Now in his fourth decade of making pizza at his eponymous restaurant in Tonawanda, Gino Pinzone is a part of the old guard who made Buffalo pizza a thing. At seventy years old, he still gets behind the counter of Gino’s Pizza Place at 9 a.m. to make dough, prep sauce, and mentor a new generation of employees.
You’ve been a fixture in the local food scene for decades. Where did that passion for cooking begin?
Everything started back in Sicily. My mother had eleven children, so she worked at home day and night, night and day, constantly cooking for fourteen people. I’m number eight, so I did a lot of helping, making everything you could possibly make at home. I still do it for myself today. I learned everything from her…