Pitt Boss BBQ owner wins chance of a lifetime
CAVE SPRING–Walking into Pitt Boss BBQ on Brambleton Avenue is like walking into an Oakland Raiders clubhouse. Banners hang on the walls reminding guests of the Raiders’ Super Bowl XV win, and guests who spot owner James Tedesco are likely to see him sporting a Raiders t-shirt, or catch a glimpse of the Raiders tattoo on his right shoulder.
For Tedesco, the Raiders football team is a lifelong passion, coming in a close third behind his family and his restaurant. Recently, Tedesco was offered the chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to cater the Raiders’ East Coast games for the team’s biggest fans.
Pitt Boss BBQ owner James Tedesco, shown here inside his restaurant with his son Marc, was recently awarded a contract to cater to the Raider Nation at all East Coaster Raiders games. Photo by Kristin Adams
The Raider Nation fan club is almost as famous as the football team it supports. With devoted members throughout the country, the Raiders fans on the East Coast are arguably some of the most dedicated.
“Being a die-hard fan of a West Coast team [is a big commitment],” Tedesco said.
Tedesco has made that commitment, because he fits right in with other members of the East Coast Raider Nation.
Several years ago, Tedesco’s wife Nickki surprised him with a trip to a Raider game in Baltimore. Part of the package was meeting the Raider Nation fan club. Little did his wife know that for Tedesco, meeting members of the Raider Nation would turn into one of the best moves of his career.
“A gift from my wife led to a childhood dream,” Tedesco said.
Many of the contacts he made at the Baltimore game turned into friends. And when the East Coast Raider Nation’s caterer decided to retire, they knew just which Raiders fan should take his place.
“It kind of was a perfect fit,” Tedesco said.
In May, fan club president Peggy Holmes called him up at Pitt Boss with a business proposal, and it did not take much thought for Tedesco to agree to a contract.
“That was probably one of the coolest phone calls I’ve gotten,” Tedesco said.
He is now the Raider Nation fan club’s official caterer for all Raiders games on the East Coast. His first job will be November 21, when Tedesco will take his catering trailer and portable smoker to the Raiders’ game against Pittsburgh. Tedesco will feed 250-300 fans, see the game in person, and then return to Roanoke on Monday.
Before November 21, however, Tedesco will get an even greater opportunity. The Raiders’ Halloween game on October 31 will be a tribute to all East Coasters who contribute to the Raiders organization. He and other East Coast Raider Nation representatives will have the chance to meet the Raiders owner and team members, and will have their names announced on the field before the game.
“The headquarters is basically going to give us a pat on the back,” Tedesco said. “And that’s huge to me.”
Tedesco may have hit the big time, but he is not letting it go to his head. Pointing to his one-year-old son Marc toddling around the restaurant, Tedesco reminisces on his own start in the restaurant business.
“My parents did the same thing to me,” Tedesco said. “Literally, if you rewind the clock back to the [70’s], that’s me. It’s pretty wild.”
His parents ran a successful pizza business in Virginia Beach, where he spent much of his time as a child.
“Some kids grow up in this industry and then run away from it,” Tedesco said. “A small percentage get it in their blood.”
Tedesco was one of the few. He attended culinary school in Charleston, South Carolina, and after graduation, he and his wife decided to open a restaurant in Cave Spring, where his mother had relocated. During visits, he had realized that Brambleton Avenue was a great place to open a business.
As for the type of food, that seemed obvious.
“BBQ. The oldest method of cooking,” Tedesco said. “Everybody has a little bit of ‘Que in them.”
Now open for three years, Pitt Boss BBQ is finding the kind of success others only dream of. Tedesco points to his wife, who manages the restaurant while he spends most of his time in the kitchen, for much of the restaurant’s success.
“The backbone and the glue…is my wife,” Tedesco said. “She’s made a lot of sacrifices.”
He will be repaying her shortly, with the Halloween trip to Oakland. He’s making sure they mention both of their names on that loudspeaker, in front of thousands of screaming fans. Though he admits that that is only the start of what he owes her for putting her culinary dreams on hold for his.
