Even if Chef Brady Sweet hadn’t succeeded in breaking the record for the world’s biggest calzone on Sunday—which he did—Guinness World Records officials said the real victory was in witnessing the entire St. Thomas community come together to make it happen.
“What I saw today was a lot of collaboration,” said Hannah Ortman, an official Guinness World Records adjudicator who oversaw the attempt. “Anything that happens on the day of an attempt is the culmination of a lot of hard work from so many people, and I can just imagine how much more went into it beforehand. Now, seeing the culmination of it all is pretty exciting.”
The calzone, which spanned about 35 feet, far surpassed the previous record set by Sweet himself a decade ago in Indiana, when he created a 23-foot, 7-inch calzone weighing 212 pounds. Since then, Sweet has moved to St. Thomas, where he became the owner of Café Amici and established himself as a local culinary figure specializing in pizzas and calzones – a passion he poured into his latest creation, which was stuffed with a range of fillings.
The event drew large crowds, with many locals lining up to purchase slices of the colossal calzone for $10 each; Sweet chose to donate the proceeds from the event to the St. Thomas-St. John Humane Society, a cause close to his heart.
“Puppies matter,” Sweet said when asked about his choice of charity. “When you look at all this organization has been through, no matter what’s happened, they needed a restart, and the community to help them do it. We’re glad to offer our support.”
Sweet also offered his gratitude to the support he received from local businesses who came out to help him cook, and ensure the dough remained in one piece as it was cooked in a specially designed conveyor belt, sent down by the Middleby Marshall Corporation.
Ortman emphasized that while the record was important, the real victory was in the experience and the way the community came together to make it happen. “The record is part of it,” she said, “but the real victory is the experience, and in this case, it was wonderful to see how everyone in St. Thomas rallied behind Chef Sweet and the Humane Society.”
