The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA
  • SOUTH SHORE INSIDER: Montilio's sweet history spans decades

  • Three generations of Montilios have built a bakery institution using a creative, fun approach to the art and craft of baking.
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  • QUINCY – At Montilio's Bakery, if you can't find it on the menu, just ask. The local institution sells everything from lasagna and stuffed shells to custom-made cakes the size of a football player, and keeps about 100 employees busy at its Braintree, Brockton and Quincy locations.
    Cookies, cupcakes, eclairs and loaves of fresh bread line the showcase shelves.
    Montilio's, which opened in the basement of a Quincy pizza shop in 1947, has a storied and sweet history.
    In 1953, owner Ernest Montilio's participation in local politics resulted in the opportunity to bake then-U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy's wedding cake. That job well done was good enough to earn the order for JFK's presidential inaugural ball in 1961.
    But Montilio's reputation for extravagant cakes went beyond Boston's political circles.
    In its 65 years in business, the bakery has been commissioned for inaugural cakes for Presidents Reagan, Nixon and George H.W. Bush. Musicians, celebrities and other politicians also have ordered from Montilio's.
    Today, Montilio's son George owns the business, and his twin granddaughters Elyssa and Jenna run the Quincy and Braintree locations.
    What drew your dad to baking?
    He got out of the war, where he had been cooking. And so the story goes, there was really not a lot going on for him back home right away, so he spent his time in New York where the boat landed.
    It was there that he learned from two pastry chefs, one German and one Italian.
    He came in and opened up the bakery, in the basement of a restaurant my grandfather had upstairs where they were making pizzas, rotisserie chicken and pasta.
    He came home, said he wanted to start the bakery, my grandfather said go ahead, and that's how he started.
    How did he get asked to make JFK's wedding cake?
    Being in local political circles, my father was always active and knew a lot of people.
    JFK spent a lot of time in Boston and Quincy when he was running for office, so he was asked to do it.
    When you get a big order, how do you avoid chaos?
    It's done in systems. Certain people bake 'em, certain people fill 'em, certain people frost 'em and certain people decorate 'em.
    Decorating a cake sounds like a stressful task. How much experience does someone have to have for you to trust them with an order?
    Cake decorators themselves have to be pretty well-versed. Most of them have 15 or 20 years in the business.
    They're very accurate and skilled in their line of work, whereas people setting up the cake just have to have good hand skills, and need to be able to read the scripts.
    Page 2 of 2 - What's changed about the industry since your dad opened up shop?
    You know a lot of these TV shows really help our business today because once people see things they say, "Wow, I want to get that for my kids," and then they come to us.
    You go onto Google images, you type in any kind of birthday cake, you'll find a picture. That's what changed tremendously – the social media, it's really helped our business.
    What are some of your favorite projects?
    We've done Jimmy Durante's birthday. Fanueil Hall challenges. We did a cake for Liberace. When Pavarotti came into Boston we did a big baby grand piano for him.
    Just recently we've done life-size (cakes) of Harry Styles from One Direction and a (Rob) Gronkowski cake with the exact same measurements as the actual guy (the Patriots player is 6-foot-6).
    We're the people who get called for the fun stuff.
    Siobhán O'Grady may be reached at sogrady@ledger.com.
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