1. Please tell us about a little about Tavern Direct.
Tavern Direct is a philanthropic venture that I founded in 2007 to help raise funds for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's (NCMEC) via sales of Tavern on the Green, Central Park in New York City branded products—a line of delicious marinades, dipping oils, sauces and balsamic vinegars that are all-natural and of premium quality. Tavern on the Green products are currently sold at retail locations and through its online store, www.taverndirect.com.

2. What were your favorite foods growing up?
I loved Pasta e Fagioli, fresh greens and beans with sausage, complemented with a hot loaf of Italian bread to sop up the sauce. When I would come in from delivering my newspapers on a cold winter day, I would sit there for an hour thawing out and devouring these earthy treats.

3. When did you decide you wanted to be in the food industry?
I'm totally different from the other chefs you'll meet on this site. I am simply someone who loves good food, cooking at home and if I can enjoy this while helping a good cause, I'm satisfied. I was looking for a way to help the charity and decided to get into the business to make a difference.

4. Where and when did your career in food begin?
My mother taught me how to cook when I was very young and it was at first out of necessity. Then, I began to experiment to the point that one day I said "I can do this". So now I look to create great tasting all-natural marinades, teriyaki and steak sauces, fruit-infused balsamic vinegars and dipping oils that retain their flavors after cooking.

5. What is your favorite product from Tavern Direct?
That is a difficult question and one that depends on the dinner that I'm preparing. But the Meyer lemon olive oil and the citrus balsamic vinegar blended together makes for a wonderful salad.

6. Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
It truly is my Italian heritage and having a mother who was very earthy in her cooking—to the extent that I would go out into the fields and along the brook to find greens for dinner. Also, my grandfather was a chef from Sicily and I have tried to copy his roasted peppers, Spiedini and soups.

7. What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
I love my Vita Mix to make soups. But my favorite is to make fruit drinks every day. Before I ride my bike in the early morning, I blend Zico coconut water with fresh blueberries, strawberries, a pear, a banana, white peaches, topped off with fresh ginger and cinnamon.

8. What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Fresh ginger in drinks and a hearty red wine with butter in my pasta sauce.

9. If I am on a diet, which product should I use?
I think our four balsamic vinegars—Blackberry-Ginger, Vanilla-Fig, Citrus, and Strawberry—are to die for. They are rich, all-natural, barrel-aged and infused with fresh fruit concentrates and make for terrific salad dressings all by themselves. In addition, they can be used to marinade fish or even fruit, such as peaches. The fruit is then grilled, cut up and mixed into wild rice or couscous. Another option is to add the fruit to yogurt, frozen yogurt or ice cream. The Italians started using balsamic long ago on gelato.

10. What was the most challenging meal you had to make? Why?
When I was coaching hockey, I had to make sauce with meat balls and pasta for fourteen kids and their parents (40 people) within one hour. It was right after a noon game with 40 people in a private home kitchen.

11. What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
Latino flavors and sauces are popping up, and our new line will have these finishing sauces: Chipotle BBQ, Chipotle Peanut, Mexican Chipotle, Peruvian Citrus & Chilis, Argentinean Chimichurri Steak Sauce, Asian Acai-Berry Balsamic and Avocado-Dill Salad Oil.

12. Which foreign country inspires your products most?
Italy!

13. What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
Lobster with Mango at Bouley

14. What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
EXPERIMENT and don't be afraid to throw stuff in the mix. I just open drawers and say "Let me see what I have here." Then creativity flows and the palate is the higher judge.

15. What do you eat when you are home?
Broccoli slaw drizzled with my Meyer Lemon Oil and Citrus Balsamic Vinegar. I toss in pistachio nuts, dried cranberries and chopped scallions and mix. Totally healthy. Grilled fish basted with our Ginger Teriyaki and Grilled Peaches soaked in Vanilla Fig Balsamic Vinegar and a touch of rum or Grand Marnier.