Some have physiques like bodybuilders, faces like models and the charisma of rock stars. They are a new breed of chefs teasing our palates with sensuous dishes and sexual charm. There appears to be as much sex in the kitchen as there is in the city. And now with the trend for wide open cooking spaces, we get a chance to admire these culinary Casanovas as well as the sybaritic edibles they turn out.
Since it’s hotter than ever around the stove, we asked some of New York hunkiest chefs to strip. The response was enormous. 10 of the Big Apple’s top food gurus were ready not only to doff their toques, but everything else as well. And then they got cold (they said feet, but who knows). It seems wives, girlfriends and managers wanted to keep these stove studs to themselves. But one of New York’s dynamic young chefs was up for it –get ready to get your juices flowing. Once you see the delicious John Villa whirl his whisk, you’ll be hungry for seconds.
Dark, handsome 32-year-old John Villa developed a passion for cooking as a child watching his Italian American grandmother prepare countless family dinners and holiday meals at their home in Nutley, NJ. Although he worked at some of New York’s top restaurants and was an executive chef at Judson Grill and Park View at the Boat House, he wanted his own place. After a trip throughout Portugal and the island of Pico in the Azores, John and his wife Regina decided that they would develop a Portuguese-inspired restaurant, focusing on the country’s slow simmered, sultry cuisine and their superb wines. 3 years ago, Pico opened its doors, getting a three-star review from the New York Times.
Restaurants like Pico may be about food, but they’re also about theater and sex. And this is nothing new. The link between food and sex goes back to the beginning of time. Remember how Eve seduced Adam with an apple? And didn’t Romeo spot Juliet at a lavish buffet? Many a great love affair has begun over food. Villa and his wife met in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant in New Jersey. John was romancing the stove and Regina, who was helping out a friend, was turned on while watching him cook. And who wouldn’t be? He chops, dices, steams and sautés with the passion of a lover, coaxing the absolute maximum flavor from each ingredient. His onions, shallots, parsley and garlic cloves practically groan with delight. He considers long, low simmering the culinary equivalent of foreplay and steams up the kitchen with food that gently caresses the palate. It’s obvious why everyone wants this guy to cook for them.
A recent trip to Pico at 349 Greenwich St. in Tribeca resulted in not only a sampling of the latest culinary rage but the chance to see Villa perform his magic… minus his apron.
Pico is a romantic spot with brick walls, high ceilings, soft lighting and sexy, plush wrap- around banquets. The big open kitchen gives diners the chance to ogle the cooking and ogle the chef at the same time…
… There are certain foods that are more seductive than others. Some consider oysters, olives and caviar an aphrodisiac, but for John truffles are the ultimate culinary turn-on. “Everyone is turned on by truffles. The heady aroma is very sexy and they’re very expensive which also makes them titillating,” he told us. Another one of John’s erotic dishes was the casserole of grilled Dorado with walnut and parsley sauce he served at the photo shoot. Like good sex, it’s a recipe that takes time but is it ever worth it. Every mouthful is pure bliss.
The Aztec emperor Montezuma always drank a cup of chocolate before entering his Harem. Since that time chocolate has been cloaked in an aura of romance and mystery. Chocolate is also known to be a powerful aphrodisiac –it makes you feel like you are in love. As you can see, John Villa thrives off it and he doesn’t keep much under cloaks, including his recipe for his cinnamon chocolate brownies with a rich chocolate ganache. This is the ultimate chocolate dessert, a wickedly sensuous mood enhancer, if there ever was one.
Head over to PLAYGIRL+ for John’s recipes… And more of John himself!
