Pop-Culturalist.com

Nick DiGiovanni is no stranger to taking risks. In fact, that along with his creativity propelled him into the finals of MasterChef, making him the youngest finalist ever. His run in the competition impressed many, opening new doors and opportunities for this home cook turned master chef. Pop Culturalist caught up with Nick to chat about MasterChef, his Voodles company, and the biggest takeaway from the experience.

PC: How did you discover your passion for food? What do you hope to convey through your craft?
Nick: I discovered my passion for food through my family. We always had these big gatherings where we’d eat a ton of awesome stuff and cook together, and I fell in love with the whole process. I watched my grandparents cook and I would take home little recipes from them and practice on my own. Eventually, I fell in love with eating good food and everything that came with it.

As far as what I hope to convey through my food, I want to disrupt the industry and create these crazy new things. Nowadays, you see all these crazy food ideas on social media platforms like Instagram. I love that anyone can step in, do something completely different, and catch people’s attention. I’m trying to do inventive, creative things through food.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Nick: Aside from my family, I would say one of my professors in college. Harvard’s a very traditional place. I had so many professors who I think would have been happier if I stuck to the traditional track and did something “normal”, but I really, really wanted to try to bring food into that. There was this one professor who ran a class and brought in a lot of the best chefs across the world. She was totally on board with helping me make a career out of food.

PC: Walk us through that decision to put your life on hold to enter this competition? How did you know that this was the right time?
Nick: It’s always been important to me to focus on school and my family. I was heading into senior year of college and asked myself, “What do I want to do for the rest of my life?” And the answer was food. When this opportunity came up, I figured, what do I have to lose? Worst case, I don’t do well on it and I head back to school and finish up there. Best case? It’ll open a ton of new doors that I probably would’ve never been able to find otherwise. I figured it’d be fun, and I wanted to go for it!

PC: In past interviews, you’ve stated that your only goal for the competition was to get an apron, but you ended up becoming the youngest finalist ever. When you look back at this entire experience, what will you remember most?
Nick: I’m actually a little surprised to say it, but I’ll definitely remember all the people that I met through it. You would think because it’s a competition that it may be cutthroat, and there were times when it was, but you build relationships with everyone, including the judges. You see them on TV, and then all of a sudden you’re with them, learning from them. Apparently, it’s different than any other season. We created a close-knit group, and I thought that was a lot of fun.

PC: What would you say is the biggest lesson that you’ve learned from this experience that you’ve now been able to apply to your career moving forward?
Nick: Don’t be afraid to take risks. I’ve learned this lesson before, but this experience drove the point further for me. It can be hard at times to remember that, but I feel like I’m in a place in my life where I should go for it and explore as much as I can before things settle more in my life. Right now, I want to take a lot of risks.

PC: If you could make a dish to encompass your entire experience on MasterChef, what would it be?
Nick: I think I would make something that involves as many different techniques and skills that I learned in the competition. It would combine a lot of different elements and flavor combos with the higher end techniques that one might not do at home. For me, I love ravioli. I’d love to do this new inventive ravioli where it’s not your typical filling; it’s more of a foam inside. I’ve always wanted to do something cool like that where I bring together these crazy new things. It’d be something between a soup dumpling and a regular Italian ravioli. I want to make something that no one has ever tasted before and takes a lot of skill and finesse.

PC: Can you tell us about your company and all your exciting new projects?
Nick: Of course! The company is called Voodles and we’re trying to revolutionize the way that kids eat vegetables, which is fun to tackle. I’ve always loved working with kids. It’s cool to see them respond to the product. It’s a veggie-based pasta. It’s organic, gluten-free, and allergen-free. It’s something everyone can have, and I think that it could be a huge help to parents who are trying to get kids to eat more veggies. They love pasta, so we’re combining those two things!

So, I’m working on Voodles in Boston, and since the show has happened, there are a lot of other crazy things playing out and going on. I’m still trying to sort through them all, whether it’s different cooking events or pop ups that I’ve done with former contestants. I think eventually, I’d love to look into the whole food TV world again. We’ll see how it all plays out!

To keep up with Nick, follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe to his YouTube Channel.