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Sugar High

Known as “Johnny Sugar” by friends and colleagues for a…
Photographs by David Engelhardt

IMG_0939140813_MONOCLE_DAY_2-2_FINALKnown as “Johnny Sugar” by friends and colleagues for a manic personality, rapid-fire speaking style, and his impeccable pastry skills, Iuzzini’s old-fashioned work ethic served him well in Manhattan restaurant circles. At just 26, Daniel Boulud appointed him Executive Pastry Chef. Next, he landed a sweet gig as Executive Pastry Chef at Jean-Georges, and his reputation as a culinary bad boy—a tattooed, motorcycle-riding Italian-American with rock-and-roll style—was sealed, as were his indelible credentials. A stint as a judge on Top Chef Desserts (which he also co-produced) and two cookbooks have launched him into celebrity chef territory. But the dichotomy that defines Iuzzini isn’t lost on him. “I take what I do very seriously, but I don’t take myself that seriously,” he says.
In fact, when putting together his latest cookbook, Sugar Rush (Clarkson Potter, 2014), he eschewed the fastidious world of food styling and hired a photographer who shoots cars and racetracks. The results are still sumptuous, but never precious. Dorrie Greenspan, the American doyenne of French pastry, called the book a “stealth primer” for home bakers and accomplished pastry chefs alike, which is fine with Iuzzini, who set out to create a non-intimidating building-blocks book to get people into the kitchen so they, too, can bake world-class desserts. His philosophy: All you need is attention to detail, basic equipment, and good-quality ingredients.

IMG_2090_FINAL“It’s funny, when I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to get out of the Catskills and now, after being in the craziness of Manhattan, I can’t wait to be here. I really treasure the quiet time.”

IMG_1213_MERGE_FINALIuzzini grew up in the Catskills, got his first kitchen job at 15 as a dishwasher (“I smelled like a swamp”) because his family was poor and he wanted spending money to take girls out on dates. “It’s funny, when I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to get out of the Catskills and now, after being in the craziness of Manhattan, I can’t wait to be here. I really treasure the quiet time. I hike a lot. I chop wood. I ride my motorcycles. I mow the lawn.”

He also spends time with his friends Kirsten and Sims Foster, who recently opened The Arnold House as a destination for city dwellers who want to experience the slow-paced beauty of casual country living. Like Iuzzini, Sims grew up in the Catskills and works in the Manhattan restaurant business and says, “In the city, Johnny doesn’t stop. He’s running 1,000 miles a minute, but in the country, we’re all just more relaxed. The politics of the hospitality industry fall away, and we can all sit around a bonfire, eat s’mores, and listen to Johnny rant about one of his passions—like the science of ripening fruit. That’s the real Johnny: someone who’s generous with knowledge and who you can learn from.”

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Iuzzini grew up between a cornfield and a sheep farm. His mother had a big vegetable garden. His father hunted, and they often ate what he killed. His dishwashing job exposed him to the world of chefs, and while he didn’t excel in academics, he felt he could learn a lot in the kitchen. After high school, he enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, where his intense focus allowed him to marry his loves of science and dessert. But he’s quick to emphasize: “Nothing came easy for me. I earned my way up the ladder. Today everyone wants to be a celebrity chef and make progressive modern food without learning the basics. If you want to be part of that, you have to earn your place.”

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It’s clear Iuzzini has earned his place precisely because he is an eternal student. In the Catskills, he visits local farmers to boost his knowledge about organics and the abundance of local ingredients. This past summer, he also helped Rick Bishop of Mountain Sweet Berry Farm create popsicles using his bruised ugly fruit. He turned a corner of their warehouse into a popsicle lab, where he showed them how to make gourmet pops to sell at New York City’s Union Square market. “I really try to advocate for the local farmers and learn from them, not only because I’m from the Catskills, but because farming is one of the most under-appreciated industries there is. They struggle, they don’t make a lot of money, but they’re crucial to what I do. I have lots of respect for them.”

If Iuzzini has his way, he will soon join the ranks as a Catskills food purveyor. His plan: create a bean-to-bar chocolate- and coffee-roasting factory where visitors can see cacao transformed into his favorite ingredient and taste his Willy-Wonka-with-an-edge creations. “There’s a kind of romance to it all,” he explains. “Local kid grows up, does good, and comes back and provides jobs.” And then, in classic Iuzzini fashion, he exclaims: “I’m going to become a big monster chocolatier and I’m going kill it.”