Willie DePascale has spent more than 45 years in the culinary industry. A retired chef of 25 years, he finished up his chef career at the U.S. Grant Hotel before moving to local produce supplier Moceri Produce where he worked for 21 years.
“I was planning on retiring this September, but COVID kind of forced me for an early retirement because I had no business, and the phone was not ringing,” he said.
So, DePascale, trying to remain busy, started baking bread every day. He said it turned out well, but felt that he had mastered it, so he took the same dough, made focaccia bread and decided to see if it would work with pizza.
“Everyone asks me what my favorite food is since I have been a chef for so many years and my favorite food is pizza and pasta,” he said.
With his gas fired pizza oven in his backyard in Chula Vista, DePascale set out on mastering pizzas, but since he and his wife could only eat so much, he began to give them away to friends and neighbors.
“Everybody said the pizza was really good and said that I should open up a place,” he said.
“I already own a restaurant Pioneer BBQ & Catering, and I do not need another restaurant.”
DePascale said that he was enjoying himself, and when businesses began opening, some of his business was coming back, but not as strong. He was planning on retiring in September, but said with the shutdown last December, he decided to retire immediately.
With the struggle that the pandemic brought to the hospitality industry, DePascale turned his retirement hobby into a cause to help those that work in the industry, one pizza at a time. Big Willie’s Pizza Pies for a Cause gives back to those families in the industry.
“That is when I came up with the idea,” he said. “There are a lot of people struggling out there right now, especially in my business that I have been part of for more than 40 years. My cooks, dishwashers, prep cooks, waiters and waitresses, and the same with the people in the produce company. I kept seeing all these stories on television, so I decided what I was going to do.”
DePascale began to give away pizzas for donations only. Pizzas are available to order at a suggested donation price, with all proceeds going towards the purchase of $500 gift cards to shops such as Vons, Ralph’s, Target and Amazon. Gift cards are provided to restaurant and hospitality workers in need, on a monthly basis. To date, DePascale has raised over $4,500 in donations, helping a total of nine families. DePascale said all proceeds and profits, excluding expenses, go to the cause.
“I make 10 to 15 pizzas a day and anywhere from five to 10 cannoli’s a day,” he said.
“That is about $350 a day, and $300 of that goes to donations. I began 12 weeks ago, and I began to get orders and orders, and people were donating well for the cause. They were donating large tips for the pizzas.”
Originally from New York, DePascale’s menu features a variety of Neapolitan and Sicilian style pizzas including the option to create your own. Selections include the Margherita, the Pesto Lover, and The Big Willie, which features San Marzano tomato sauce, mozzarella, homemade meatballs and fennel sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, ricotta cheese, and fresh basil. For dessert, he offers a classic New York-style chocolate chip cannoli.
DePascale said the cause got a large boost from a Bonita businessman who owns Nix Termite, who called to order 100 pizzas. Unable to do that kind of volume, he still purchased 100 pizzas, kept 10, and told DePascale to give the rest away to help promote the cause.
“He suggested I post about free pizzas for only a $4 delivery fee to get the cause out there, and it worked,” he said. “I still had a lot of pizzas, so I went to the Bonita fire station and brought its firefighters pizza, then did the same with the Chula Vista Fire Department and the captain gave me five fire houses. Now it has been the same since. The phone rings. I do all of this out of my home. I am a one man show. I do it all. I do the firing, the prep, cooking, taking orders, social media, and then I do the delivering.”
DePascale said that he sees the need for this to continue forward for some time as the pandemic is not over and there are still many people in the hospitality industry still out of work.
“I have had people from banquet managers working at the Hilton Torrey Pines for 30 years that are still not back,” he said. “Bartenders have reduced shifts or could not go back to work because they were home schooling, and just people that needed a little extra help. Get some food on their plates, buy some clothes for their kids, so I am trying to help anyway that I can.”
Big Willie’s Pizza for a Cause can be ordered on his Facebook page or website. Visit www.bigwilliespizza.com or www.facebook.com/Big-Willies-Pizza-Pies-for-a-Cause-101328188673336/.
