I dislike cloyingly sweet desserts – sweet is not a flavor – so I suggest dialing back the sweetness and focusing on what the dessert is about, whether it is a ripe fruit, chocolate, etc. – Johnny Iuzzini
Whenever a chef cooks for his own ego rather than his guests, he/she set themselves up for ridicule and failure. In the end, it’s the service industry. Our goal is to make our guests happy through our cooking. – Johnny Iuzzini
I want to do more TV and more books. I want to have my hand in different projects. I’m way too hyper; I’m just one of those people who has to have a lot going on. – Johnny Iuzzini
When I was a kid, I would come home from school, and my mom would buy the industrial-size Famous Amos cookies or Chips Ahoy when I was lucky. And I would sit in front of the TV set with a glass of milk… and I would dump cookies in there, smash them with my spoon, and eat cookies and milk with a spoon watching ‘The Dukes of Hazzard.’ – Johnny Iuzzini
My mom was a rescue veterinarian, and I grew up helping her nurse injured animals back to health. Any deer hit by a car, fox caught in a trap, whatever it was that got hurt, everyone brought them to my mom. – Johnny Iuzzini
Everyone has days when things can go wrong. That doesn’t make you a bad pastry chef – that makes you human. – Johnny Iuzzini
Chocolate is the go-to ingredient for many people. It is the thing people crave when they are happy and celebrate; it is also the go-to ingredient for many people when we are sad or depressed. It makes us feel better. – Johnny Iuzzini
Part of what makes a great chef is the ability to adapt, cook, and to taste. A great chef will use all their food knowledge, food memories, and senses to work with each ingredient and apply themselves to the dish they are creating. – Johnny Iuzzini
Everyone has a different impression of what they are eating; not everyone tastes the same things, and definitely, not everyone has the same food memories. – Johnny Iuzzini
If I can’t do something and excel at it and do it well, I have a tendency to give up on it really easy. – Johnny Iuzzini
If you take everything personally and to heart, it will tear you apart. Take criticism, learn, adjust, and move on. – Johnny Iuzzini
I like the Rockabilly look. My background is half Italian, half French. I wear cowboy boots and jeans. – Johnny Iuzzini
I didn’t come from a wealthy family. My dad told us if we wanted spending money, we had to earn it. So I developed an early work ethic. – Johnny Iuzzini
I have been a fan of the Beastie Boys ever since I can remember. I have a ton of their music on my iPod and even still have a t-shirt from a show I saw when I was a kid. – Johnny Iuzzini
I love biscuits. I have a real thing for a biscuits, and if it’s not made right, I’m gonna come down hard on somebody. – Johnny Iuzzini
I fell in love with pastry because I felt I could be much more creative. It’s precise, and you don’t have to kill anything. – Johnny Iuzzini
I love pies of all types. I especially love rhubarb. I grew up with rhubarb growing on our property, and my mom would make rhubarb pies and jam. I have to admit, though, my earliest memories of rhubarb were not fond ones, but over time, I grew to love it. – Johnny Iuzzini
It’s funny, you know, growing up, you are always introduced to people as your uncle this or your aunt that or your cousin this. By the time I was in my 20s, I had no idea who I actually was or wasn’t related to. It’s kind of a running joke in the family. – Johnny Iuzzini