him they used

01:45
to go to the original calandras in

01:47
newark and then you know every day every

01:49
every uh thanksgiving my dad and his his

01:52
father would drive to the uh clanders in

01:54
newark they'd pick up the same type of

01:56
stuff they'd come back they'd have

01:57
thanksgiving whole big thing christmas

01:59
day same thing um and then when i was

02:02
old enough i would get up and we would

02:04
get up i mean you ever see the

02:05
breadlines out there oh yeah it's

02:07
ridiculous 6 a.m christmas eve christmas

02:09
day thanksgiving oh the lion's out the

02:11
door you know what i mean and uh so we

02:14
would get up you know four o'clock in

02:15
the morning i'm like all bleary-eyed you

02:17
know um

02:18
but uh but yeah so i just and then my

02:20
grandfather passed away in 1998 uh but

02:23
then it's just been something that we've

02:25
kind of carried on since then um so

02:28
there's my special story about my

02:30
connection to calandra's and why it was

02:32
so important for me to be here with you

02:34
and doing this interview as one of the

02:36
first uh episodes that we've done of

02:38
this show well i appreciate that and

02:39
it's just it's great that you say that

02:40
story because we came up with a saying

02:42
couple years ago after hearing all these

02:44
stories because we've heard them and

02:45
people have wrote to us and we've talked

02:48
to people about those types of stories

02:49
and we have a kind of a slogan now

02:51
that's called breaking bread across

02:53
generation because there are so many

02:54
stories like that

02:56
and even on my side of the family my

02:58
mother who married my father

03:00
her father which is my grandfather they

03:02
now live in florida he would go to the

03:04
bakery every morning he would see my

03:06
grandfather uh working in the back

03:09
working in the front he would see my

03:10
grandmother so he would go every morning

03:13
to get the bread and when my mother

03:15
brought my father to the house for the

03:17
first time to say this is mr anthony

03:20
calandra we're going on a date i wanted

03:22
to introduce you my grandfather's like

03:23
wait a minute i've been buying your

03:24
bread since i was a little kid and now i

03:27
get to meet you and now

03:30
you know i can get bread delivered to my

03:32
house from my future son-in-law yeah and

03:35
nice addition to the family nice

03:36
addition to the family yeah loaf loafs

03:38
of bread for dinner for lunch and my now

03:41
that i'm married my

03:43
father-in-law uh he has some great

03:45
stories of when he was younger he grew

03:47
up in newark and he would go to the

03:49
bakery uh when he was a young kid he

03:51
always used to

03:53
tell us this funny story that he was a

03:55
heavyset kid when he was younger and he

03:57
would go when he was eight nine years

03:59
old his grandmother and his mother would

04:02
say go to calandra's go to the bakery

04:03
pick up a loaf of baguette to bring for

04:06
sunday sauce that was a big tradition

04:08
and he would go there he would pick up

04:10
three four loaves he would be eating one

04:12
on the way back to his mother's house

04:14
and they would say oh there goes little

04:15
ben uh and he'd be walking and he'd have

04:18
his bread and you always have the saying

04:19
that you always have to buy at least two

04:21
no matter how big your family is one for

04:23
the road that's right or for the walk

04:25
and one for the family and when i met my

04:27
father-in-law for the first time he told

04:29
me that story and it's just it brings

04:31
kind of your family together and it

04:33
brings our customers together and it's a

04:35
great uh great stories to share so i'm

04:37
glad you shared that oh yeah of course i

04:39
mean it's been something that's such a

04:41
big part of our lives as the ham family

04:44
um that yeah i just want to make sure

04:45
that i shared that with you so let's

04:46
talk about the history of calandras and

04:49
where it started i mean i know but the

04:50
listeners may not um so let's talk about

04:52
the origins and then we'll kind of weave

04:54
our way through the history of

04:55
calandrius absolutely and one day i

04:57
should i keep telling my grandfather

04:59
which god bless he's the one that

05:00
started it his name is luciano calandra

05:02
he's a sicilian immigrant he's 91 years

05:05
old currently and he still is coming

05:08
into work you'll see him every day two

05:11
o'clock he has a schedule two o'clock

05:12
he's in caldwell then he goes to newark

05:15
then he comes back to caldwell for

05:16
dinner so god bless him he's still

05:18
working he still likes to check up on

05:20
his place and he was the person that

05:23
started this business and

05:25
he was

05:26
28 years old when he came from italy

05:29
which for a lot of immigrants is a

05:30
little late they usually come a little

05:32
bit earlier um but he was the youngest

05:35
of eight siblings in sicily and

05:38
he had to grow up pretty quick and he

05:41
had to take care of his family and it

05:43
was funny because he was the youngest

05:45
and he was the one leading his siblings

05:48
of eight in sicily so he already had

05:50
that leadership role in italy and was

05:53
taking care of his family that the best

05:54
that he could he worked on a small farm

05:56
in sicily

05:58
and he had that work ethic at a young

06:00
age and

06:02
he decided to come to america to always

06:04
provide for a better life uh for his

06:07
family so he came over to uh america and

06:10
when he was like 28 29 years old and he

06:13
worked with his cousin in a bakery in

06:15
new jersey around the newark area

06:17
to get his feet wet he had no prior

06:19
bakery experience in italy he just had

06:22
a strong work ethic that from a child so

06:25
he came over and he worked with his

06:27
cousin in the bakery he got his feet wet

06:29
and he came again like any traditional

06:31
story he came with almost nothing in his

06:33
pocket he just came with hard work and

06:35
he learned the bakery and in about two

06:39
years or so he wanted to go off on his

06:40
own he says i feel like i got enough

06:42
training and i'm gonna open up my own

06:44
bakery so he did what he had to do he

06:46
got his loans from the bank and he

06:48
opened up

06:50
his first bakery in newark now people

06:51
don't know

06:52
that right now our current bakery in

06:54
newark is 204 first avenue there was

06:57
actually the first location was across

06:59
the street from that location that was a

07:02
smaller smaller smaller shop that he

07:04
opened up and

07:06
he couldn't believe it the first day he

07:08
opened like you said there was a line

07:09
out the door yeah and back then there

07:12
were bakeries on every corner in newark

07:14
there wasn't where today you know you

07:16
might see a bakery every 10 15 20 miles

07:19
in newark back in the day because it was

07:21
so heavily populated italian there was a

07:24
bakery on every corner and he had to

07:26
compete with the best of them and he had

07:27
a line out the door the first day and he

07:30
was working hours which

07:32
i mean people would never do nowadays or

07:34
think of he was working anywhere from

07:36
16-hour shifts to 18-hour shifts and

07:38
he's always told us there are eight days

07:40
in his life that he's worked 24-hour

07:42
shifts because

07:44
he had to deliver the bread he had to

07:47
bake the bread and he had to sell the

07:48
bread so he was a one one-man show with

07:51
of course a couple people here and there

07:52
but if he wanted to expand he had to

07:54
save his money and he had to do most of

07:57
the leg work so he started up that

07:59
bakery in 1962 and he always says 1962

08:03
was his favorite year his first son was

08:06
born which was my father anthony

08:07
calandra and that was when he opened up

08:09
his first bakery which was in 204 first

08:12
avenue with a retail in the front and

08:14
his wholesale on the back to deliver to

08:16
supermarkets and restaurant accounts so

08:18
that was one in 1962 and the way he

08:21
expanded that is he like i said he

08:25
delivered to

08:26
delis and restaurants in a big truck

08:29
that when the hot bread came out he

08:30
delivered it to them and then he had his

08:32
retail store and we still have some

08:34
accounts uh mill berndelli which i'm

08:36
sure a lot of people know about that

08:37
that was one of his first accounts we

08:39
still delivered to milburn delhi to this

08:41
day so it shows over the years now

08:43
almost 60 years the quality and the

08:46
service we try to keep the same for our

08:48
customers and they continue to buy from

08:49
us we don't want to change that we want

08:51
to continue to give them a hot loaf of

08:53
bread to serve to their customers so

08:56
after 1962 he

08:59
continued to work at the bakery he

09:01
obviously met his wife in new jersey did

09:04
not meet in italy my grandmother ortenza

09:06
calundra she was calabrese so sicilian

09:09
calabrese they both married uh each

09:11
other about a year before uh the bakery

09:14
opened and she worked the front with the

09:17
registers and he worked the back and

09:19
they lived in belleville new jersey and

09:22
they

09:25
they worked together to

09:27
grow and as the kids got older they were

09:29
going to work each and every day

09:32
learning a hard work ethic at 8 9 10

09:34
years old also going to school to get

09:36
their education um and then when they

09:40
ultimately grew up they

09:42
worked uh in the bakery together my

09:45
grandfather my father my grandmother and

09:48
also my uncle who's four years younger

09:50
than my father anthony his name is also

09:52
luciano calandra as well and we call him

09:54
luciano colanger jr so as a family they

09:57
work together and then

09:58
they went from opening the bakery in

10:01
newark to then opening their second

10:03
bakery which was in fairfield new jersey

10:06
uh

10:07
which they opened up in the 90s in the

10:08
early 90s and they were running two

10:11
bakeries at the time and not only was

10:13
the bakeries something obviously that

10:15
was their bread and butter

10:20
they decide to expand into other things

10:22
they decide to expand into hotels uh

10:25
into restaurants and into investment

10:27
properties um

10:28
my uncle tells me a great story that

10:30
when he was 16 years old they opened up

10:32
our

10:33
uh first hotel which was the holland

10:34
hotel which is right by the holland

10:36
tunnel and he was 16 years old working

10:38
on a construction site opening that

10:40
hotel from start to finish and i don't

10:43
think you would find many 16 year olds

10:44
now or even probably in the future that

10:47
are going to be working on a

10:48
construction site see it go from start

10:50
to finish and then manage that hotel

10:53
from an age of 16 17

10:55
so where he's still managing it now and

10:58
it's crazy to think of that many years

11:01
working out of place and seeing that

11:02
grow and they all saw their bakeries

11:05
grow and their investment properties and

11:06
their hotels to

11:09
now we have three bakeries caldwell

11:11
fairfield and obviously newark we have

11:14
our four hotels we have two in fairfield

11:16
one in holland and one in jersey city um

11:19
and then we have our three restaurants

11:22
which one are in caldwell and two are in

11:24
fairfield new jersey now the restaurant

11:27
is funny we

11:28
never intended to get into the

11:29
restaurant industry it kind of happened

11:31
by

11:32
i guess in a sense accident when we

11:34
first opened up our hotel our first

11:36
hotel or sorry our second hotel because

11:39
our holland hotel was our first but was

11:40
not a full-service restaurant inside

11:42
there

11:43
we opened up their best western in

11:44
fairfield and

11:46
we leased the restaurant portion out to

11:48
somebody else and the restaurant wasn't

11:51
running the way we really wanted it to

11:54
and as everybody knows even if you don't

11:56
own that restaurant but it's inside your

11:58
hotel or any business that you run and

12:00
it doesn't do well it's a reflection on

12:02
the other property that is there so we

12:05
wanted everything to coincide with good

12:07
service both at the hotel and both at

12:09
the restaurant so we took over the

12:11
restaurant um

12:13
from the gentleman and we decided to run

12:14
it ourselves not having a clue how to

12:17
run or any experience but we dove into

12:19
that industry and we did a pretty good

12:21
job of it and that restaurant's now been

12:23
there for almost 20 years and when we

12:25
opened up our hampton and sweets in

12:27
fairfield our third hotel we put in a

12:29
restaurant as as well in there and then

12:31
this collage's italian village which

12:33
we're here today

12:34
opened in 2008

12:37
um and now it has a deli a restaurant

12:39
and a bakery and they say everything

12:41
comes first full circle my uncle and my

12:43
father they were on the construction

12:44
site when their

12:46
properties were built um and i was on

12:48
the construction site here in 2008 when

12:50
i was a kid i was 15 16 years old and i

12:53
saw this being built and now this is

12:55
kind of my baby or my home that when i

12:58
see it grow to what it is today i take a

13:01
lot of pride in that just like my father

13:02
takes pride in the bakery in fairfield

13:05
that he saw

13:06
uh from start to finish like my uncle

13:08
takes pride in the holland hotel which

13:10
he saw start to finish which my

13:11
grandfather took pride in from newark's

13:13
start to finish so we all have our

13:14
babies and we all have our projects that

13:16
we're proud of that we saw when we were

13:18
children to what we see now and how it

13:20
grew

13:21
so that's kind of a history of how

13:24
it all started um

13:27
i can expand on any of that or have any

13:28
questions that

13:30
interest you guys that i can definitely

13:32
answer

13:32
so that's a little bit of a history or a

13:34
backstory how we

13:35
came yeah no absolutely that was a

13:38
i mean it's like you've talked about

13:39
that history before yes it was well well

13:42
done well done so what we're going to do

13:44
is we're going to take a short break

13:46
then we'll be right back here on

13:47
greetings from the garden state with tom

13:48
calandra i'm mike hamm we'll be right

13:50
back stay with us

13:53
on this date in new jersey history

13:54
october 18th 1931 the wizard of menlo

13:57
park thomas alva edison passed away at

13:59
his home in west orange new jersey

14:02
edison's last breath is supposedly

14:03
contained in a test tube at the henry

14:05
ford museum henry ford reportedly

14:07
convinced charles edison to seal a test

14:09
tube of air in the inventor's room after

14:11
edison's death as a memento and that is

14:14
today in new jersey history

14:18
all right we're back we got tom calandra

14:20
here i'm mike hamm this is the greetings

14:21
from the gardens a podcast so in our

14:23
first segment there we got a

14:25
well done history lesson on calandra's

14:27
the newark location the fairfield

14:29
location and now the location here in

14:30
caldwell um and this is actually my

14:33
first time in the colander's italian

14:35
village it's sick this place is awesome

14:38
like i want to bring my my grandmother's

14:39
from italy and i want to bring her here

14:41
because she would literally she might

14:43
like you know that might be it for her

14:44
because they should be like i'm home you

14:46
know like she's but she's 87 she's got a

14:49
lot going on but

14:50
anyway so i think one of the things that

14:52
i thought was so interesting in that

14:53
first segment when we talked about the

14:54
history of it kind of where everything

14:56
started to where it is now i think one

14:59
other thing i was reading an article um

15:01
in doing my ample prep work for this

15:03
interview uh was the fact that you know

15:06
like you said i mean newark a lot of

15:07
people don't know but back in the day

15:09
newark was like italian belleville was

15:12
super italian um you know all those

15:14
places in that immediate area and i

15:16
think it's just so crazy to think that

15:18
you know your grandfather starts the

15:20
bakery in newark there's probably a

15:23
dozen bakeries probably within you know

15:25
in this room that we're sitting in here

15:26
in the bar in the restaurant uh what's

15:28
the restaurant called again el vecchio

15:29
cafe el vecchio cafe um so we're here in

15:32
the evacu cafe in uh in the bar area but

15:35
um you know probably within this area in

15:37
newark there might be like six you know

15:39
so and now to think that you know to

15:42
kind of stand the test of time just goes

15:44
to show do you ever like stop and think

15:46
like the humble beginnings to kind of

15:48
where you guys are now or is it just

15:50
kind of like you know you uh you know

15:52
what your grandfather was all about you

15:54
know what your father was the whole

15:55
family and kind of the work ethic that

15:57
kind of got it here well yeah i mean we

15:59
definitely are humbled by it i mean

16:01
again it's it's it's crazy to think that

16:04
60 years later like you said standing

16:06
the test of time and again my

16:08
grandfather was never

16:10
the type to dive into let's say

16:13
you know he wasn't reading articles

16:15
about accounting or he went through

16:17
different presidencies he just always

16:19
believed in hard work and

16:21
there's always going to be you know they

16:23
always say usually every 10 years

16:24
something usually happens whether

16:26
obviously we saw what happened with

16:27
kovid uh with uh 2008 uh with

16:32
unfortunately 911 with things that go on

16:34
but he's always just

16:36
believed in hard work that no matter

16:38
what the outside circumstances are if

16:40
you go to work and you watch your

16:41
business you're going to see it grow and

16:44
he's always kind of instilled that in us

16:46
and i think when we think about 60 years

16:49
and we still see my grandfather going to

16:51
work it puts our generation third

16:53
generation kind of in our place to say

16:55
if our grandfather is still coming to

16:57
work and he still has that passion that

17:00
it's basically work first and everything

17:02
else second and of course is family but

17:04
work and family is first priority it

17:07
kind of makes us realize that hey we

17:10
have to be here more we have to continue

17:12
this tradition we have to continue to

17:14
expand to grow and to watch our place

17:17
and i think that's what and now i'm

17:20
getting entitled segment of our family

17:22
what we've talked down like you said

17:24
about your traditions what you guys have

17:26
passed down

17:27
that's kind of what our family is start

17:29
is passing down and we want to do and

17:32
you s when you're younger and your

17:34
parents tell you certain advices or your

17:36
parents tell you uh certain things you

17:38
never understand why and you always want

17:40
to argue with them or back you know back

17:42
talk to them naturally when you become

17:43
older you're like oh my god they were

17:45
right in what they said it's terrifying

17:47
and i couldn't i can't believe it and

17:49
there's just a couple things that come

17:51
to mind that my grandfather and my that

17:53
sought my father then my father that

17:55
taught us you know my father would

17:57
always say

17:58
to us

17:59
if you if take care of your business and

18:00
your business will take care of you my

18:02
grandfather would always say you being

18:04
there is 50 of the job and i would say

18:06
no no which is what we call uh an

18:08
italian grandfather say no no i don't

18:10
really know what's going on i'm he's

18:12
telling me this i'm 12 13 years old he

18:14
goes go to work i was like i don't know

18:15
what's going on he goes you just being

18:17
there

18:18
even if they don't even if you don't

18:20
know what's going on yet they don't need

18:22
to know that everybody doesn't need to

18:23
know that you being there makes

18:24
everybody work a little bit harder or

18:26
pushes people to

18:29
reach their best level and i as i gotten

18:32
older i've realized that and i try to

18:34
make it a point to be at work as much as

18:36
i can and to carry that down to whenever

18:39
i have kids to putting them at work at a

18:42
young age i was putting up bread

18:44
uh in our bakery at 12 years old uh i'll

18:47
never forget that i would stack the

18:49
shelves and i was doing that for a

18:50
couple years and then i would move over

18:53
to the restaurant i would work as a

18:54
busboy then as a waiter i work at the

18:56
front desk at the hotels um and i wanted

18:59
to learn every little thing because you

19:01
can't you can't just become an owner and

19:03
then start at the top if you don't know

19:05
all the things right that are below that

19:08
so the intricacies of the business

19:09
exactly so i was very happy to work at a

19:11
young age and i attended seton hall

19:12
university i stayed home for school um

19:15
and my dad gave me a choice he goes you

19:17
can go away to school it's whatever you

19:18
want to do that is important to you but

19:21
he gave me the best advice that i could

19:22
ever take he said to me he said if you

19:24
do go away to college you will use lose

19:27
four years of working i said no i can

19:29
always come back home and do that and he

19:31
goes my advice is because his father

19:33
gave this you want to work in the

19:34
company stay home because you're gonna

19:36
lose four years out of work and i did

19:38
stay home for college and i gained so

19:40
much knowledge from being home while

19:42
also going to school at the same time

19:44
and it prepared me for where i am now

19:47
and i want to share one more story that

19:49
i think is kind of funny but also true

19:52
so

19:53
it's my grandfather does not believe in

19:55
vacation he does not believe in that

19:57
doesn't strike me as a vacation he's not

19:58
a vacation guy when he went on his

20:00
honeymoon he you know went to pa or the

20:02
poconos and he jokes with us if we go on

20:04
vacation goes what's wrong with

20:05
pennsylvania i was like i'd like to go

20:06
to florida maybe or i'd like to see some

20:08
other spots and

20:10
i always used to laugh about that or not

20:12
even laugh sometimes i would even get

20:14
like upset because our grandparents

20:16
lived with us in an italian family and

20:18
they didn't believe in coming home late

20:20
after 10 o'clock

20:21
going on school trips having sleepovers

20:24
they didn't really believe in that and

20:25
we still did it of course as a young kid

20:28
but

20:29
i would always sometimes get into

20:30
arguments with either my father or my

20:32
grandfather about going away or going

20:34
away on spring break and

20:36
as i get

20:38
older i realize what they were just

20:39
trying to tell me they're trying to

20:40
teach you a lesson they're not trying to

20:42
say never go away or never take time to

20:43
yourself but if you get accustomed and

20:45
used to

20:46
taking every weekend off right or taking

20:50
a vacation

20:51
when

20:52
you do that you're not watching your

20:54
business and my grandfather told us that

20:56
story that one time he went

20:58
if you asked me how many times he went

21:00
back to italy since he's came back his

21:01
answer is once he went one time back

21:04
after maybe a couple years of opening

21:07
the bakery in newark to see his mother

21:08
and to bring her over here he said he

21:10
went to italy for two weeks and when he

21:12
came back he almost didn't have his

21:13
bakery anymore it was almost the sales

21:16
went down customers weren't coming in

21:18
the quality was not the same so that

21:20
scared him to the point that i think

21:22
that's what made makes him not go away

21:24
or he doesn't he wants to be there

21:26
because he's experienced that and he's

21:28
just trying to give those life lessons

21:30
to us to say listen watch your business

21:32
because if you go away or you don't

21:34
spend enough time there things could

21:35
happen so him sharing that story uh to

21:39
us made us realize and understand

21:42
why he believes in that why he believes

21:43
in watching your business so

21:45
now that i'm older it still resonates

21:48
with me like even though i went away and

21:49
i did stuff you can ask my wife now i

21:52
mean

21:52
we just got back from our honeymoon and

21:54
i would say most people take a 10 to 14

21:57
day honeymoon sure we were seven days we

21:59
we were back home yeah and it's just

22:00
funny it's not it's they told me that so

22:03
many days that now

22:05
i'm doing it to myself without just

22:07
realizing wow because they told me this

22:09
and they kept nailing into my head

22:11
nailing it into my head i don't want to

22:13
be away for a long time yes i like to

22:14
enjoy myself but i don't want to be away

22:17
from my company for a long time because

22:18
it's very important to watch so these

22:20
are just little things that our family

22:21
has taught us over the year and passed

22:23
down those kind of traditions and that

22:24
hard work ethic that

22:27
i hope to pass down to the fourth

22:28
generation which would be a great

22:30
success where did you go on your

22:31
honeymoon we went to hawaii if you had

22:33
said poconos i would have lost my mind

22:36
that would have been the greatest the

22:37
greatest thing it's funny that my

22:38
sister's actually on her honeymoon right

22:39
now because she got married on saturday

22:41
at the time of this recording oh she's

22:42
in congratulations yeah yeah fun fact

22:44
but for that long flight 10 hours and

22:46
only six seven nights and then coming

22:48
back it's not easy but turn around i got

22:50
a great wife and she was very

22:51
understanding of coming back but it

22:52
would have been great to go it would

22:54
have been great to go to the poconos and

22:56
do what my grandfather did for a couple

22:58
nights and then come back home yeah um

23:00
so that was one of the questions also

23:02
that i uh had when i was you know as i

23:04
was reading some stuff and all that and

23:06
just kind of understanding how family

23:07
businesses sometimes operate and it's

23:10
how it's like the first generation

23:11
starts it the second generation kind of

23:13
expands it and the third generation kind

23:15
of kills it

23:16
i'm glad i'm glad that you said that

23:18
because i'm glad you didn't sugarcoat it

23:19
that is that's the same right and but i

23:22
think like at any point do you have

23:24
siblings yes i do so my sister is also

23:26
in the business as well kristen calandra

23:28
uh she's two years older than me and

23:30
then my cousin luciano kalanja which is

23:32
my uncle's son uh he's 18 years old

23:35
current attending lehigh he's in the

23:37
business as well um so right now it's uh

23:40
obviously the first generation of my

23:41
grandfather the second generation my

23:42
uncle and my father and now the third

23:44
generation between luciano iii which is

23:46
my cousin my sister kristen and myself

23:48
right and at any point in your life like

23:51
as you were kind of you know you talked

23:52
about getting in arguments or whatever

23:54
you know and like when the opportunity

23:57
was obviously there to join the business

24:00
was there ever a moment you were just

24:01
like uh dude f bread like i am i am off

24:04
bread i'm not doing the colander's thing

24:06
i mean the bakery not the family but you

24:08
know i just like i can't i can't do this

24:10
it's just like it's so

24:11
you know i don't know did that ever that

24:14
ever

24:15
that's a great question and i'm actually

24:16
really trying to think of that and i

24:18
know the answer should be yes but i

24:21
don't think i ever had that moment that

24:23
i was like screw this i don't want to be

24:25
in this of course you always have you

24:26
know they always ask what if what if you

24:29
weren't in collages what would you do

24:30
yeah

24:31
it's funny i have two answers i always

24:33
said either i would be a children's book

24:34
writer i have no idea why i just like i

24:37
just i'm very creative now i can't write

24:39
i mean in college i'm pretty sure i got

24:40
a c minus in writing but i have great

24:43
ideas and i just you know i like shorts

24:45
uh i like telling stories or i'd

24:47
probably be like a sports announcer or

24:49
something like that because i am into

24:51
sports but it's never crossed my mind

24:53
either about working somewhere else or

24:55
f the bread but you always have a you

24:58
know you're always going to have

24:59
frustrating days sure um with anything

25:01
but i think the greatest thing is when

25:03
you have a great team around you

25:05
uh that's where you don't want to say

25:08
screw it and again that's why sometimes

25:10
that first and second generation why you

25:13
asked me you know uh

25:15
do you humble yourself and i do because

25:17
i realize how much hard work it probably

25:19
took my father my uncle and my

25:21
grandfather that at some point they

25:23
probably were like f this at a certain

25:25
point because it's not easy to take it

25:27
from one bakery to

25:29
what it is now and we're very grateful

25:32
for that and i think the third

25:33
generation it is scary that you see it

25:36
all the time that they do kill it and i

25:38
think we try to humble ourselves and

25:40
work even harder because we don't want

25:43
to do that right you want to buck that

25:44
trend exactly the generations always say

25:46
they don't want you to work as hard as

25:48
them my father my uncles yeah you don't

25:49
want you guys to work as hard give you a

25:51
better life

25:52
a better life and i think they've done

25:54
that for us so even if we don't go

25:56
through let's say

25:58
that grind that the first and second

26:00
generation went to if we can keep this

26:02
business

26:03
growing and keep this bit this name a

26:06
household name in new jersey we've done

26:08
our job so i think that just what

26:10
motivates me uh you're going to have

26:11
hard days but the team that we've put in

26:13
place our employees and our managers and

26:15
our team members we always say team

26:17
calandra

26:18
they keep us

26:20
moving their the workhorse in this

26:22
company and that's what keeps us

26:24
level-headed that keeps us having more

26:26
good days and bad days where i feel like

26:29
if you don't have a good team and you're

26:31
not hiring the right people and that's

26:34
going to give you more headaches that

26:35
you may say hey screw this but so far no

26:38
we haven't had that right um and we're

26:39
very blessed yeah no i think that's

26:41
phenomenal a great answer yeah and you

26:43
said at the beginning like i think the

26:44
answer should be yes but i don't think

26:46
there is a right answer because i mean

26:48
it's not i mean that's the saying that i

26:50
said before the you know first second

26:52
third generation but it doesn't happen

26:53
all the time this is a clear example of

26:56
it not happening um so all right we're

26:58
gonna take another quick break our

27:00
second our last break of this episode uh

27:02
mike hamm tom calandra here at el

27:05
vecchio cafe at the colander's italian

27:07
village in caldwell new jersey we'll be

27:08
right back

27:11
it is time for your new jersey fun fact

27:12
of the day did you know that the streets

27:15
in the monopoly board game are named

27:16
after actual streets in atlantic city

27:19
that is your new jersey fun fact of the

27:21
day

27:24
all right we're back uh we're here at el

27:26
vecchio cafe at calandre's italian

27:28
village i'm here with tom calandra i'm

27:30
mike hamm this is the greetings from the

27:31
garden state podcast

27:32
so we've talked about the history of

27:34
calandra's we've talked about the family

27:36
we've talked about a lot of different

27:37
things so far

27:38
but i want to kind of see you know maybe

27:40
current events what's and then what's on

27:42
the horizon for calandra's and then what

27:43
you guys have going on so obviously you

27:45
know the last year and a half was not

27:48
easy for a lot of businesses and i'm

27:49
sure you guys felt that too um so what

27:51
were some things that you were kind of

27:52
dealing with over the last year i mean

27:54
i'm sure it's a lot

27:56
but maybe kind of as we're progressing

27:58
out of pandemic type stuff

28:01
what are some issues that may be some

28:02
obstacles that are facing the business

28:04
right now yeah so um again coven what

28:07
just came out of nowhere everybody knows

28:09
that um it was scary for all of us uh

28:12
not knowing what was gonna happen with

28:14
health with business with anything like

28:16
that and

28:18
you know

28:19
even though the past year and a half was

28:21
hard on everybody and it wasn't easy i

28:24
think also

28:25
you could find some silver linings from

28:28
what happened with covet and i believe

28:30
our third generation this was our mark

28:32
to kind of make a statement or to kind

28:34
of go through this hardship and come out

28:37
of it stronger and

28:39
in the beginning i

28:41
i think like anybody else i panicked we

28:44
the third generation

28:45
didn't know what to do we were scared

28:47
because this was our kind of okay hey

28:49
listen you don't this is the unknown

28:51
right you're the first generation went

28:53
through it with not having anything

28:56
the second generation has been through

28:57
plenty whether it was 2008 uh on 9 11.

29:01
so things happen in time and this was

29:03
our kind of like excuse my language the

29:05
oh kind of moment um and

29:08
i think we all panicked in the beginning

29:09
but then i think we said now what are we

29:10
going gonna do right what you can't

29:13
sit in your house and do nothing you

29:15
have to make changes and you have to

29:17
progress because if you don't you are

29:19
going to fall you can't just

29:22
say well i'm not here it's like that

29:23
rocky saying and i always go back to it

29:25
he says don't blame other people because

29:27
you're not here there i don't know the

29:29
exact quote but i even that quote

29:31
resonates with me is that covet hit now

29:34
what are you going to do about it you

29:35
can't blame the government you can't

29:37
blame the virus in a sense you have to

29:40
come out of this stronger and

29:42
the first step with the first thing that

29:43
we dealt with is are we going to stay

29:45
open are we going to close down what are

29:46
we going to do and we all made the

29:49
decision that we are going to stay open

29:51
uh all of our restaurant and bakery

29:53
locations to give to the community to

29:55
deliver uh to be on you know the

29:58
ubereats and the doordash of the world

30:00
and to come up with gimmicks that will

30:02
keep us afloat or not even a float just

30:04
to

30:05
say hey you know calandra's is still

30:07
here for you and we came out with

30:09
different takeout packages like

30:11
everybody else uh because we have such

30:13
large property and my grandfather's

30:14
always preached on location and parking

30:17
and property we're very blessed to have

30:20
a large parking space at all of our

30:21
locations that we just started running

30:23
events drive through events we bought

30:25
you know trays to put on the windows to

30:27
put food on there right we would have uh

30:30
dj outside and have you know people

30:32
listen to it in cars we would do movie

30:35
nights outside anything that was able to

30:37
be done outside we did barbecuing

30:40
outside because you could only eat

30:41
outside at that point so we were coming

30:43
up with different takeout packages

30:45
different cuisines you know we're an

30:46
italian restaurant but we were doing uh

30:48
chinese food we were doing mexican food

30:50
we were doing anything that kind of

30:52
spiced it up we were doing drink kits so

30:54
i think what happened was is that we

30:56
actually came out of this a little bit

30:58
stronger because we did stay open a lot

31:01
of restaurants closed unfortunately just

31:03
for one to save on costs and payroll and

31:05
we decided to stay open to where people

31:08
would drive 45 minutes to an hour

31:10
to say oh i never heard of this place

31:12
kolanja's italian village or cucina

31:14
calandra or kolanja's mediterranean

31:16
grill

31:17
and so for our restaurants people are

31:18
coming out to either come to these

31:20
events

31:21
do take out or literally just to sit

31:22
outside in our parking lot to put a tray

31:25
on our window and have you know a burger

31:27
uh give them something to do and

31:31
i think when things started opening back

31:33
up we saw

31:35
the amount of people coming in that new

31:37
customers or being busy on the weekends

31:40
and weekdays that we said wow we're very

31:43
blessed we made the right decision to

31:44
stay open and to keep our people staffed

31:47
here because when the summer time opened

31:50
and it was outdoor dining it was crazy i

31:52
mean

31:53
we have now a tent and back of there

31:55
that we'd have now for a year and a half

31:56
who would ever thought the tent

31:57
companies are in such high demand now i

31:59
mean yeah we

32:01
it's if you're in that industry right

32:03
now you're taking advantage of this

32:05
situation which is great so

32:07
i mean we put chandeliers intense water

32:09
fountains on our tent i mean it went

32:10
from just having a tent like you like

32:12
you just see normally to having a tent

32:15
that looks like a kalandra's tank yeah

32:17
it looks like it's it's done to the

32:19
nights water fountains uh led lights

32:22
chandeliers so we made our tent

32:25
better looking than our dining room and

32:27
it's and we came out on kind of on top

32:31
with kind of just innovating with ideas

32:33
innovating with our tents and keeping

32:35
ourselves open to say hey we're here if

32:37
you need us and

32:38
of course the labor shortage right now

32:40
is not easy

32:41
but at the same time i always look at

32:44
the silver lining i always look at

32:46
um

32:47
everything happens for a reason and i

32:49
think for us

32:51
our third generation like you said

32:52
usually kills it i believe because of

32:54
not hard work i believe you take

32:55
advantage of to what the second

32:57
generation has done for you and you kind

32:58
of spend that money and that's not the

33:01
way it should be and i think this

33:02
pandemic has made our generation my my

33:05
cousin

33:06
luciano my sister and myself work even

33:09
harder because you can't find people to

33:11
work and

33:12
you'll see my sister bartending on

33:14
weekends you'll see me in back of the

33:15
bakery with the bakers in the back

33:17
you'll see my cousin ringing up

33:19
customers serving people so our industry

33:22
took a big hit and it had us step up to

33:25
the plate and i think that gained the

33:27
respect for our employees because again

33:29
we're young uh it's tough if you're

33:31
let's say a 50 year old and you're

33:33
taking orders from let's say which i'm

33:36
28. even my cousin's 18. so

33:39
you know and my sister's 30 sometimes

33:41
it's you have to respect always your

33:42
elders no matter if you're the owner or

33:44
not the owner you need to respect your

33:45
elders so i think them saying that we're

33:47
coming to work and helping and helping

33:49
the case they really appreciate that and

33:51
it gave us an even better work ethic to

33:52
where now if it's a saturday night i'm

33:54
going i'm going to work right you know

33:57
most that third generation i'm off

33:59
saturday and sunday but i know now work

34:01
ethic that you have to come in on a

34:03
saturday or sunday and those days are

34:06
the most important days so i think you

34:08
know we dealt with the pandemic very

34:10
well um it showed us hard work

34:13
innovation um and i would say

34:17
you know giving us for the next thing

34:19
that happens down the road it's giving

34:21
you experience on what to do and i think

34:24
that

34:24
was what

34:26
kind of that our third generation needed

34:28
was a kick in the ass to say hey what

34:30
are we going to do

34:31
and learn from those lessons for the

34:34
next thing that that comes because

34:35
there's always going to be something

34:36
there's going to be something right but

34:37
you can't but that already says 10 years

34:39
every 10 years something happens right

34:41
you don't know what it's going to be but

34:42
every 10 years something happens so i

34:45
think this was a great life lesson for

34:46
us and currently i would say

34:48
besides obviously covet but on you know

34:50
brighter notes that um we see trends

34:53
going on in the industry is in our

34:55
bakery like you said right

34:58
10 15 20 years ago even as dating us

35:01
back 60 years ago it was the bread that

35:04
kind of calandras was known for

35:06
we're starting a little bit now to get

35:07
known for our pastries and our cakes uh

35:10
and our breakfast items and

35:12
which are banging by which which are

35:14
fantastic appreciate it and i'm looking

35:15
at the sales and i'm like wow i said you

35:17
know sales look good and what not and i

35:19
see actually the pastry sales is what's

35:22
up the most percentage-wise that the

35:24
bread is and it's

35:26
crazy to think but at the same times

35:27
it's not because you see the way the

35:29
world is evolving right you go to new

35:31
york or boutique bakeries and the

35:34
pastries are so you know refined and uh

35:37
you know they almost look so nice you

35:39
don't want to eat it um and

35:41
so that's why i think where our focus is

35:43
a lot now is we're trying to get the

35:44
word out of our pastries wedding cakes

35:47
has been huge right now yep

35:49
wedding you know we never had a great

35:51
wedding cake business up until maybe

35:53
five six years ago like i said our team

35:55
is doing a great job of that and wedding

35:57
cakes i mean

35:59
i couldn't tell you right now i mean

36:00
there's a wedding cake every day there's

36:01
weddings every day right now yeah so

36:04
you know

36:05
i think that was another thing too was

36:07
that when all these weddings got

36:08
postponed and whatnot um we kind to try

36:11
to put our foot through the door and say

36:12
hey we're here for your next you know uh

36:14
cake and we do cake tastings now if

36:17
anybody is getting married in all three

36:19
locations but right now we're at

36:21
kolanja's italian village we give you a

36:23
beautiful assortment of cakes to try i

36:25
mean there's i think 15 to 16 flavors

36:28
right there's no there's no charge

36:30
so you come in and you taste the cake

36:32
and it's like it's literally like a date

36:34
day you come in we get you get a cup of

36:36
coffee and espresso you know you see 16

36:39
flavors you try it you can take it home

36:41
if you don't finish it it's like an hour

36:43
experience but where can you go that you

36:44
can try 16 different cake flavors uh and

36:47
pick which one's your favorite yeah

36:50
so as a side i wouldn't book anything in

36:51
the morning because then if you have

36:52
lunch it ain't it's not gonna go too

36:54
well i would have lunch first then come

36:56
back between three or four before you go

36:58
to dinner or after dinner so

37:00
we're focusing a lot on the cakes uh

37:02
right now um we're focusing a lot on our

37:05
pastries like i said cookies kind of

37:07
still concentrating on the bread and

37:09
we're still trying to push that you know

37:11
narrative of four ingredients uh no

37:13
preservatives type deal uh

37:16
reaching out to people that have stories

37:18
like yourself uh and it doesn't have to

37:21
be the italian community a lot of

37:23
communities have similar family stories

37:25
where they have dinner on sunday or

37:27
saturday or whatever that brings

37:28
everybody needs a friend everybody needs

37:29
bread that's the focus so

37:31
you know i think uh that's kind of

37:34
what we're excited about for the future

37:36
at least for our bakeries is just our

37:38
uh what we focused on for years which is

37:40
our bread i think this third generation

37:42
is focusing now on products that you

37:44
didn't think of what calondra's was

37:46
known for and

37:47
as for the restaurants just continue to

37:49
innovate and come up with ideas and you

37:52
know make these tents as nice as

37:54
possible because i don't think they're

37:55
going anywhere right and i like the

37:57
outdoor dining experience i like it you

37:59
know what i do like it too especially in

38:01
some in some cases i think the winter

38:03
time is you know that's not great

38:05
because that's crazy with the propane

38:06
and how much gas costs but i mean there

38:09
i mean outdoor dining and like the i me

38:12
personally if you had to choose indoor

38:14
outdoor during the spring fall or summer

38:16
i choose outdoor 100 grab me a margarita

38:18
there's nothing like that exactly you

38:20
see the the sun the moon whatever's

38:22
going on that doesn't help when this

38:23
summer it was literally how many

38:25
thunderstorms were there i mean there

38:26
was rain too many i think the rain was

38:28
just i think it beat all records of

38:30
summers so that doesn't help and then

38:32
you got to transfer everybody inside

38:33
it's like no we don't really have any

38:34
tables for you but we didn't think it

38:35
was going to rain it was a 20 chance but

38:38
uh i don't think the outdoor dining is

38:39
going anywhere and i think you just have

38:41
to continue to plan

38:42
uh different events and gimmicks

38:46
and stuff like that and you know provide

38:48
a good service and see how many people

38:51
you can see based on how many people you

38:52
have

38:54
and kind of and i think takeout's

38:56
important too i think people forget

38:58
that there are still some people very

39:00
nervous about still what's going on and

39:02
take out is very important right you

39:04
know to offer packages to feed families

39:06
of four to six because some people don't

39:08
want to go out to dinner every night and

39:10
you want to give them a cost that is

39:13
good for their family to say hey listen

39:15
you know we'll we want to take out

39:17
package that feeds our family for two

39:18
three days uh because we don't want to

39:20
go out to a restaurant and we're still

39:21
nervous so yeah we're still focusing on

39:23
takeout too because you don't want to

39:24
stray away from that because there is a

39:26
stolen market for that so that's kind of

39:28
a little bit of the future on a horizon

39:30
again if you have any other questions

39:31
about

39:32
what you know where else the company is

39:34
going or you know where we think we're

39:36
going to expand or open up you know let

39:38
us know we could definitely answer that

39:40
as well yeah so i have a different

39:42
question yeah actually so what i think

39:45
is so cool about calandra's was that it

39:47
started in one location then it's kind

39:48
of branched out and done different

39:50
things and obviously everything like

39:51
that but i mean i think the the focus

39:54
you know if you had to pick an epicenter

39:56
of calandra's it's essex county 100 so

40:00
talk to me about the importance of the

40:03
community outreach being a part of the

40:05
community not just a business because

40:07
there are businesses that are you know

40:09
based in certain areas that don't

40:10
necessarily connect with the community

40:13
but i feel like you guys do and that's

40:14
what has made kalandra such a household

40:16
name so talk to me about the importance

40:18
of that maybe even from the very

40:19
beginning to all the way to now how

40:21
important that was to

40:23
everybody involved all three generations

40:25
the whole family everything absolutely

40:26
well even just like starting in the

40:28
beginning and even uh my mother's father

40:30
would always tell us this too you know

40:31
when he would go into the bakery uh he

40:34
would always see let's say police

40:35
officers first responders in there um

40:38
and my grandfather would always be

40:39
giving bread

40:40
saying thank you you know for being part

40:42
of the community yeah um believe it or

40:44
not you know since my grandfather first

40:47
started in newark uh my grandmother

40:49
ortenza we now have uh if you drive by

40:52
204 first avenue newark my grandmother's

40:54
name is below the sign uh from the

40:56
community of newark and they presented

40:58
her with

40:59
uh my

41:01
my grandmother's name and ortenza

41:02
boulevard which is nice underneath the

41:05
street and i think that's just a

41:07
testament to what my grandfather's done

41:08
over the years and what he started uh

41:11
originally he you know he gives back to

41:13
the community in newark like i said

41:14
firemen police officers

41:16
when they worked in the hospitals

41:19
he would give discounts to even let's

41:20
say

41:21
uh business people from around the area

41:23
as well because he knows how important

41:25
their business is to the community and i

41:28
think that was important you know he

41:29
always tried to give a free loaf when he

41:31
could and another thing that we do all

41:33
the time is you know let's say churches

41:35
or schools you know churches you know

41:38
they would ask us hey you know do you

41:39
have any some breakfast items that you

41:40
can give us or

41:42
let's say the donuts at the end of the

41:44
day that hey do you mind donating some

41:46
of them to the church and we always say

41:48
yes you know and

41:49
so when you can get that core

41:52
you know when i think of a community i

41:53
think of a a lot of things but i think

41:55
of a core group right your your police

41:58
officers your

41:59
first responders your firemen if there's

42:02
a hospital in the area which in newark

42:04
uh i think there's yeah which i forget

42:06
the hospital name in newark there's beth

42:08
israel yeah and i don't know if it's

42:09
still there and there was one before

42:11
that but it's still there uh i you know

42:13
those father was born there fun fact was

42:15
he yeah really my girlfriend used to

42:16
work there so a lot of ties to newark

42:18
beth exactly so i mean you think of the

42:21
hospitals the firemen the police

42:22
officers the teachers the churches

42:24
that's kind of what you think about and

42:26
we're always trying to give back to

42:27
those because that's what kind of makes

42:29
up a community and even the schools as

42:30
well you know they asked us for any

42:32
donations that we can give uh to the

42:34
school you know we're in fairfield and

42:35
west essex we're very close with in the

42:37
school that's over there because it's a

42:38
very large school we work with them very

42:40
well and on top of that just

42:42
sponsorships you know we uh

42:44
you know we have the caldwell street

42:46
fair that's usually always in october

42:47
i'm not sure if they're doing it this

42:48
year but i'm sure they are if they're

42:50
not they'll postpone it but always

42:52
trying to sponsor whatever's going on in

42:54
our town the fireworks for fourth of

42:55
july in caldwell in fairfield that they

42:57
host i don't believe they do any

42:58
fireworks in new work but if they did we

43:00
would sponsor anything that you know is

43:02
in the community whether it's the main

43:04
sponsor or secondhand sponsorship just

43:06
to show our support and always it's

43:08
important to put your name out there and

43:10
back your community um so and as long

43:14
you know as well as charities you know

43:15
the valerie fund uh is a big one for our

43:18
family um caldwell college we try to

43:20
give out uh what's made sponsorship for

43:22
a scholarship for kids education and

43:25
everything like that um my grandmother

43:28
unfortunately are tens of she passed

43:29
away from pancreatic cancer so we try to

43:31
give back to that as well my mother had

43:34
ms at a later stage in her life so

43:37
that's something we try to support and

43:39
something we give back because that's

43:40
close to our hearts so try to give back

43:42
to the community also things that are

43:43
close to our hearts uh and just stay

43:45
prevalent um in in those communities so

43:49
it's uh it's very important because the

43:51
community is what backs you and we want

43:53
to back them um so we're very you know

43:56
excited and happy that we do that and

43:58
i'm hoping that our third generation

44:00
which i'm sure we will continue to do

44:02
that and we can bring that to the next

44:04
generation to the fourth generation to

44:05
tell them the community is important

44:07
back then they back you yeah of course i

44:09
think that's fantastic i think that puts

44:11
a nice little bow on this episode that

44:13
we that we just did here because i think

44:15
it takes the whole thing the business

44:16
the family the community it kind of ties

44:19
it all together um you know the past

44:21
present future type of thing uh which i

44:23
think is phenomenal so if people have

44:25
been listening to this uh episode and

44:27
they want

44:28
to go pick up some pastries they want to

44:30
go check out one of the restaurants

44:31
let's hit the locations even though

44:33
we've literally talked about them for 45

44:35
minutes now

44:37
but let's hit the locations maybe any

44:38
links that you have that they can go

44:40
check it out instagram handle whatever

44:42
so let's do that yeah absolutely

44:44
so again if you guys ever want to come

44:46
get pastries bread we always say bread

44:49
is every hour that slogan's been the

44:50
same since 1962. if you come in any hour

44:53
of the day there's going to be hot bread

44:56
whether it's a french a bastone

44:58
uh a pinella now how do you say best

45:00
stone is do you say bastogne you stay

45:02
best on all right

45:10
my favorite that's my favorite bread to

45:12
get from calandra's we would always go

45:14
two dozen long rolls for like five

45:16
people i'm like are we feeding like an

45:18
army like what are we doing

45:20
yeah but uh but yeah we would always get

45:22
long rolls and a slice pinella uh and so

45:25
that's that's how i would say pineapple

45:26
so uh yeah anytime every hour you'll get

45:29
hot bread in newark fairfield or

45:30
caldwell our pastries are

45:32
baked fresh we have cookies breakfast

45:34
items as well as your if you're

45:35
interested in that we have our three uh

45:38
restaurant locations collages

45:39
mediterranean grill uh cucina calandra

45:42
and el vecchio cafe which is inside

45:44
kolanja's italian village

45:46
if you guys need any wedding cakes or

45:48
any future cakes for let's say a sweet

45:50
16 a birthday come for a cake tasting at

45:53
kolanja's italian village or bakery in

45:55
newark or fairfield we do those as well

45:57
great experience for you guys we have

45:59
outdoor seating at any of our

46:00
restaurants if you don't feel

46:02
comfortable inside trust me they're

46:04
decked to the nines like i said earlier

46:05
in this podcast uh we have bar seating

46:08
and indoor seating as well so yeah we're

46:11
very excited to welcome any guests that

46:13
are here and if you want to see the

46:15
original mr calandra uh luciano calandra

46:18
i'm telling you his schedule is two

46:19
o'clock at the village every day or two

46:23
or uh eight o'clock dinner uh at the

46:26
village i don't don't ask me how he eats

46:28
at eight o'clock at night i don't know

46:30
how that at his age that's possible and

46:32
how he's good with that i eat at six

46:34
o'clock so if you ever want to come in

46:36
and say hello he loves to shake people's

46:38
hands he loves to talk about the

46:40
business that's his passion uh stop on

46:42
in and come see him like i said 2 p.m at

46:44
the village or any day at you know 8 p.m

46:46
for dinner time so uh i want to say i'm

46:48
very happy i did this was my first

46:50
podcast uh i'm very excited that i did

46:52
this and i got the opportunity so i'm

46:55
very uh excited to uh to be here and to

46:58
listen to uh future podcasts on this and

47:00
listen to my own podcast very nervous to

47:02
see how i talk on a microphone and how i

47:05
act but that's going to be uh

47:06
nerve-wracking but exciting yeah no i

47:08
think you did great i mean i think for

47:09
first i mean i could think of no better

47:11
way to kind of kick off this new project

47:14
that i'm working on and you know cause i

47:16
like i'm a born and raised jersey guy

47:17
you're a born and raised jersey guy and

47:19
i think that the state itself has a lot

47:22
to bring to the table it's obviously

47:24
like the butt of a lot of jokes but if

47:26
you're not from here you just don't get

47:27
it you know what i mean and i think that

47:29
you know reaching out to people like you

47:31
and and you know that were active within

47:32
the community and know what uh what all

47:35
the great things that the state has to

47:36
offer i think this was a great way to

47:38
kind of highlight that and start this

47:40
start this whole show so you're the

47:42
first one first interview of this show

47:45
was your first podcast interview i mean

47:47
how crazy is that that's crazy fantastic

47:49
so uh website link can we uh instagram

47:51
handle yeah

47:53
you can do collagebakery.com check out

47:55
our bakery website you can do

47:56
calundra.net which kind of gives you the

47:58
overview of everything uh for our

48:00
instagram handle calandra's bakery and

48:02
restaurants uh my marketing team keeps

48:04
telling me to split that up and have

48:06
four different instagram handles but i'm

48:08
way too stubborn i'm just doing one to

48:10
advertise everything so collages bakery

48:12
and restaurants on instagram and that's

48:14
also our facebook as well collages

48:16
bakery and restaurant so check us out uh

48:18
everything's on there that you need to

48:19
know and uh looking forward to seeing

48:22
new customers in here and existing

48:24
customers and uh again my name is thomas

48:26
calandra if you see me love to say hello

48:28
and talk more if anybody has uh any

48:31
questions or wants us to share a story

48:32
that uh like you did uh when we started

48:34
this podcast off awesome love it well he

48:37
just said it he's tom calandra i'm mike

48:39
hamm this is the greetings from the

48:40
garden state podcast thank you everybody

48:42
for listening to the show tom i

48:43
appreciate it so much uh this has been

48:46
fantastic anytime and good luck awesome

48:48
man and everybody else thank you for

48:50
listening and we'll catch you next time

48:59
[Music]