Haylley Johnson

After being noticed nationally by the Food Network in Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Bove’s has soared into new levels of attention, while still keeping its classic family charm.

“[The Throwdown] certainly has had an impact on our sales,” chef and president of Bove’s restaurant Mark Bove said.

“We have lasagna everyday now because of the Throwdown,” Bove said. “People just requested it so much.”

Stephanie Mann, a UVM sophomore and frequenter of Bove’s, is one customer satisfied with the change. “Lasagna night used to be Wednesdays, but now it’s every night which is great because their lasagna is really good,” Mann said.

When asked whether Bove’s had gone through significant changes after the Throwdown, Bove said, “We still carry on our routines every day. It is just on a larger scale now because we have customers who are traveling from all over the country to have our lasagna here at the restaurant.”

“We had one person who came last summer all the way from Tanzania,” Bove said.

After seeing the Throwdown, “several Food Network producers have come in just to see if the lasagna was real, if we were real,” Bove said.

Mark Bove’s publicist, Nicole Ravlin, hired soon after the Food Network episode, said, “Bove’s products are distributed up and down the East Coast [and] a huge mail order business is going out to the West Coast.”

As Bove’s publicist, “our main goal is to get him national exposure” and to “get food bloggers to take notice and write about Bove’s on their blogs,” Ravlin said.

Concerning Mark Bove’s own personal blog – which can be found at http://www.boves.com Ravlin said “it’s a great way for people to tell the personality behind the brand.”

“It’s great to keep everyone connected and make them feel a part of what is happening,” Bove said. “My blog is the 21st century of getting to know your customers.”

Bove recently shot an episode of the Today Show which will be aired soon, Ravlin said.

When asked about how the Today Show became interested in Bove’s, Ravlin said, “We (her public relations group) are well connected with the Today Show” and that the Today Show “loved the sample footage” of Bove.

“Mark is a dream client,” said Ravlin. “People like him and he has great presence on camera because he is incredibly enthusiastic about his brand.”

“The cameramen were watering over the lasagna,” Bove said.

Bove recently created a lasagna that uses his famous vodka sauce instead of the marinara, and for the show, “I did [both] the vodka and the marinara sauce lasagnas,” Bove said.

“Simon Pierce even made me a couple custom dishes for the Today Show,” Bove said. “My publicist is talking to Simon Pierce now, and they are going to market a pan called ‘The Bove’s Lasagna Dish.'”

While Bove’s has gained great popularity, “this is as commercial as I want to get,” Bove said. “People have approached us to franchise Bove’s, [but] that’s too bizarre for us.”

Glenn Xiques, a sophomore at UVM and a Milton, Vt. resident, said he has been going to Bove’s with his family “probably since I was about six.”

“I used to go with family, but now I just take friends there,” Xiques said. “When anyone comes from out of town, Bove’s is a really good place to take them.”

“The food is phenomenal!” David Dyke, a fellow UVM student and Essex Junction, Vt. resident said.

“Bove’s has always treated our customers as family,” Bove said, and he has no plans to change that aspect of the restaurant.

Yet Bove has one other mission.

“My mission is to have a rematch with Bobby Flay,” Bove said, and “I’m going to use my vodka sauce in the lasagna.”

“So Bobby Flay, if you read this article, I want a rematch.”

Published by The Vermont Cynic on 01/27/2009. Read it here.