This chef won world pizza championships in Italy. He just opened for Boise delivery.

Restaurateur Tony Gemignani has devoted his life to pizza.

A California native, he opened his first restaurant, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, in San Francisco’s North Beach in 2009. He now operates about 30 restaurant locations under eight brands. He’s a 13-time world pizza champion with victories in Italy and gold medals on Food Network.

“I don’t think anybody loves pizza more than me,” Gemignani said.

But phoning last week from his newest kitchen — Tony G’s Pizza — Gemignani was still learning a thing or two.

Like how to make his tantalizing gourmet pies in Meridian, Idaho.

“There’s a lot of ingredients that we brought into the market that either didn’t exist or are extremely hard to get,” Gemignani explained. “I got my tomatoes coming in on a truckload from Vegas today. ... I’ve had next-day air shipments coming from guys.

“We’re going to have a pretty awesome pizza.”

Tony G’s opened Oct. 19 serving Boise, Meridian and Eagle. It’s not a restaurant — at least not one where you sit down and eat. The menu is delivery or pickup only.



Tony G’s is part of Idaho-based Crave Delivery, a startup that offers food from partners across the country. Along with Elliott’s Oyster House, Betelnut and other restaurants, Tony G’s operates in a ghost kitchen at Crave’s 15,000-square-foot headquarters in Meridian.

Crave encourages customers to mix and match orders from its various restaurants. The other choices now open are Rockhouse Sliders, The Grove and Wing Dome. Coming soon are The Peached Tortilla, Merite Bake Shop by Lincoln Carson, Percolate Tea and Wicked Elixirs by Matthew Biancaniello.

All Crave orders are available for pickup and delivery. Breakfast and lunch on weekdays is pickup only. Dinner is available for delivery every day.

Using the Crave app, pizza aficionados can order some of the same food that makes Tony’s Pizza Napoletana so popular. Forbes magazine called it “the best pizzeria in America” in 2014, then proclaimed, “This just might be the best pizza in the world” in 2020.

Tony G’s menu includes 11 pizzas, plus meatballs and garlic bread. Gemignani is hoping to introduce pies that are new, or at least uncommon, to the Boise market, he said. “I’m a guy that’s known for doing every style of pizza,” he said.

Along with several New York-style pizzas, Tony G’s will offer two Detroit-style options — square-style pies made in steel pans, with butter-toasted corners and stripes of marinara on top. The Rosa Detroit ($26, serves two to four) is white cheddar, Wisconsin brick cheese, mozzarella, thick and thin pepperoni and basil, topped with marinara, Pecorino Romano, oregano and garlic olive oil.

Another square pie is Grandma-style pizza, a style from Long Island. It’s a thin pie reminiscent of pizza an Italian grandmother might bake at home. A Grandma the Sicilian ($24) is topped with sliced mozzarella, Sweet Grandma’s Sauce, pinched fennel, Sicilian sausage, thick and thin pepperoni, oregano, Pecorino Romano and garlic olive oil.

One pizza was created specifically for Idaho. The Boy-See-Boy NY ($21 for 13-inch/$31 for 20-inch) is mozzarella, purple potato, housemade pesto, feta, rosemary and garlic olive oil.



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Even in Idaho, finding those potatoes was challenging, Gemignani said. But the ingredient hunts have been worth it.

“It’s exciting when I know that there’s not a lot of amazing ingredients in the pizza industry here, and we’re able to get a line on it,” he said. “We’re definitely bringing in a higher-quality ingredient than, I would say, most of the pizzerias are using.”

▪ Tony G’s is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Online: cravedelivery.com.

This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 4:40 PM.