Swieners Interview Exclusive
Swieners has served delicious, Swiss-style sausage treats to hungry San Diegans since 2010. Swieners Owner Amanda Caniglia was kind enough to answer some questions for SDFT in this interview exclusive!
What’s your name and when did Swieners open for business?
I’m the co-cheese Amanda Caniglia, and my husband, Nicolas Caniglia, the big cheese, of course. I grew up in the Bay Area and came to San Diego to attend college at UCSD. Nico, un “mezzo mezzo” (half Italian and half French Swiss) was born in Switzerland and spent several years in sales up at the Matterhorn before venturing to the states. We met here in San Diego, dated two weeks, and got married. You could say we have good instincts. When we came up with Swieners we just knew it was going to be a hit. We got our first big break at Balboa Park’s December Nights in 2010, which happens to be the largest event of the year. For our first event we though let’s go for it! … that sink or swim mentality. And well, here we are today, almost two years later, with two tents and plans for massive expansion in the works.
What is a Swiener and how did you come up with the idea?
For the first five years of our marriage, Nico would go on and on about how we needed to bring Swiss style hot dogs to the US. We agreed it was a fun concept but there was something missing to give it that truly unique culinary experience. Nico then introduced me to Raclette. He had lived and worked up at the Matterhorn in Zermatt, where traditionally, people enjoy the cheese over potatoes or dried meats. I suggested we put the cheese in the baguette with the sausage. Nico thought I was nuts. It only took my cousin and other friends giving the same advice for him to listen. (Ladies, sound familiar?) Since then, I have let him believe it was his idea. Kidding aside, it was a fun “experiment” that led to the birth of the Swiener. We are now patenting the process as well as trademarking our name and logo.
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