In his first visit to Columbus, Buddy Valastro, better known as the Cake Boss from his weekly show on TLC, hopes he inspires college students and senior citizens alike.
Valastro will be coming to the Ohio Theatre at 7 p.m. Sunday. In his interactive show set to music, audience members will get to watch Valastro create some of his well-known pastry items. The audience will also get the opportunity to participate in on-stage competitions and a question-and-answer session.
Valastro will stay after the show to meet his audience members and sign autographs. He said he believes it’s very important to show your fans how much you appreciate them.
He said he hopes the audience will get to see the “real Buddy” in this show.
“When people watch my show on TLC, they don’t realize that they shoot for 90 minutes but cut that down to a 20-minute show,” Valastro said.
Valastro said his show will attract audiences of all different ages. Coming from a big Italian family himself, Valastro thinks his show is very family-oriented, but that shouldn’t discourage college kids from attending.
“I still plan to sneak in jokes that college kids can appreciate,” Valastro said. He laughed as he explained that a lot of college kids play drinking games to his show.
“They will drink every time I say certain words. That’s so hilarious,” he said.
Valastro also said he hopes that his personal story can inspire all audiences, but especially college kids.
Valastro started baking at 11 years old. His father owned a bakery in Hoboken, N.J., and the day he turned 17, Buddy found out his dad had been diagnosed with stage-three cancer. Three weeks later, his dad passed away, and Buddy made the decision to drop out of high school to work at the bakery.
“It’s not a glamorous story, but I got to live the American dream,” Valastro said. “My dad came here from Sicily with nothing and left this wonderful business.”
Valastro said he wants people who come to his show to hear his story and still believe that this dream is alive.
“Especially college kids these days, they need to know that you really just have to put your head down and pursue your dreams,” Valastro said.
Buddy’s motto is, “It’s in giving that we receive.” He wants to make sure his pastries are available to all different economic classes.
“If you come into my bakery and order a $10 cake or a $10,000 cake, you will be treated the same,” Valastro said.
Valastro hopes to be the baker for the millionaire and the working class. The last thing he wants is to be exclusive, he said.
His pastry items range from donuts and cookies to elaborate wedding cakes. His most memorable cake is the life-size version of his wife.
“It was tricky because you want to make a nice cake, but I didn’t want to make her look fat,” Valastro said.
As for the future, Valastro hopes to expand his business throughout the country. He is currently building a 30,000-square-foot facility from which he said he hopes to ship pastries all over the world.
“If you’re in Columbus and you want cannolis, I want them to taste like they came straight from our bakery,” Valastro said.
The Cake Boss hopes that this road show will provide a good time for everyone, but also that his story will be inspirational.
“You might laugh, sing or cry,” Valastro said. “My show is a little bit of everything.”
