In this episode of Staying Hungry, hosts Michael D’Onofrio and Vinny Pappalardo sit down with Gerard and Melanie Duffy of Broadway Gourmet in Massapequa to unpack what it really takes to run a high-volume bagel shop and catering operation for more than 30 years - from 3 a.m. starts and nonstop weekend rushes to transforming a distressed nursery into a flagship location (yes, complete with a propane station in the parking lot).

If you run a restaurant, deli, bagel shop, or catering business, this episode dives deep into real-world operations: staffing under pressure, scaling catering, controlling food costs, leveraging social media, managing reviews, and maintaining quality when demand never lets up.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Husband/wife business dynamic: dividing roles, handling conflict

01:05 – Welcome + intro to Broadway Gourmet (30+ years in business)

03:00 – First location in Massapequa + adding bagels to the deli model

05:40 – Buying a distressed nursery + deciding to keep the propane station

10:05 – Bagel business origins: Brooklyn → Oceanside → Massapequa

13:10 – Second location (Lindenhurst) and why it didn’t stick

15:25 – Biggest challenges now: labor, staffing gaps, retention

18:10 – Hours, 3AM starts, and the weekly grind (365 days a year)

21:10 – Catering growth: how it expanded (especially over the last decade)

24:30 – The 2014–2016 buildout: financing, private loans, SBA hurdles

31:10 – Paying rent on the old space to protect the customer base

34:40 – Bagel quality control: recipe tweaks, rolling vs baking roles

38:50 – Backup plans for key positions (roller/baker coverage)

41:30 – Melanie’s competitive figure skating background + “perfection drive”

48:10 – Social media + tech impact: DoorDash/Grubhub visibility, catering reach

55:10 – Post-COVID catering comeback + why it’s stronger now

59:10 – Giving back: Pink the Bagels, schools/PTAs, senior meal initiative

1:04:10 – Reducing waste: donations vs Too Good To Go

1:07:40 – Expansion talk, shipping bagels, and Goldbelly plans

1:11:30 – Leadership + building a team that lets owners step away

1:15:10 – Reviews, criticism, and why owners take it personally

1:19:20 – Third-party delivery share (~20%) and in-house delivery

1:22:40 – Kiosks/self-ordering stations: what works (and who uses them)

1:26:00 – Trend products: pumpkin bagels, seasonal bagels, wild cream cheeses

1:30:10 – Legacy: consistency, community, hospitality, and “Cheers” energy

1:34:00 – Wrap-up + where to find Broadway Gourmet

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If you’ve ever wondered how a classic Long Island diner becomes a modern-day powerhouse - packed from open to close while others shutter - this episode is your masterclass. In true Staying Hungry fashion, we sit down with Gus Tsiorvas, the operator who turned Embassy Diner into a living, breathing, hospitality machine: part Greek immigrant grit, part culinary nostalgia, part full-throttle showmanship.

With the tone of a smart but casually caffeinated restaurant critic, this conversation breaks down why diners are dying - but Embassy is thriving. Gus shares the now-legendary story of rejecting a guaranteed police career (plus a $50k duffel bag bribe from his father) to follow his obsession with the diner life. And if you’re a restaurant owner, his insights hit the sweet spot between old-school operator instinct and data-driven systems.

You'll hear how he built volume through freshness, how he weaponizes atmosphere (music, décor, and a “destination-first” mindset), how he coaches staff through a grind most people underestimate, and how he folds his love of country, community, and service into his brand.

For operators who want more but refuse to lose their soul, this is the episode.

Timestamps:

0:00 – Cold open: Love of country, cops, military & gratitude as a “normal” value

1:45 – Welcome to *Staying Hungry* + introducing Gus from Embassy Diner

3:15 – Why diners are shrinking while Embassy keeps getting busier

7:40 – Greek immigrant roots & the origins of New York diner culture

11:20 – The $50,000 duffel bag story: choosing the diner over a badge

17:55 – Starting at age 10: summers, sacrifice & bonding through work

24:20 – The power of atmosphere: décor, music, lollipops & the guest experience

30:10 – Reviving old-school dishes: beef stew, stroganoff & “not just cheeseburgers”

35:50 – Building a family-style staff culture & leading from the front

41:15 – Social media as a growth engine + the massive 9/11 drone show

48:55 – Giving back: veterans, police, fire, and community service

55:40 – Family life, kids, and the toll & beauty of the restaurant grind

1:02:30 – Expansion, parking battles, and what’s next for Embassy

1:09:00 – Gus’s message to restaurant owners & his philosophy on work

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Staying Hungry presents “Keep It Secret, Keep It Saucy” (Ep. 119) - an inside look at how one Long Island chef built a hidden pizza empire from the ground up.

This week, hosts Michael D’Onofrio and Vinny Pappalardo sit down with Mike Vittorio - the creative force behind Mike’s Underground Pizza and Vittorio’s Italian Steakhouse. Together, they peel back the layers of what it really takes to turn passion into a brand people line up for.

Vittorio shares how clean, unbromated flour and a 450-pound backyard tomato harvest shaped his signature sauce, why owning your building might be the smartest move in hospitality, and how staying small helped him grow big. The trio dives into dry-aged ribeyes, staffing and work ethic, social-media hype, restaurant tech (POS, AI phone systems, digital payments), and the balancing act between expansion and authenticity.

For restaurant owners, chefs, and entrepreneurs - this episode is equal parts masterclass and motivation, served with plenty of sauce.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Welcome to Staying Hungry & intro to Mike “Mikey Underground” Esposito

2:18 – Growing up in the business: from fisherman’s son to pizzeria lifer

6:45 – Why Victoria’s Italian Steakhouse was born from “doing everything possible with a piece of dough”

11:02 – Clean flour, bromate, and why most bread doesn’t taste like bread anymore

16:30 – 450 lbs of tomatoes, backyard farming & the best sauce he’s ever made

21:40 – Garden-to-table: pairing fresh veg with steak, fish, and Italian classics

25:55 – Family, kids in the restaurant, and teaching independence through hospitality

31:20 – Real estate, buying the building, and protecting razor-thin restaurant margins

36:48 – Community, Pizza Strong, and why giving back always comes back

42:05 – Vito’s as a “hidden gem” & menu philosophy: big, flexible, and guest-focused

47:10 – Dry-aged steak 101: aging in-house, flavor, shrinkage & pricing

52:32 – Clean kitchens, inspectors, horror stories & why bathrooms really matter

57:00 – Staffing, work ethic, and why some young workers tap out on the grind

1:02:15 – Tech & restaurants: POS pain, fees, AI phone answering & digital currency worries

1:08:40 – Social media, Mike’s Underground mystique & turning demand into brand

1:14:05 – Franchising offers, expansion plans & keeping quality from getting watered down

1:18:30 – Legacy, Johnny’s Farm & what it means to nourish a community