By JB Ellis
Growing up Italian; family, food, and hospitality are everything. What else would you expect, when you go to meet Buddy Valastro at his flagship Buddy V’s restaurant at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.
Our team arrived about 30 minutes prior to our scheduled interview with Buddy and decided to grab a quick bite at the bar while we waited. Jay had the meatballs and he loved them. Jon had Pasta and Meatballs and I had a Caeser’s Salad. The reviews were all 5 stars! Let me tell you, the croutons were polenta and warm. It was the best crouton I had ever had and elevated the whole dish.
Then we walked with Buddy and his crew to the Yahoo Sports Book on the casino floor for him to dedicate one of his custom cakes. The cake was beautiful, and you could see why he earned the moniker the Cake Boss. During the walk down to the floor and while there we watched Buddy take what seemed to be hundreds of pictures with every person who stopped and asked for a selfie, the smile on his face was true and genuine.
After the cake dedication we proceeded back to Buddy V’s and went into the back room and waited a minute for this man who has worked hard to build up his restaurant and cake business from one bakery in NJ to a worldwide enterprise. We sat down and before the interview we got to speak to Buddy, we were thoroughly impressed with how genuine he was. We spoke about his upbringing, his family, his business and he turned the conversation and asked about us and genuinely was interested in learning more.
Finally it was time for the interview and before we could start as most Italians I know he asked what we wanted to eat. We all tried to explain we just had eaten an hour ago and loved his food, and again like most Italians I know he refused to take no for an answer, he called over the waiter and put in an order of the bone in veal parmigiana and a cannoli. When the food arrived we turned on the camera and Buddy was an awesome interview an open book, and the same person he was off camera.
When you go to Buddy V’s get the Veal it was perfect. The interview was almost 30 minutes which can be seen here, we spoke about many different things including family, business, and food. Once the camera went off, he stayed with us to chat for a while after and then we had to leave to get to our next event. Before we left, this man who knows every employee’s name on his Jersey City factories line was signing copies of his cookbook for restaurant patrons.
No one knows what events or people you will meet Super Bowl Week, I can tell you that our time with Buddy was a change of pace and one of our favorite interviews and events we attended all week. The hospitality of Buddy and his staff was incredible and the food was fabulous. If you can’t get out to Vegas and you do not live in NJ you can still try Buddy’s products they are on sale in Walmarts throughout the country. Know when you buy any of his products there is a great chance he may of been there when it was being made.
Sideline Sports would like to thank Buddy Valastro, his publicist and the whole staff at Buddy Vs for their hospitality, time and great service. We cannot wait to get back to the restaurant for another amazing meal.