The Garlic Nott would likely be snarled if not for the talents and dedication of its supervisor, Dawn Chiormitro.
For the past 38 years, she’s worked in every position in Dining Services and liked them all. Making pizza and keeping students happy are a big piece of who she is. You could say it’s a toss-up: Is she better at baking pizza pies or keeping a caring eye on her customers?
Dawn Chiormitro at the Garlic Nott
Located in a first floor corner of Reamer Campus Center, the Garlic Nott complements its pizza menu with pasta, Stromboli, meatballs and other Italian fast fare. On any given day, Chiormitro can be seen serving slices to students and employees while enthusiastically conversing about their day, their lives and all things Union.
“I have many students from diverse backgrounds, and I love to hear about their countries and families,” she says.
A native of Salem, Mass., Chiormitro lives in East Glenville with her husband, Lawrence (Larry) Pietrosky, and their three cats (“my kids”), Mikey, Abby and Moe. She and Larry met on campus 25 years ago when he was with the construction firm that built the F.W. Olin Building.
She learned to cook at an early age from her mother and her Italian grandmother, who “always had a pot of sauce on the stove full of meatballs, sausage and beef braciola.” She rounded out her kitchen experience during two years at SUNY Schenectady School of Hotel, Culinary Arts and Tourism. While in school, she also worked part-time at a fudge shop on Jay Street that her stepdad’s family had relocated from the Gloucester, Mass., area. (Not surprisingly, “chocolate is my favorite sweet treat,” she says.)
At home, lasagna is Chiormitro’s go-to dish, and on the rare occasions she makes pizza (a case of leaving one’s work at the office, as it were), anchovies are a no-no.
The secret for churning out a good pizza? “It’s all in the dough, how it’s made and stretched, and a good sauce and good cheese help,” she says.
FIRST APP YOU LOOK AT IN THE MORNING:
Workday, our new campus app for punching in and out of work. Then it’s the I Heart Music app.
THE LAST GREAT BOOK YOU READ:
I am catching up on Stephen King books. I’ve read most of them and am currently reading “The Stand.” I like dark, mysterious books.
BEST ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED:
My grandmother always told me to never give up on what you want to achieve. “Always persevere,” she said, and that advice has remained with me.
WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING RIGHT NOW:
Mostly late night TV. I set my DVR to tape Stephen Colbert, Seth Myers, Jimmy Kimmel and other late night talk shows. I find them most entertaining.
ONE SKILL YOU WISH YOU HAD:
Riding a motorcycle. I always wanted to have my motorcycle license, but it didn’t happen.
THREE DINNER PARTY GUESTS (living or deceased):
I would love to have dinner with these three very important people whom I have lost: My grandmother, who taught me to cook all the great Italian food I cook at Union; my mother, whom I lost at the beginning of this year and miss dearly; and my best friend, who died suddenly more than 10 years ago. I miss her and think of her every day.
FIRST CONCERT:
In 1976, I saw the Marshall Tucker Band at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. I was 14.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT YOU:
I love the outdoors. Any time of year, I’d rather be outside in the fresh air. That is how I decompress. Kayaking, hiking, swimming… you name it. When I retire, I would love to kayak my way around the Adirondacks.
FAVORITE UNION MEMORY/EXPERIENCE:
I have so many memorable experiences, from working for a term at President Roger Hull’s house and being nanny to his children, to getting married on campus in Memorial Chapel, with my reception in Old Chapel. At College Park Hall, I once taught a pizza-making class with adults from the Center for the Disabled. I helped them cook their own pizzas with toppings, and they got to take them home. It was a lot of fun, and they were so appreciative. I also taught a few small groups of students how to make dough, roll dough balls and create their own pizza, all the things we do in our daily dining operations. What I really love is when alumni come back with their children, and now those children are grown and Union students themselves.
ONE THING YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT:
I don’t know where I’d be without my friends and family.