We Gotcha Focaccia Pops Up February 24-26
By Katie McFadden
Focaccia: an Italian flatbread made with flour, water, yeast, salt and olive oil, and a vessel for just about any topping if you leave it up to John Edwards and his daughter, Mary Kraemer. The two have been working hard in the kitchen, experimenting with classic focaccias to focaccias that you might not have known were possible, and it’s all coming to a pop-up at The Rockaway Hotel from February 24 through 26, where you can decide if Rockaway is ready for even more.
From your classic three tomato focaccia to a bacon, egg and cheese, cheeseburger, taco, chicken marsala, chicken parm, sausage and peppers, spinach and artichoke, Bolognese, vegan roasted vegetable or salad options, gluten-free options, and even clams casino, La Focacceria’s got it all.
And John Edwards knows focaccia. In the bakery business for more than 25 years, Edwards used to help supply a popular three tomato focaccia for Costco. It was so good that, although now mostly retired, someone recently said to Edwards, “Do you still make focaccia?” A simple question led to him getting back to baking. Then he got to really thinking about his appreciation of the Italian flatbread and its potential. “I go to La Villa in Howard Beach, and they make a really good red onion focaccia, and they give it to you in a complimentary bread basket, and then I order lobster ravioli but I can’t even eat half of it because I ate the entire bread basket,” he said. “So I got to thinking, well, I make a really good focaccia. What If I put an entire entrée on top of it?”
With the help of his daughter, Mary, who used to run the Fit Food Kitchen food truck, they started coming up with ways to turn some of John’s favorite entrees into focaccias. Now it’s an idea that Edwards, who used to run Rockaway Gliders’ races, is running with, to see if focaccia as a standalone product, has legs, and can be turned into a full business.
And like the yeast that makes focaccia rise, they’re rolling it out with a pop-up for the public. After all, you don’t know if a product is really a hit without the opinions of more than friends and family. So Edwards is seeking taste testers. That’s where the three-day pop-up at The Rockaway Hotel comes in.
From Monday, February 24 through Wednesday, February 26, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., upstairs in the McGuire room of The Rockaway Hotel, you can get one of the best deals in town for two with a focaccia of choice and two soft drinks, so you and a significant other, friend or family member can share. Go with a group, and there’s potential to share multiple flavors. “I’m hoping a couple or a table of four or six or eight come and buy different flavors. It’s all cut up in pieces so they can share,” Edwards said. If you don’t want to stick around, you can get your focaccia to go, as they’re all served in boxes.
All you need to do is reserve your focaccia online in advance at www.wegotchafocaccia.com, so Edwards and Kreamer know how many they’ll need to anticipate making each night. “I’m ready to make 1,000 focaccias. But if I get 200, I’ll be happy,” Edwards said. Once you arrive, you order which type of focaccia you want, and your choice will be made fresh on site in the kitchen for you to sit down and enjoy or take home. They’re also hosting a raffle for a free focaccia for two with after dinner drinks at Margie’s on the first floor of the Hotel, which can be entered on the website.
It’s important to note that this pop-up is an interactive experience, and your focaccia comes with a few questions, for you. “We’re going to have a simple questionnaire asking if a focaccia restaurant was in your neighborhood, would you be a regular customer?” Edwards said. If enough people say yes, La Focacceria could become more than a pop-up for Rockaway. “We’ll push this out to the next step to start a business. If this has legs, we’ll start looking for locations, raising capital, bringing in investors, getting a team together and maybe even making it a chain. It can be fun,” Edwards said. “But if people say it’s a good idea but they’re not crazy about it, this is a one and done for John Edwards.”
Edwards is no stranger to trying new things. His first venture in Rockaway was Jocko’s Tacos, which even sold lobster rolls before lobster rolls were cool anywhere outside of Maine, however “we couldn’t make it work,” Edwards said. But that didn’t stop the entrepreneur. Besides operating local running events, he helped run Rockaway Gliders Gym and then Fit Food Kitchen with his daughter, Mary. And he even gave the beer business a shot with Rockapulco Gold Beer and held music events to boost it. In between running 30 New York City Marathons, Edwards is always running towards the next idea to bring to his community. “I can’t sit still,” he said. If the three-day pop-up goes well, maybe La Focacceria could be next. And Edwards is already running towards the idea for the next recipes. “If this becomes a reality, we could have a corned beef and cabbage focaccia for St. Patrick’s Day or a turkey and cranberry one for Thanksgiving,” he said.
As La Focacceria says, “we gotcha focaccia.” So give it a try. To reserve your focaccia for two, check out www.wegotchafocaccia.com. For more information and updates, follow @wegotchafocaccia on Instagram or La Focacceria on Facebook.
