The Bakersfield Californian

The captains step aside and let the team take over in ‘Buddy vs. Duff: Baker Battle’

There may be no “I” in “Team,” but in the upcoming two-part special “Buddy vs. Duff: Baker Battle,” there will be no Buddy Valastro or Duff Goldman, either.

Airing consecutive Sundays starting Aug. 1 on Food Network (and also streaming on discovery+), the hourlong competition specials find Valastro and Goldman kicked out of their bakeries by their own teams, who then go head to head in baking challenges to determine which team is best as their captains look on virtually.

For Valastro, it was a pleasure to watch them work.

“Those guys are so talented on both sides they don’t need me and Duff to be there to hold their hands,” Valastro, owner of Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, N.J., says. “That’s just the truth about it. And I was happy to be able to get my team out there without me to show how good they are as well. I always applaud those kind of efforts because everybody deserves a shot and ... and they’re amazingly talented. And I think honestly why we’ve been so successful ... they’re all amazing artists and they work really well together.”

Indeed, Valastro certainly got to see that in action over the past year. In September of 2020, he had his right (dominant) hand impaled repeatedly by a metal rod in a malfunctioning pinsetter in his home bowling alley, which required multiple surgeries and lengthy rehabilitation. He’s nearly fully recovered now, estimating that the hand is back to 90 percent of its pre-accident capabilities, and he’s doing everything he did before with no limitations.

During his recovery, he learned to perform some functions with his left hand and to rely more heavily on his team. Beyond his baking talents, he says his value to the team lies in finding efficiencies and being the one who pushes everyone to think big. Getting on the same page is rarely an issue.

“Me and my team, they speak my language,” Valastro says. “They know what I’m thinking before I think it. Half the time, we don’t really even argue because we agree. ...

“We come in with a vision ...,” he continues, “and the vision is a collaboration of everybody. We sit in a room and we brainstorm with, ‘Alright, what’s the cake gonna be?’ And then we come up with an idea and then ‘Oh, maybe we can add this’ and ‘Oh, maybe it should be this’ or ‘Maybe it should be this.’ And then we kind of like land on, ‘ This is what the cake is gonna be.’ And then once we go there we usually don’t deviate from the plan too much. We don’t have to.”

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2021-07-29T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-29T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://bakersfield.pressreader.com/article/282179359120974

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