Loren threatened legal action in 2021 when she learned her name was being used without her consent.
Brooklyn Square’s owner, Peter Grippo, reposted the cease-and-desist letter to social media a few days ago, prompting renewed interest in the pie. Grippo said he has been making it since the early 1990s, when he worked in his uncle’s Brooklyn pizza shop.
“One day, a customer came in and said, wow, this pie is phenomenal, what’s the name of it?” said Grippo. “We’re like, we really don’t have a name for it. He goes, you should name it Sophia Loren because it tastes as good as she looks.”
The pie stuck around, making it to the menu when Grippo opened Brooklyn Square Pizza in Jackson in 2001. But, somewhere along the way, the real Sophia Loren caught wind of the pie and wasn’t happy. Her lawyers sent Grippo and his wife a cease-and-desist letter in 2021. The couple initially thought it was a joke.
“We laughed it off until the second notice came, and then a phone call,” said Susan Grippo, Peter’s wife.
The couple purged the Sophia Loren name from the menu and website, but customers continued to call the pie by its previous name. Some did not believe the cease-and-desist letter was even real. So, Grippo reposted it a few days ago and interest in the pie has spiked.
“People still call and ask for the Sophia Loren,” said Susan Grippo.
“It’s a great selling pie to begin with, but now, a lot of people – I guess out of curiosity – try it and they love it,” said Peter Grippo.
The pie has since been renamed the Susan Grippo, something Susan said is a long-time coming.
“It finally took me 25 years to get a pie named after me,” joked Susan Grippo.
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