The Pèpe Family

Italy

1912

Benevento to Ellis Island

I am very proud of my heritage. Both sides of my family came from Italy. My mother was a Telegramma. Her father, Vincenzo Telegramma, left Benevento at 17 and came through Ellis Island. Her mother, Consiglia, who we called Celia, followed from Francavilla al Mare, in Abruzzo. My father’s side, the Pèpes, came from Avellino. They all brought their love of Italy, and its cooking, with them.

Archival studio portrait of the Telegramma family, Rich Pèpe's mother's side — The Telegramma family, my mother’s side. From the family album.

Hoboken

A big family and a lot of wine.

I grew up in Hoboken and Cliffside Park, New Jersey, in a large Italian neighborhood, working in a bakery with my big brother and sister. Some of my earliest memories are of our annual family gatherings to make the homemade wine.

Both sides of my family would get together. The men were in charge of the winemaking. The women were in charge of making jam and jelly from the fresh grapes brought in from California.

During the day, lots of last year’s wine would be tasted, Italian songs would be sung, jokes would be told and laughter filled the air.

I could only imagine that this is what life was like in Italy.

“Go out and get a job.”

My dad, Gennaro Giuseppe Pèpe, was a rough, tough, proud World War II veteran. Growing up with him was like living with a drill sergeant. He told us to go out and get a job and not rely on others for favors.

My first job was altar boy. I didn’t get paid, but I learned to show up on time, dressed and ready to work. At thirteen I got a job washing dishes at Wolf’s Bakery on Anderson Avenue in Cliffside Park, where two of my older siblings worked. I worked 32 hours a week through high school, and by graduation I was a full-fledged baker.

With my 28 first cousins, over a bowl of macaroni, we would talk about how to live the American dream, the same dream our grandparents came here for.

Frank Sinatra’s mother delivered my dad.

Frank Sinatra was from Hoboken and was my father’s good friend from childhood. Frank’s mom, Dolly, was a midwife, and she delivered my dad and all of his siblings. That is why Sinatra is always playing in our restaurants.

Archival studio portrait of a young woman in a dark dress with a lace collar, from the Pèpe family album — From the family album.

Archival portrait of a man in a dark suit and tie, from the Pèpe family album

Gennaro Pèpe, Rich Pèpe's father, on the left in his World War II army uniform, with his cousins in Hoboken — My father, Gennaro, on the left in his army uniform, with his cousins in Hoboken. He loved this country.

The Hoboken Four, Frank Sinatra's first group, singing at a radio microphone, one member playing guitar — The Hoboken Four, Frank Sinatra’s first group, on NBC radio’s Major Bowes and the Original Amateur Hour. Two of the four were my father’s first cousins.

Carmel-by-the-Sea

1974

A suitcase and $600

At 21 I headed west with a suitcase and $600 in my pocket. My first job on the Monterey Peninsula was baker at the Asilomar Hotel and Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, baking breads and cakes overlooking the Pacific.

I rented a room in Fisherman’s Flats, so full of Italians and Sicilians I thought I had moved to Italy, not California. The Sicilian fishing families of Monterey welcomed me and taught me to appreciate the fresh seafood here and how to make cioppino.

A few years later I moved to Carmel and baked for Frank Garnero at Wishart’s Bakery on Ocean Avenue, starting at 3:00 in the morning. Before long I was his head baker.

1977

The Granary

My grandfathers were my heroes. One had a barber shop and the other a shoemaker’s shop: proud, independent men who provided for their families. In 1977 I followed them into business on my own and bought The Granary Natural Food Store and Bakery in Pacific Grove.

I still wanted the college education I never had time or money for, so in the early ’80s I signed up for classes at Monterey Peninsula College. That’s where I met Sandra Tosh.

1985

Wishart’s Bakery, and a cake instead of a partnership.

After we sold The Granary, I came back to Wishart’s. In 1984 Frank retired and I bought it from him. It was our family’s first business in Carmel.

In 1985 I asked Sandra if she wanted to be partners in the business. She said she did not want to be partners with her ex-boyfriend. So I baked a cake, set it on a little table in the back of the bakery, got down on one knee and asked her to marry me instead. She said yes. We were married in 1986. The old Italians would say I married well. They would be right.

A young Rich Pèpe in a red bandana and white t-shirt, holding a loaf of bread over a tray of fresh loaves in the bakery — Me, in my early baking days.

1988

Carmel Bakery

Three years later I had the chance to buy a bakery down the street that I always had my eye on. Before I bought Wishart’s, I had knocked on the door of Carmel Bakery and asked the owner, Hector De Smet, if he would sell it to me. He basically threw me out of the store. “See that girl behind the counter?” he said, pointing to his daughter. “One day that will be her bakery.”

We learn as parents that what we want for our children is not always what they want. She must not have wanted it, because three years later he came knocking on my door at Wishart’s and told me it was for sale. In 1988 Sandra and I bought Carmel Bakery together. Founded in 1899, it is the oldest bakery in California still in its original location. We sold Wishart’s in 2002 to focus on it.

Visit Carmel Bakery

1990

Caffe Napoli

Sandra and I opened Caffe Napoli, our first restaurant, around the corner from where Little Napoli is today. I hung family pictures on the walls and played Sinatra, which was mandatory. It closed in 2004.

1994

Little Napoli

We called it Little Napoli because it was tiny: six tables in the El Paseo Building, on Dolores Street near 7th. Over more than 20 years we knocked down walls and slowly took over the whole building. Today Little Napoli has more than 50 tables and several private rooms. The meatballs are my Grandma Celia’s recipe.

Visit Little Napoli

The Little Napoli courtyard seen through an arch in the El Paseo Building — The Little Napoli courtyard, El Paseo Building.

2000

Pèppoli at Pebble Beach

The Antinori family is Italy’s most famous winemaking family. They have made wine in Tuscany since 1385, 26 generations and counting, and Marchese Antinori is the head of the family. In 1997 the Marchese came to California and asked to meet his best customer. He was very surprised when he sat down at Caffe Napoli, a narrow room with only 12 tables. How could this little place be moving so much of his wine? We have been friends ever since.

Later I had an idea for a Tuscan restaurant serving food like pappa al pomodoro and bistecca alla fiorentina. It would be one of the first true Tuscan restaurants in the United States. I pitched the idea to the Pebble Beach Company and to the Marchese. Pèppoli opened in 2000.

It is named for one of the Antinori vineyards in the Chianti Classico region of Tuscany, but as the Marchese likes to joke, it is also a combination of Pèpe plus Napoli. The Pebble Beach Company owns and operates it, and we stay on as consulting partners. In 2025 the Michelin Guide recommended it.

Marchese Antinori says:

“Creative and passionate, Pèpe is a modern day ambasciatore of Italian food and wine.”

2004

Pèpe Wines

We started our own label, Pèpe Wines, with the Antinori family’s Atlas Peak estate in Napa Valley. It began as a single wine called Vesuvio, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese made in a European style. We named the wine years before we owned the restaurant. Today we make five different wines under the Pèpe label.

Visit Pèpe Wines

A wooden crate holding three bottles of Pèpe wine and aperitivo — Pèpe Wines, our family label.

2007

Vino Napoli

Vino Napoli Wine Bar opened across the courtyard from Little Napoli. It was the second wine tasting room in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and back then we were limited to two-ounce pours.

2011

Vesuvio

We had the chance to buy the building that housed another Italian restaurant, Piatti. Soon after, Piatti decided not to renew its lease, and we were thrown into opening another restaurant.

Vesuvio was the first of our places with a full bar. Until then we had only served beer and wine. That lit a fire in my son Christian, who had just graduated from college and came home to help open it. We brought the building’s old, unused rooftop back to life as The Starlight Lounge at Vesuvio, the only true rooftop bar in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Visit Vesuvio

The Starlight Lounge at Vesuvio, the rooftop bar, at dusk with string lights — Up on the roof at dusk.

2014

Doc Pèpe’s Lab

Christian started Doc Pèpe’s Lab, his distillery, in Monterey, and later moved it to the nearby town of Marina. It is his own company, not ours, but we work closely together and his spirits are poured at our bars.

It started with barrel-aged cocktails: the Manhattan, the Old Fashioned and the Negroni. Now he distills his own vodka, Doc’s Vodka, and makes a myriad of liqueurs and distillates built for our cocktail program. Each of our signature drinks uses something special that he makes, including the Espresso Martini, which we go through a lot of on the rooftop.

Visit Doc Pèpe’s Lab

A bottle of Doc Pèpe's Lab barrel-finished Negroni beside a Negroni with an orange slice — Doc Pèpe’s Lab barrel-finished Negroni.

2021

Bar Napoli

We added a full bar at Vino Napoli so we could serve more of Doc Pèpe’s spirits, and renamed it for what it had become: Bar Napoli.

2023

Carmel Bakery at the Portola Hotel

We opened a second Carmel Bakery at the Portola Hotel in Monterey. There we serve the same coffees and pastries at a slower pace. Stop in and you may find less of a line than on Ocean Avenue.

Visit Carmel Bakery at the Portola

Carmel Bakery and Coffee House at the Portola Hotel, under its red awning, with the red bakery cart out front — Carmel Bakery at the Portola Hotel, Monterey.

Sono
italoamericano.

Italy

Benevento to Ellis Island

Hoboken

A big family and a lot of wine.

“Go out and get a job.”

Frank Sinatra’s mother delivered my dad.

Carmel-by-the-Sea

A suitcase and $600

The Granary

Wishart’s Bakery, and a cake instead of a partnership.

Carmel Bakery

Caffe Napoli

Little Napoli

Pèppoli at Pebble Beach

Pèpe Wines

Vino Napoli

Vesuvio

Doc Pèpe’s Lab

Bar Napoli

Carmel Bakery at the Portola Hotel

Sandra and I take it a little easier now.

Rich Pèpe

Sandra Pèpe

My sons run the company.

Christian Pèpe

Gian Antonio Pèpe

Voted best by Carmel and Monterey.

None of this would be possible without Team Pèpe.

Come to the table.

Sonoitalo­americano.

Italy

Benevento to Ellis Island

Hoboken

A big family and a lot of wine.

“Go out and get a job.”

Frank Sinatra’s mother delivered my dad.

Carmel-by-the-Sea

A suitcase and $600

The Granary

Wishart’s Bakery, and a cake instead of a partnership.

Carmel Bakery

Caffe Napoli

Little Napoli

Pèppoli at Pebble Beach

Pèpe Wines

Vino Napoli

Vesuvio

Doc Pèpe’s Lab

Bar Napoli

Carmel Bakery at the Portola Hotel

Sandra and I take it a little easier now.

Rich Pèpe

Sandra Pèpe

My sons run the company.

Christian Pèpe

Gian Antonio Pèpe

Voted best by Carmel and Monterey.

None of this would be possible without Team Pèpe.

Come to the table.

Sono
italoamericano.