You may have stumbled upon this page for the first time and may be wondering who Johnny “Meatballs” DeCarlo is. You may have seen me on youtube, TV or in some publication, and then again, you may have no clue who I am. I’ll tell you this, I’m not rich and famous—not yet anyway—but I do feel like I’m on the cusp of something huge.

I’m 29, love the simple things in life like food and family and take great pride in all things New Jersey Italian-American (my definition of the “Cugine” culture.) If you are a longtime reader of this blog, you already know this and I thank every close friend and all you facebook friends whom I’ve never actually met for following me and supporting my endeavors.

I am nowhere near the stature of someone like Food Network star Guy Fieri, a person whose career I try to emulate. But I will get there. Of course dominating television, radio, the movies, Vegas (and all points in between) like my idol Dean Martin will never be totally off the table.

The past eight months have been a whirlwind, both personally and professionally. I definitely accomplished a lot, but still have a lot that I am looking forward to accomplishing in the next year. The fun began last fall, when I traveled down to Philly to face off against Lorraine Ranalli in a meatball and gravy cook-off, an event which to me, officially began the formulation of my Johnny Meatballs/food personality/celebrity chef aspirations. Hanging out down there was my niche and my element, and it spurred a newfound friendship and more collaborations with Lorraine—most recently my weekly gig as a call-in guest to her “Cucina Chatter” radio program on WBCB 1490 AM . We squared off again when she traveled north at Chef Central in Paramus and Hartsdale last March, which was also when I was lucky enough to appear on Alicia Vitarelli’s “Buck Wild” for News 12 New Jersey as I was shopping for supplies at Corrado’s in Clifton.

Of course, prior to that, in January, I participated in the Calandra Institute “Guido Colloquium,” where I discussed the guido sub-culture with esteemed professors. This was held to much media fare and my comments and headshot were in such publications as America Oggi, The New York Times and The Post to name a few. That was extremely cool. And, of course, that eventually led to the start of this blog. My debut Cugine Corner, “More Than Meatballs” even appeared in the summer edition of Amici Journal – The Italian American Celebrity Magazine, which was a great feeling. Writing never takes a backseat in my life, and having the opportunity to also contribute to such websites as Gravy Wars, Fattitude, Cucina Domenico and Cooking With Nonna with my stories and recipes is ultimately the most enjoyable thing for me.

While I had some Bonnie & Clyde Catering jobs here and there, the focus has been on my meatballs, hence the “Johnny Meatballs” moniker. I sold 1,000 at Corrado’s on a Sunday afternoon in April, and a month later was interviewed in my home by LA7 Italian Television (to air in September), where I talked about my business and what it means to be an Italian-American in New Jersey. Being on television in Italy—wow—I can’t even express how much that means to me.

As many of you know, I also was honored with “The Johnny Meatballs Pizza” in June at Ah’Pizz in Montclair, which was a blast. But holding my first Johnny Meatballs stand at the Hasbrouck Heights Farmer’s Market a few weeks ago really was a huge step. I again mingled with the media, when The Bergen News’ Ann Piccirillo interviewed me with her organization, Bergen County Mom To Mom, where we talked meatballs and how things were going for me as a new father. As I highlited in my blog last week, I had another amazing time once again with Ann and Fort Lee Film Commission chairman Tom Meyers at the community center. Even The Record showed up to take pictures of my “meat & greet.”

Soon, I hope to be shipping nationwide and am definitely yearning to have my meatball six-pack on the freezer shelves of every small specialty store and grand supermarket in the Garden State, and beyond. Of course we all need to make a living in this world, and I definitely have been loving every minute of all the aforementioned professional experiences of the past year, but bringing in serious ‘shcarole has been a little tough. It’s meatballs or bust as far as that goes, and you’ll be seeing a lot of me in the months ahead. But as I said, writing and being the born-entertainer that I am will always be at the forefront. Tying it all together and supporting my family at the same time is the challenge. That brings us to my personal life, which, over the past year has been a rollercoaster of craziness—however I’m blessed to say it was a ride with much more good than bad—with lots of good to come real soon.


In addition to becoming a father to my beautiful son Christian Dean in July, I moved just a few weeks later and throughout all this have been planning a wedding. This past Sunday I got married, and now of course have one less thing to do—which is obviously all those day-to-day planning activities. The task of planning a wedding is complicated enough when all of one’s other daily aspects are settled, but try doing so in the midst of growing a business, while also caring for a newborn and also moving (without the help of a moving company—thank God for family and friends!) That alone can be a book in itself. If my wife and I got through all we got through, we can get through anything.

I’m just about settled into my new home and can’t wait to just hang out with my family and watch the leaves change color out of my living room window this fall. I won’t be resting long though, I’ll tell you that. The meatball stuff may be my signature, but this all goes way beyond just meatballs. The friends I meet along the way throughout all these adventures and the universal Italian-American bond that our cuisine brings is the primo connection and makes it all worthwhile. But whether business or personal, work or play, I plan to always stay true to myself and live the Jersey Cugine life.

So one big chapter in my life has closed now as I am officially a married man. But another one has opened that I am very excited to begin. Stay tuned for big things from J.M.