Peppino's Restaurant and Catering Group has won the contract to be the sole provider of food and beverage inside the new expo center at the New York State Fairgrounds. But don't expect Peppino's award-winning pizza during this first fair. "We didn't have enough time to get our oven in there," owner John Vigliotti said. The state's Department of Agriculture and Markets awarded the five-year contract about a couple of weeks ago, he said.
The short turnaround means owner Vigliotti didn't have a chance to move a pizza oven into the new kitchen at the $63 million expo center, which opened for the first time on Wednesday. The contract calls for Peppino's to provide food and beverages at all events in the expo center for the next five years. In return, Peppino's will pay the state 24 1/2 percent of all food and beverage sales.
