Before Scott Conant introduced his tomato sauce to retailers, it had to pass his most intimidating taste test.
Conant placed approximately 30 sauces in front of his mother. She rejected nearly all of them for tasting like they came from a jar.
She liked one. It was his.
“Thank God she chose ours,” Conant said on the Digital Hospitality podcast. “I was really freaking nervous.”
That moment earned his mother a new title: chief tasting officer of Martone Street.
Conant joined host Shawn Walchef to discuss the family history inside every jar, the three-and-a-half-year process of developing the brand and why he refused to make it another celebrity licensing deal.
The Family Story Inside the Jar
Martone Street is named after the street in Waterbury, Connecticut, where Conant’s grandparents built their home after moving from Italy.
Much of his mother’s family lived there, making the home a gathering place for food, stories and hospitality.
“My introduction to hospitality and that graciousness that I identified at the table came through family, food and love,” Conant said.
His grandparents also preserved tomatoes in their backyard. They peeled, seeded, strained and cooked them before placing basil inside the jars and sharing them with the family.
Conant wanted Martone Street to carry that same spirit.
Customers have responded by telling the company that its sauces remind them of meals prepared by their mothers, aunts and grandmothers.
“They feel like they’re sitting at the table with their grandmother again,” Conant said.
Making Jarred Sauce Taste Fresh
Conant wanted the sauce to capture the freshness of the tomato sauce served in his restaurants, but that process had to work on a much larger scale.
His team selected fresh California tomatoes and avoided preservatives, added sugar and citric acid. The tomatoes are cooked for approximately 40 minutes, similar to how Conant prepares sauce in his restaurants.
“What’s in the jar tastes like a fresh tomato, the way you would have something that your grandparents had canned for you in the backyard,” he said.
Martone Street launched with four varieties, including the Signature Pomodoro inspired by the spaghetti with tomato and basil that became a top seller at Conant’s Scarpetta restaurants.
Building More Than a Celebrity Brand
Companies had previously approached Conant about licensing his name and placing his face on a jar. He wanted more control than that.
“I wanted it to be something that I can identify with, talk about and control,” he said.
Martone Street measures its decisions against three values: honesty, integrity and soul.
Those values also shape Conant’s advice for other chefs interested in consumer packaged goods.
“You’ve got to be true to yourself and authentic to what it is that you’re doing,” he said. “What’s your story? How is it authentic to you, and how do you continue to tell it with products?”
For Martone Street, that story begins with one family home, one table and one mother who refused to approve a sauce that tasted like it came from a jar.
