STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Vic Zagami knows his food craft — at least that’s what oat milk producer Oatly maintains. The company picked the Staten Island Ferry security guard and retired NYC corrections officer to headline in “Will It Swap?”, a YouTube production by Oatly launched on Tuesday, Sept. 27.
The premise of the unconventional cooking series features characters ranging from a body builder to Staten Island’s own Zagami aka “a self-professed Italian American plant-based skeptic.” The stars of the show are challenged in an experiment to swap regular dairy with Oatly thereby defying consumer’s predispositions of a vegan substitute.
The promos sum up the Sunnyside resident as a “your classic Italian-American father with a boisterous personality.”
Oatly further offers Zagami’s kitchen creds as “a man skeptical of non-dairy alternatives who can’t even pronounce the word vegan. [He] has a passion for baking, which began at his late father-in-law’s bakery in Little Italy.”
PIZZA FAME
Zagami is a familiar face on the pizza circuit. Four years ago he gave Frank Pinelo of The Pizza Show’s Season 2 Episode 8 a pie tour of the borough — first to Dongan Hills for tastes of Lee’s Tavern and Goodfella’s, then to Port Richmond for Denino’s. Since then, the VICE broadcast has garnered 5 million-plus views and earned Zagami considerable visibility — enough to get him noticed while shopping at Costco in New Springville. He certainly captured Oatly’s attention to win an appearance on their new show.
He speaks of how the “Will It Swap?” deal went down. Producers met with him first at a restaurant in Astoria, Queens to pitch the concept. He did some test runs with the product with much success — and some failures, he admits. (Rice pudding is a no go with Oatly.) Eventually filming took the camera crew to favorite shopping spots like La Bella Marketplace on 13th Avenue in Brooklyn and nearby Villabate Abba Bakery. The edible end result of Zagami’s documented journey was “Vic’s Italian Cream Puffs Without the Cream.”
SUCCESSFUL BAKERY
But Zagami is no novice to crafting food. He learned cookery basics from PBS cooking shows like the “Galloping Gourmet” and work at a family bakery in Little Italy. He was going to open a bakery but didn’t go through with a lease. As a family man with a wife and two daughters, he took the civil service route and became a New York City corrections officer.
“I saw so much turmoil in the bakeries,” said Zagami. To keep a hand in culinary matters, he and his wife, Lisa, established a cake-making business 17 years ago out of their home in Great Kills, “Made In Heaven Cakes.” Their daughter Victoria took over the business which has locations now in Southhampton, Long Island, and Park Slope, Brooklyn.
“My wife started with the cakes in the garage and we were doing it for 13 years. There was no internet and it was all word-of-mouth on Staten Island. My daughter took it in another direction,” said Zagami. Her creations have been featured at star-studded parties including Oprah’s 15th magazine anniversary.
Ultimately he credits his wife, Lisa, for the path life has taken.
“She is the backbone of everything,” he said.
“When I cook she’ll tell me — you need a little more of this, less of this. She’s a good influencer with me. Then I got my kids — Alexandria and Victoria,” said Zagami who appreciated the guidance in the Oatly cooking endeavor.
The experience truly changed his mind. He declared, “I would recommend that product. I was forced to make the recipes and to my surprise, it was very good — excellent.”
Zagami said he’s looking forward to the second season with Oatly. By then, he’ll have more recipes under his belt.
The recipe can be found on the Oatly.com site.
Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com.
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