Brady Sweet, who set the world record for the largest calzone in 2014, now aims to surpass his own record in St. Thomas this Sunday.
In a world where coconut, pineapple, guava, and guava berry tarts are the main baked goods on everyone’s lips, one man hopes to shift the attention of Virgin Islanders to a savory contender – the calzone. Brady Sweet, owner of Cafe Amici in downtown Charlotte Amalie, is hoping to do so in a big way: by breaking the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest calzone.
The record was set in Indiana a decade ago, by Mr. Sweet himself. Shortly after his successful Guinness World Record in 2014, he moved to St. Thomas to work as a chef in one of the island’s prestigious hotels. Mr. Sweet later entered a partnership to purchase Cafe Amici but subsequently sold it to pursue other ventures. When the opportunity presented itself to purchase the establishment again, this time as sole owner, Mr. Sweet jumped at it. “I just find so much joy in it,” he told the Consortium, reflecting on his specialization in pizzas, calzones and Italian fare.
After waiting for 10 years for someone to beat his record, Mr. Sweet decided to go ahead and do it himself, bringing a Guinness World Record attempt to the Virgin Islands and particularly St. Thomas for the very first time. “We pulled out all the stops and we actually have the Guinness World Record lady flying in the day before. She'll be here on site the entire day,” he shared.
The great calzone event is scheduled to begin around 8 a.m. on Sunday, August 11 on Main Street, which will be cordoned off between Cardow Jewelers and Taphus Beer House. “We’re gonna have a huge party,” Mr. Sweet told Consortium journalists. Apart from the main event itself, there will be music, an MC to keep the action flowing, and a “secret surprise” performance, he promised.
The actual record-breaking attempt will be a big production. Creating the world’s largest calzone presents several logistical challenges that need to be overcome. One of the Guinness World Record rules, Mr. Sweet explained, is that the calzone must be made as a contiguous whole. “It can't just be a bunch of pieces pieced together,” Mr. Sweet said. Wrestling such a large object together – the finished calzone is expected to be approximately 35 feet long – requires an enormous team effort. Mr. Sweet estimates that about 70 people will be needed for the task, and staff of several neighboring businesses have agreed to help. Sunday’s biggest challenge, according to the pizza and calzone specialist, will be “getting everybody to work as a team and pulling through the oven so we don’t break it.”
As one may expect, a 35-foot calzone is way too large to fit in even the most spacious oven in a restaurant kitchen. Specialty equipment had to be procured, and the Middleby Marshall Corporation stepped in to assist as they did a decade ago, sending a conveyor belt oven down to St. Thomas to cook the behemoth pie.
The calzone, stuffed with tomato sauce, cheese and other fillings, is expected to weigh roughly 375 pounds when it gets out of the oven around 2 p.m. on Sunday. Cafe Amici’s intention is to cut up the gigantic calzone and sell $10 slices to patrons. “All the proceeds will go to the Humane Society,” he says, making the record-breaking spectacle a charity fundraising event as well.
