Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro, Jr. (born March 3, 1977) is an Italian American celebrity chef, entrepreneur, and reality television personality. He is the owner of Carlo's Bakery, as well as the face of Buddy V's.

He is perhaps best known as the star of the reality television series Cake Boss, which premiered in April 2009 and has just started a new season in the month of September 2015. He also has starred Kitchen Boss (2011), The Next Great Baker (2010) and Buddy's Bakery Rescue (2013).

Early life

Valastro was born in Hoboken, New Jersey to Buddy Valastro, Sr., and Mary Pinto on March 3, 1977 and grew up in Hoboken and Little Ferry, New Jersey. Valastro began working at his family's business, Carlo's Bakery at age 11, alongside his father. Valastro's father died when he was 17 in 1994, and he succeeded him as the new "Cake Boss."

Family

Buddy Valastro had resided in East Hanover Township, New Jersey, with his wife Lisa, and four children, Sofia Valastro, Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro III, Marco Valastro, and Carlo Valastro. He also has four sisters and a stepfather, Sergio. As of 2014, he resided in Montville, New Jersey.

Career

Valastro is the owner and head baker of Carlo's Bakery"?the bakery featured on Cake Boss. Carlo's has since opened seven more bakeries due to the popularity of the show.

In January 2012, as a result of the attention that the shop and the TV series had brought to the city of Hoboken, the Hudson Reporter named Valastro as an honorable mention in its list of Hudson County's 50 most influential people.

Carlo's Bakery currently has 6 locations in New Jersey"?Hoboken, Marlton, Morristown, Red Bank, Ridgewood, and Westfield. Outside of New Jersey, the bakery operates locations in Philadelphia, Las Vegas and New York The bakery also has locations on nine of the Norwegian Cruise Lines. The Lackawanna Factory in nearby Jersey City, serves as the corporate office for the business and is used as additional space to create wedding and specialty cakes, as well as bake their specialty baked goods for shipment across the country.

Valastro launched an Event Planning & Catering company, Buddy V's Events. The company was launched in June 2014, and specializes in catering everything from corporate events to family gathers, as well as planning one-of-a-kind events from weddings to galas.

TV Shows on TLC

• Cake Boss (2009-)
• Kitchen Boss (2011-2012)
• The Next Great Baker (2010-)
• Buddy's Bakery Rescue (formerly Bakery Boss) (2013-)
• Batalha dos Confeiteiros (2015-)

In popular culture

Comedian Paul F. Tompkins plays a parody of Buddy Valastro on the Comedy Bang Bang podcast and the IFC TV show.

See also

• List of pastry chefs

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