Bringing the pizza that is first to Canada when you look at the 1950s
Tevie Smith is a 75 12 months restauranteur that is old claims to possess brought the very first pizza to Vancouver when you look at the 1950s
Steve Bosch/Vancouver Sun / The Vancouver Sun
Vancouver – Tevie Smith, 75, is sitting at an outdoor patio table in the beginning and Cypress court that is holding the sexcapades of his buddy Wilt Chamberlain, the giant rumbles at their drive-in restaurant in Richmond within the 1960s and exactly how he brought the initial pizza ovens to Canada when you look at the late 1950s.
A woman 40 years their junior walks by, acknowledges him, and smiles.
“don’t think a term he claims!” she laughs.
Tevie smiles back, then gets back once again to rotating their tales. And trust in me, you can find a complete great deal of these.
Tevie – everyone calls him Tevie – is amongst the characters that are great Vancouver. He is been a restaurateur, a bouncer and a rounder, some guy who is been a fixture in a few areas of Vancouver tradition considering that the 1950s that are early.
Maybe maybe maybe Not high tradition, brain.
“He’s the past for the Damon Runyon figures,” states one of his true earliest buddies, Basil Pantages.
“they can easily fit in anywhere, and blend in utilizing the most useful of these, I need to get to understand you’ feeling. because he comes down with that cheesy ‘”
Also if you do not understand Tevie, you’ve probably noticed him. He is the man whom parks their old woody wagon, a 1947 Chrysler Town and nation, from the road by Kits Beach. The car is hard to miss with a couple of steamer trunks tied down on top and sides made of rotting wood.
Old vehicles are one of his interests. He has four convertibles – a 1964 Thunderbird, ’65 Corvair, ’65 Mustang, and a ’66 Beaumont – along with a 1930 Model A Coupe, a 1934 Packard, and another ’66 Beaumont.
They may be the fruits of numerous several years of difficult labour.
“compose this down,” claims Tevie, that is having a birthday that is 75th for 200 in the Smoking puppy Bistro Sunday afternoon.
“It is easy to succeed when you look at the restaurant company. All you need to complete is work 20 hours a time, seven days per week, 364 times per year. Plus the one time you can get down, Christmas time, you must get in while making yes the freezers have not gone off.”
He understands of just exactly what he talks, because he made it happen for quite some time. He started out employed by Nat Bailey at White place as he had been 13. After some duration later he moved to destination called the Senator.
“we utilized to exert effort Friday http://www.prettybrides.net/ evening, Saturday evening, rest on the ground upstairs within the banquet space and come down and run your kitchen on my own on Sunday,” he recounts.
He originated in a bad household, but an entrepreneurial one: their older brother Ascher founded the Smithrite trash collection business. “He began the business having a war-assets vehicle and $700 in veteran’s credits,” Tevie describes.
“He decided to go to Ca on a vacation and saw Dumpster Dumpster. The town of Vancouver don’t desire to get commercial trash, so he got in to the trash company. Plus he was at the navy having a other in control of the PNE. The PNE hated the town, so they really gave him the agreement for the PNE garbage.”
Tevie did not make since much cash as Ascher, but he most likely had more fun. He went to San Francisco to go to restaurant college after he graduated from high school in Kits in 1951. Here he discovered pizza, that has been all but unknown beyond your community that is italian.
He came back to Vancouver after he graduated in 1955 and chose to try down a pizza concession in the PNE.
“You understand where in actuality the Coliseum is, well, that has been a roller coaster called the Giant Dipper. We offered pissa – it- at the Roller Coaster for 19 cents a slice because they didn’t even know what to call. And trust me, a bite was taken by them from the jawhorse then tossed it at me personally. They don’t would you like to consume that stuff. We accustomed chase them along the midway.”
Tevie’s claim to end up being the person that is first offer pizza in Canada had been disputed by their old buddy Ross Fillipone of this Penthouse cabaret, whom recently died. Fillipone said he imported the very first pizza oven into Canada for The Penthouse – and Tevie agrees. But he says Fillipone brought inside the range illegally, and Smith’s ovens had been Canadian Standards Association authorized, so Smith had initial appropriate pizza ovens.
“the CSA that is only approval in Montreal,” he relates.
“These Mafia kinds – it is a real story – owned the oven business, as well as the bread company that made the crusts. These people were driving an range as much as Montreal to have it authorized, because I experienced a trailer load of pizza materials coming when it comes to PNE. We earned 14 among these countertop that is small ovens.
“these were likely to machine weapon these inspectors. These were severe. ‘ exactly What will you be dudes doin’? Place the stamp on!’ “
Tevie wound up starting up Vancouver’s first pizza restaurant, The Snackery, at fifteenth and Granville. He additionally had Chipper’s Drive-In at number 3 path and Airport Method in the 1960s, when Richmond “was a bad, bad-ass destination.”
“Friday night had been fight night, there’d be 400 kids call at the parking great deal,” he states. “It ended up being incredible.”
Tevie managed most of the action himself. Although he is just five base seven, he had been a weightlifter, and a fairly cookie that is tough weighing 250 pounds (113 kilograms) in his prime. (he is 165 now.) He invested many years as being a bouncer at a number of places, including the old disco hot spot glucose Daddy’s.
“You possessed a battle,” he states of bouncing.
“You beat some guy up, he beat you up, whatever, you realize?”
Both in restaurants and in bars – Moose McGillicuddy’s, the Arts Club on Granville Island, the Pink Pussycat in Gastown over the years he operated numerous eateries.
However, many of their escapades revolve around his years at the guys’s Athletic Club on Hornby Street, that has been within the building that is same two nightspots, Charlie Brown’s and Sneaky Pete’s. It feels like there clearly was a party that is continuous on behind closed doors, an event that Tevie and their stock promoter buddies such as for example Herb Capozzi frequently took on the way.
“We used to get down seriously to Sun Valley every 12 months,” Capozzi claims.
“We took Tevie, that would drop in a huge truck filled with wine. He’d place it up at the top of the mountain and provide champagne and products to everyone, and also a time that is hilarious everyone get bombed from their head and attempt to ski straight straight down. Half them got lost in the exact middle of the woods.”
Baseball legend Wilt Chamberlain ended up being a typical at the guys’s Athletic Club as he stumbled on city, in which he and Tevie became friends that are close. Chamberlain endured seven foot one ins tall, and advertised he previously intercourse with 20,000 ladies. Tevie confirms that yes, indeed, Wilt The Stilt appeared to have a method with females, although their concept about exactly why is only a little too risqu? for a family group magazine.
Tevie had been once hitched and contains three grown up young ones, but he is been a totally free representative for quite some time – he gladly flaunts a snapshot of their latest flame, that is 35 yrs old. He is a charmer, by having an endless availability of entertaining stories concerning the hairdresser/prostitute whom utilized to your workplace Howe Street, the notorious loan shark/bouncer Jimmy Hill (who had been gunned straight straight down during the resort Georgia) in addition to famous stock promoter Murray (The Pez) Pezim.
You are able to tell he will present a great tale whenever he says “this can be from the record,” or “You most likely can not print this.” Which occurs about every 10 seconds throughout a 45-minute talk.
He retired through the restaurant company years back and today spends a lot of their energy and time starting thrift shops for charities that look after pets, like the Wildlife save Thrift Store downtown.
He sorely misses their friend that is old Fillipone whom he played racquetball with each week. But broadly speaking, at 75, Tevie Smith is fairly content. He has home across from Kits Beach, he’s got their stable of collector automobiles, he’s his dogs. And their memories.
“Life is great,” he states. “Life is truly good.”
