Today's guess isn't just a YouTube superstar but he is now an author too. Join us as we chat with Nick DiGiovanni, who shares his exciting journey in the world of all things culinary. From early inspirations in the kitchen to competing under the watchful eye of Chef Gordon Ramsay. Prepare to be inspired by Nick's amazing journey within the industry and how he plans to share his recipes with you in his new book.
In this episode we will cover;
Tune in to hear all about Nick's passion for food and his ambitious plans for the future. Don't miss this captivating conversation packed with valuable insights and tasty tips!
Busines FREEBIES:
Grab my FREE resource guide and get 30 plus resources to level-up your home bakery business click here to grab my FREE guide and get more tips from me every week.http://bit.ly/bakersresources
Are we friends on Instagram? If you enjoyed this episode TAG ME at @bakingforbusiness
I really do appreciate each and every one of you guys and LOVE meeting new baking friends.
Today's guess isn't just a YouTube superstar but he is now an author too. Join us as we chat with Nick DiGiovanni, who shares his exciting journey in the world of all things culinary. From early inspirations in the kitchen to competing under the watchful eye of Chef Gordon Ramsay. Prepare to be inspired by Nick's amazing journey within the industry and how he plans to share his recipes with you in his new book.
In this episode we will cover;
Tune in to hear all about Nick's passion for food and his ambitious plans for the future. Don't miss this captivating conversation packed with valuable insights and tasty tips!
Busines FREEBIES:
Grab my FREE resource guide and get 30 plus resources to level-up your home bakery business click here to grab my FREE guide and get more tips from me every week.http://bit.ly/bakersresources
Are we friends on Instagram? If you enjoyed this episode TAG ME at @bakingforbusiness
I really do appreciate each and every one of you guys and LOVE meeting new baking friends.
Hey, sweet friends, my name is Chef Schaumburg. I started my baking business with a bottle of DeCerano and one Bundt Cake Pan. Fast forward to today, from news to magazines, speaking on national stages and more. I can truly say that baking has changed my life. So now, as a bakery business coach, i get to help others have the same success. I've helped hundreds of my students across the world in my global membership program create six-figure businesses, mainly from home.
Speaker 1:The Baking for Business podcast is an extension of that, from actionable tips to valuable tools and resources that can impact you as a business owner. I truly believe y'all. We would never have been given a gift if we couldn't profit and prosper from it. So come on, darling. What are you waiting for? What is going on, sweet friends? and welcome back to the Baking for Business podcast. Today, you guys are in for a real treat, because we have a really sweet young man. You're probably familiar with him if you follow his YouTube channel, or maybe you've seen him on MasterChef, but Nick is in the building today and we get to hear a lot about his background, his amazing content, as well as he has an awesome book that is coming out within the next week. As you're listening to this, and so you're going to get the full scoop on that, and so, nick, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing, darling?
Speaker 2:How are you, amanda? Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:I'm wonderful sweetheart. You're more than welcome. And so, before we get into the amazing book, which I think is just so cool, and your process behind it, for anyone who isn't familiar with you, how did you get started, nick? Because I read that I believe a lot of your influences from your grandmother or what's the earliest memory you have in the kitchen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i mean boiling it down to one word is just family. I took inspiration from a lot of different family members for my love for cooking, and I was lucky growing up. I had family members from many different backgrounds too, and so everybody came from a different place when it came to food, which was great for me to see. I got to try lots of different things, i got to learn lots of different techniques, and I often just sort of do say that it was my dad's mother who I really looked up to, because she was the one that had every family gathering. She could host up to 10, 20, 30, 40 people, and she could easily whip out a multi course meal, which I found incredible, and so that was something certainly to look up to and that made me just fall in love with it.
Speaker 1:That is awesome. A lot of us have those amazing fond memories of just being with our family in the kitchen. And what was the favorite dish that she made? Do you have a favorite?
Speaker 2:I would say probably the recipe that I put in the cookbook that I would dedicate to her, which is sort of her. She called it her scalloped scallops, which was a sort of a play on scalloped potatoes, a really, really simple dish where she would cut the scallops into a couple of different sort of medallions and then layer them up as you would a scalloped potato dish, and I always loved that dish. I loved the name, i love the simplicity of it all, and so that's the one that I stuck with in the book.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, and so you have that background and that influence inside of you. And then you go off to college. So you're in Harvard And I heard that, you heard MasterChef was coming, the auditions were coming up, so what really sparked it in you to say, wow, i'm going to go for that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, i think I was already doing a little bit of illegal cooking in my dorm room. I had a little setup in there which I know is a big no-no, for probably mainly just firehazard reasons, maybe, among other things. But I was doing as much cooking as I can at the time as I could. I was working at a restaurant nearby And I think I just looked at that as yet another way that I could just sort of keep chasing down that dream, my love for food. And so I showed up to the audition, which was not far from my dorm, and figured I'd given my best shot. And then, of course, it led to more than I ever thought it would lead to.
Speaker 1:Wow, of course MasterChef. we think Chef Gordon Ramsay, and I know when people hear that name as far as kitchen-wise, they think you know inferior or intimidation. How was it actually working with Chef Gordon Ramsay on the set of MasterChef?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it was. I came into MasterChef knowing the Gordon that I think most people know from TV and from online and from everything on that front, where it's just very sort of like you hinted at, intense and kind of, you know, maybe even at times a scary personality that you don't want to be in front of, at least not if you've messed up a dish right There. I sort of left after getting to know who I would call the real Gordon, who's this sort of very caring, you know, very, very kind and down-to-earth family man who I learned a lot from there, And so it was really interesting seeing both sides of that, And I think a lot of people to this day are surprised when I tell them that he's not really that loud, intense person all the time. He's also just a talented and nice chef who wants to teach people how to cook.
Speaker 1:That's amazing, And I'm definitely sure that all of that can really just be translated into passion. You know a lot of us are really passionate about what it is that we do. What do you feel is one of the biggest lessons being on the show actually taught you or helped you with in your career? now?
Speaker 2:I think it just probably to go off of what we just talked about, one thing could just be to be fearless in the kitchen, and I think it's something, by the way, i certainly talk about it in my cookbook is don't worry about messing up a dish. You know you obviously don't want to go to the market and buy an expensive rack of lamb chops and burn them right. That'll ruin your day and maybe your week. But you do want to be fearless and just go into the kitchen when you're going to cook and have fun with it, and that's something that you know. being in front of someone like Gordon Ramsay, there's no way to go in without being fearless.
Speaker 1:Fearless indeed you have been, and I read that in 2020 was when you kicked off your actual YouTube channel. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that sounds about right. I think it was probably sometime in 2020 and I probably didn't think much of it, but it suddenly became, you know, it became this thing that I was thinking about 24, seven.
Speaker 1:And your first video. Do you remember the first video that you uploaded?
Speaker 2:I think it might have been cooking a steak in my room. Is that right? Are you pushing? me Yeah, yeah, Oh did I get it right You?
Speaker 1:got it right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was not a very good setup. It was just against the white wall and it was in my bedroom. So my bedsheet smelled horrible that night And it was in my bedroom. I had this tiny little room and I had this little table and then just at the time it was a very sort of small and simple basic point and shoot camera And it was up against the white wall and I had these two huge lights in there and I pushed my bed up against the wall. But, yeah, the sheets I remember smelled like meat. I ruined my room for a couple of days, i think.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, But so many people are intimidated by YouTube, though, and I think you hit on a really good point was that you just got started. So, in those early days, what exactly did your content creation process look like? Were you doing your videos once a week, or how often were you really focused on the channel?
Speaker 2:I mean I think been sort of this fluctuation across the way. We started out by posting once every Wednesday, once every Saturday, so twice a week, long videos, and that was, i mean, that was really draining for me, for the editor, for everybody involved, and so we could only really keep up with that for so long. And I think now we've sort of shifted into this mentality of we're only going to post when we have a really really, really great video And we don't really care how much time goes in between each one. We're aiming for every two to three weeks for a nice long video.
Speaker 2:But I mean people don't realize sometimes that these require at times months and months of work to get them set up. And so you know, while on the outside if you're a viewer, it might look like, oh okay, you know once every three weeks, like if that's the only thing that you're working on, how can you only be posting that infrequently? But the reality is in one video that you might post, it's just we've worked on it for, let's say, three and a half months to set it all up and all the different details, and it takes a lot of time. So we're comfortable now, i think, with this cadence of. You know, whenever we have a really good video, we'll put it up, and if we don't have a really good video, then we won't put it up until we do.
Speaker 1:That's amazing and your style is so unique and fresh. I know the book Knife Drop covers a lot of cooking, but you do baking and you do your fair share of sweets. So, from caviar to cake pop and I have to bring up the cake pop because that's one of my favorite ones you literally have the Guinness World Book Record for the biggest cake pop.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we made one that was about 10 pounds at one point and we put it online and Guinness replied on Twitter and said there's actually a record title for this, but yours doesn't qualify, yours isn't big enough, basically. And then we called their bluff and we just said hey, we'll do it. And that's how that all started. So now we have this great relationship with them. We just finished our eighth or ninth Guinness World Record and we've had so much fun doing them all. But the cake pop was how it all started and I think it ended up being about 100 pounds, the one that we made, which was crazy and took many days to clean up after.
Speaker 1:I can only imagine. And so what are some of the other Guinness records that you're currently old also?
Speaker 2:So we hold the most turkeys donated in 24 hours. We hold the most fast food restaurants visited in 24 hours, the biggest sushi roll, the biggest fortune cookie I'm not even going to remember all of them off the top of my head, which is crazy to say, but there are quite a few and we've had so much fun with all of them and they're all very different logistical projects that take a big group of people to pull together, but they're fun and we all love them.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. You have your channel on your YouTube channel and you also share it on TikTok and Instagram. You really tap into the power of collaboration I know you've done something with cake boss and then at times you have other people on Who's one of your favorite guests that you actually like to have on your own channel.
Speaker 2:Yeah, i mean I would say, off the top of my head, i have a lot of really close friends now. Just the other day, just the other day, we had four of us together. We had me, and then Guga Foods, who cooks a lot of steaks, and he's Brazilian, and then Max, the meat guy, who does a lot of meat as well, and then the golden balance, some of those more frequent I guess, collabs, the people that I see more often. Those are always really, really fun. I mean, i'm just such close friends with a lot of those people now that we all love it.
Speaker 2:But then, of course, we've done some crazier ones. I've become close with Joe Jonas. We've done three or so different shoot days together and we've had a lot of fun with those. And the Tom Brady collaboration that we did was also very, very fun. He was fun to work with and those videos were quite exciting too. I've had fun with everyone we've ever made a video with. I mean, they've all been so different and I'm always really happy to just I think I'm always excited and happy, and as are they when you kind of see the final product. Yeah, i have not had a negative experience, which is good.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. I would think that your channel would be what it is today. now You're going over like 10 million followers on YouTube. Was that the initial plan to just show up until you blow up? or is it just all a blessing?
Speaker 2:I think it's all a blessing. I mean it's a lot of hard work by a lot of different people, and especially over the years. It's a list too long to actually list out right here and now. But I mean it's a combination. I mean we've worked really, really hard And as long as you kind of stick true to that mission of just wanting to put things out there that inspire and excite other people, and as long as everything's positive, then I think hopefully things will work out from there. So I think it's a combination of a lot of things.
Speaker 2:But there was someone that I grew up with Actually it was a coach that I had a long time ago and who always said, whenever we would say, oh, that person got so lucky or this, he would always say that you make your own luck. And so I truly believe it is a kind of combination of all those different things And then if you really work hard and kind of stick to a goal and stick to a mission that you will kind of, you will create that own luck and your own luck there and that things will work out.
Speaker 1:I love that. And speaking of luck, before we get to the book, you actually are I don't want to say lucky enough, but I guess blessed enough. You also have a line out with some amazing, delicious gourmet salt. So where did the idea for that come from?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I was doing a lot of thinking about how I could exactly sort of get you know, it's impossible for me to make a recipe online and then let people taste it through the camera, right? I mean, i can do the best I can, but the best thing they're going to get is a visual, and you can make that visual as good as you want it to be, but the reality is, you know, unless I have a restaurant somewhere or anything like that, that's all that I can give. That's all that I can give people that are watching. And so, with Osmo, i figured, you know, i got together with my business partner, noel, and we figured If we could create something that I could have a huge part in and send it out to people around the country, around the world, they could actually get something in their kitchen that I had created. And so to me, it's this really fun thing where we've created something very simple, right, but something that's a necessity in food.
Speaker 2:Salt is extremely important. It's without salt, really, for the most part, there is no flavor in food. You need it to kind of give in a way. You can't really explain it, it just has to be there. And so we thought we'd have a bunch of fun with salt and try to push it to the limits and make it this really sort of fun, this fun, exciting thing, because salt has never really been exciting in my opinion, and so now it's grown into a number of different flavors. I certainly have some favorites. I like the roast cigar, like the black truffle There's some fun ones. I mean I carry the black truffle around in this center console of my car And if I ever go through the drive-thru and get french fries, put a little bit on there, and so it's become this really fun thing And I really do love it.
Speaker 1:I like that. So there's nothing wrong with a little salt-baked action on your McDonald's fries, nothing wrong with that. And so now the channel is amazing. The product line sounds so delicious, but now there is a book coming out within a week, night and pop. And so what was your inspiration for the book you have?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah, knife Drop launches on the 13th June 13th. It brings together everything that I've ever learned. Really, to tell you the truth, it's just this. I like to sort of think that and say that it took about a year to really put it together and put pen to paper and really get it all on there, and from the day that I said I want to write a book to the day that it's in print form.
Speaker 2:But the reality is it took almost my whole life, as I know it, to really create that book, and it's got so many different recipes, it's got so many different tips. I mean, i haven't held anything back in there, which I think is important. I've put every little lesson that I've learned some way in the food. It's even got QR codes. If you want to scan and learn a technique, i'll show you how to break down a lobster and get every last little piece of meat out of there, and so it's this fun combination of everything that I have ever learned in food and everything that I love, and I really do think that not only can you hand this book to anybody and they should be able to reasonably make, successfully make something out of there or most of those recipes. But I also just think that whether you're just getting into the kitchen just starting out, or you've been cooking your whole life, i think there I really just deep down believe there's something in there to excite you and inspire you.
Speaker 1:I love that And I did think it was pretty unique. when I saw the QR code I said, oh, this is. I was like this kind of makes the book kind of like an interactive experience, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's fun. I think it'll continue to become a more widespread thing and maybe not just cookbooks, but maybe all books, but especially for cookbooks It's fun. I mean, people have become so used to the QR codes in throughout the last couple of years. I think it's become a much bigger, more widely accepted thing. You go to a restaurant and the menu is a QR code. You know there's a lot of different applications of it now, And so it's a very, very fun piece of the book where I figured I could try to offer a few little tips and tricks through a video format if you get tired of reading.
Speaker 1:So unique. I think you guys are definitely going to love that QR code aspect as you scroll through the pages of the book. And what is the first savory recipe that you would recommend someone try from the book? Do you have a favorite?
Speaker 2:There's definitely a few. I think I really can never talk enough about the yoki-nyoki, which is my potato-nyoki, that I think everyone should make homemade at some point. The ability to turn a potato into what that is in the end is to me fascinating that it can actually taste that way. You're almost transforming this ingredient into something totally new and different. I think my favorite recipes in general when it comes to savory in there are the ones that take a traditional dish that we all know and love, for instance, spicy vodka rigatoni. I've turned it into this smoky mezcal rigatoni where it's this new, very, very slight twist on it, but I think really, really fun and kind of unique. That's me in a nutshell. I've always sort of liked that. I like to be a little bit different. I've liked that sort of creativity, a nice twist on something normal. I have quite a few, but there really is something in there for everyone. I think everyone will have a different answer once they open the book up. It's just a question of what.
Speaker 1:Mine would definitely be the cookie. You want to tell us about the cookies. Is that your favorite way to do the chocolate chip cookies?
Speaker 2:It's such a good cookie. Did you get to make it yet, or no?
Speaker 1:I haven't made it yet.
Speaker 2:It's a good. It is my favorite way to do chocolate chip cookies. My girlfriend and I are obsessed with cookies. We love cookies. How can you not?
Speaker 2:I've been to restaurants all throughout the world. My belief is I still don't think I've ever had a better dessert than a warm cookie with a little vanilla ice cream, or a warm brownie with a little vanilla ice cream. I will stand behind that any day. I think it's better than any dessert I've had at any three Michelin star restaurant. any basic hole in the wall restaurant, it doesn't matter. It's the best dessert I've ever had in my life. It's constantly just delicious and it's the perfect balance of hot and cold and chewy and gooey. It's just, it's perfection.
Speaker 2:This cookie to me. it has brown butter, which I love. It has that crispy exterior. It's got the chewy interior. I think that that, believe it or not, also, i think is a trend throughout the book. The gnocchi that I just mentioned, for instance, instead of just giving a traditional soft, pillowy gnocchi, it is that. Then I take it one step further and I have you give it a nice sear in some oil to get one side at least one side nice and crusty and golden brown. You have this very almost like a crust on a steak You have a bit of a crunch to it and then you have the pillowy inside. The cookie is the same way. It's got that different balance and texture, which I think is really fun. Yeah, it's a good cookie. Even the mix of the broken up chocolate bars with your hands as some of those different sized shards, and then the chocolate chips, i think is really fun. It's a very well thought out cookie.
Speaker 1:I love that. When I was scrolling through and I saw brown butter, I said, oh, I know that had such a depth of flavor, so it definitely stuck out. What if you're doing a book tour for the book?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, i'm not yet sure. Well, i guess right now I'm not totally sure When this launches. I probably have a better sense by then, of course, but yeah, i'm going to go around to a number of different places and I would love to meet as many people as I possibly can and just talk face to face to some people who have either just gotten the book or who have already tried the recipes, because it'll be fun at that point to get some feedback and just hear people's opinions on things or hear their favorites, just like you've mentioned for yourself. So I'm excited.
Speaker 1:What is your goal for the book? when people get their hands on it, what would you like them to feel? a little bit more confident, or to just get out and create something?
Speaker 2:Yeah, i think it's a mixture of a few things. I think one thing that I would love to get feedback on is, you know, i think, aside from the recipes themselves, we spent a lot of time on the photography, and I really wanted the book to be something that, you know, i always liked even just picking up a cookbook and scrolling through the whole thing just to look at the photos, and I want this book also to be able to serve as one of those books that you can pick up and just appreciate the photos, even if you're not going to cook anything, because I really really do love them and I think food is so visual that photos are more important than photos are just as important to me in a cookbook as a lot of those recipes are, and so for me, that would be a great piece of feedback to get if people enjoy those photos as much as I do. But I also just, you know, at the end of the day, i just want people to learn something from it and just to be inspired in some way.
Speaker 2:There are some basic recipes in there, for instance, ranch dressing. It's one of my favorites. I know some people don't like it, but I know, you know many people do And you know it's that really popular dressing. For a reason is because it's just. You know it's in a lot of different places and it's everywhere. But you could look at that one and say, well, that's kind of basic And it is. It's what I think is the best ranch recipe out there.
Speaker 2:I've tried a bunch of different ones, but it's also basic. So you have things like that that you may have an advanced cook that looks at it and says I already know how to make ranch, or you know that's a waste of my time, which is totally fine, and I expect that that would be that way for some people. But then there's going to be those really kind of high level the pork belly, crispy pork belly, cow, soy. That's going to take them time to really prep the pork and get it nice and crispy and then do the noodles, and so there's something in there for everybody And and and as long as everybody is inspired and learn something when they pick it up, then then I would feel like it's a success.
Speaker 1:Awesome. I love that knife drop creative recipes anyone can cook will be out June 13th. You guys can get a copy of it And I really appreciate you coming on, nick, and sharing all the savoriness in the book, as well as the sweetness in the book and just your personality. It's really been awesome to watch you grow over these past few years. And before I let you go, nick, are you ready to play lightning round?
Speaker 2:Let's do it.
Speaker 1:Let's do it All right, nick? what is your favorite color?
Speaker 2:Blue.
Speaker 1:Awesome. What is a dessert you cannot live without?
Speaker 2:Chocolate lava cake.
Speaker 1:Oh, sounds delicious. What is your favorite kitchen utensils?
Speaker 2:Probably a potato ricer.
Speaker 1:Okay, cool beans, cool beans. Who is your celebrity crush?
Speaker 2:Might have to go with Gordon Ramsay. Oh, i just, you know, i know I've, i know I've seen him and I know I've met him, but but I just look up to him. I look up to him a lot.
Speaker 1:There's nothing wrong with that an amazing person to look up to. And then the last question we will skip, because the last question is what is your favorite book? And so we're gonna recommend everyone listening to obviously go out and get knife drop. Creative recipes anyone can cook. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much, nick, for coming on to speak with us today.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Thank you very much for having me, Amanda.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. You have a wonderful day. So how awesome was it to hear Nick's story. You know, nick is one of the leading content creators in the food space right now. If you're not following him on YouTube, he has a style that is very unique. He's always dropping the knife, just like his book states, and it's really just fun content, fun food content, and also when he dabbles in the baking portion, it's just really fun all around. Be sure to grab his new book knife drop creative recipes. Anyone can cook, if you are a foodie or if you just wanna support him on his journey. I have really gone through this book and it really is amazing and very detailed and just very interactive. I think it's quite unique as a cookbook and I haven't really seen anything like it. So definitely, definitely. Again, a thousand big thanks to him for swinging by and chatting with us about it. All right you guys. Thanks so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Take care and bye for now.