The Sauce Boss: A Family Legacy of Flavor

In the heart of New York City, a culinary empire is simmering, one jar at a time. PJ Monte, affectionately known as the “Sauce Boss,” has transformed his family’s century-old tomato sauce recipe into a nationwide sensation. What began five years ago as a humble operation—hand-bottling and hand-labeling his family’s red sauce for local establishments—has evolved into a business that’s capturing the attention of food enthusiasts across America. Today, Monte’s Fine Foods Family Recipe Tomato Sauce can be found in hundreds of retailers nationwide, from boutique specialty shops to major chains like Whole Foods and Target. But perhaps most memorable is Monte’s unique promotional strategy: cruising around New York City in a vintage 90s-era white stretch limousine, selling his prized sauce directly from the trunk. “I was always a hustler,” Monte explains from the blue velvet backseat of his $15,000 mobile headquarters, which now proudly displays a red neon “Monte’s” sign. “My family’s been making sauce the same way for 120 years. I started posting cooking and sauce videos and people were responding to me as Sauce Boss and I ran with it.”

The Monte family story is as rich and complex as their signature sauce. PJ is a fourth-generation Italian-American whose great-grandparents, Angelo and Filomena Montemarano, opened Monte’s Venetian Room in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens neighborhood in 1945. This legendary establishment served classic dishes like eggplant parmigiana to entertainment royalty, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and James Cagney. The family’s hospitality ventures expanded in 1956 when Monte’s grandfather Angelo and his brother Nick purchased Gurney’s Inn in Montauk for $200,000, adding their Italian-American flair to the seaside establishment. Growing up as what he calls “the Eloise of Gurney’s,” young PJ wasn’t pampered—he was put to work. “I got a job at John’s Drive-In cooking fries, I worked as a Cabana boy at Gurney’s, bellhop, you name it,” he recalls of his childhood in what was then a quiet fishing town. These early experiences in hospitality and food service would later prove invaluable as he built his own culinary business.

The Monte family sold Gurney’s more than ten years ago and opened Monte’s Local Kitchen and Tap Room in Amenia, a small Hudson Valley town, in 2006. It was during the pandemic that PJ began seriously experimenting with recreating his family’s Sunday gravy. “I started recreating the Sunday gravy my family used to make,” he shares. “I learned the recipe from my Uncle Chipper [Angelo Monte]. I would work until about 11 p.m., sautéing olive oil, fresh garlic, shallots and onions.” His first commercial breakthrough came at DiPaolo’s in Little Italy—a moment Monte still remembers vividly. “I walked in there, pulled a ticket and waited a half hour holding six jars of sauce. I was like, ‘Hey, Mr. DiPalo—Sal—I started jarring up my family’s sauce, I would love for you to try it,'” Monte recounts. “He picked it up, looked at it and goes, ‘For you? I’ll take a case.’ I felt like I hit a grand slam at my first at bat in the big leagues. $54 bucks—it was like $5 million to me.” This initial success gave Monte the confidence to expand, and he launched an e-commerce business during the pandemic to reach customers beyond New York.

Once his relatives gave their crucial stamp of approval to his version of the family recipe, Monte knew it was time to scale up. He found a farm in California to grow the specific tomatoes needed for the sauce, ensuring he could maintain quality while increasing production. Today, Monte’s sauce is cooked in small batches to preserve its authentic flavor and freshness—a commitment to quality that hasn’t gone unnoticed by culinary experts. In 2024, Monte’s Original Family Recipe Tomato Sauce achieved an impressive milestone, ranking No. 1 in the Best Overall category on Food and Wine Magazine’s list of the 15 best jarred tomato sauces. The sauce beat out 100 competitors, including well-established brands like Rao’s and Carmine’s. Food and Wine praised it as “smooth (but not too smooth), well-seasoned, complex, and yet somehow still nostalgic,” ultimately declaring it “the best jarred tomato sauce we’ve ever tasted.” This recognition has further accelerated the brand’s growth and visibility in the competitive specialty food market.

When he’s not making deliveries in his eye-catching limousine, Monte can be found at his Mulberry Street coffee and retail shop, Caffe Monte. During the upcoming Feast of San Gennaro beginning September 19, he’ll be serving his award-winning sauce with homemade pasta and fresh mozzarella to festival-goers. This connection to Little Italy and traditional Italian-American celebrations maintains the cultural roots that are so central to the Monte family story and brand identity. The sauce itself represents more than just a product—it’s the culmination of 120 years of family tradition, passed down through four generations and now shared with a national audience. Each jar contains not just tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, shallots, and onions, but the essence of Sunday family dinners, stories shared across the table, and the immigrant experience that shaped American cuisine.

Despite his growing success, Monte maintains the hungry entrepreneurial spirit that got him started. “It’s harvest season,” he says with characteristic enthusiasm, “Every second counts!” This sense of urgency and appreciation for each opportunity reflects the work ethic instilled in him during those early days working various jobs around Montauk. As Monte’s sauce continues to appear on more store shelves and in more home kitchens across America, he remains connected to the family legacy that inspired it all. The white limousine with its neon sign may seem like a flashy marketing gimmick, but it’s actually a perfect symbol for Monte’s journey—taking something traditional and giving it a bold, contemporary spin while never forgetting where he came from. In every jar of Monte’s sauce, customers get a taste of history, family, and the persistent pursuit of perfection that has defined the Monte family’s contribution to American food culture for over a century.