Sal "The Voice" Valentinetti broke into the American musical mainstream in 2016 with a smash performance on America’s Got Talent. Since then, he’s been touring extensively, turning theaters into intimate venues with his charisma, old school style, and signature interpretations of big band and jazz classics. His new album, String Theory, featuring 13 original songs co-written and arranged by the artist himself, will be released in January 2027 by Keep Good Company Records. As a 100% Italian American and a recognized food enthusiast, Appetito wanted to discuss with Sal the influence of cuisine in his life and work as an artist.
It's well known that your love of music began as a young boy in the kitchen of your grandmother as the radio played. What was she cooking?
Food, like music, has been part of everything in my life, including the amount of time spent with my grandmother. Both of my parents worked, so starting in pre-school, I would get dropped off at my grandmother’s house after school, and I’d stay there until one of my parents picked me up. My grandmother and I would have lunch together every day. One of my favorite things that my grandmother made was pizzelle. Hers were were super thin. They had a little amaretto in them so there was this nice almond flavor to them, and she would serve them with a scoop of ice cream on top.That’s still my favorite way to have them.
What else did she make?
She made everything, all the Italian specialties. She made pot roast. She made a great baked ziti. Pork braciole. She made candied yams with probably half a pound of sugar in them. If she was feeling lazy, we would have Gorton’s frozen fish sticks with tartar sauce. It didn’t really matter what we ate. What’s most important was the company that we shared. And I have those memories.
Is there a correlation between those memories and your desire to be an entertainer?
Absolutely. To prepare a meal for someone is the easiest way to show them that you love them. I love to cook in general because it's a form of entertainment. For Italian Americans, culturally, food is the center of every celebration. It's the focal point. If somebody makes something extra special, it means that they're very honored to have you in their home, to be with you and break bread with you. This is similar to the way that I entertain people in a theater. I often hear that my shows have a very intimate and personal feeling because I give the same energy that I give when I host dinner with my family and friends. It's an intimate experience, and it's not just food when you entertain at your house or on the stage. You also have to be a good host. You have to entertain your guests in other ways. Maybe share a story or tell a joke, and it's the same exact thing that I do on stage in between my songs. It’s all very natural to me. I live my life the same on the other side of my front door as I do when inside.
At what point did you decide that being a musician is what you wanted to do with your life?
America's Got Talent. The moment when Heidi Klum hit the Golden Buzzer. I’d been around already. I’d been on American Idol. Nothing made me want to do this for a living until that moment on America's Got Talent. My head was always filled with doubt, but not necessarily in a negative way. Of course, any doubt in yourself is negative, but I believe it’s a good thing for everyone to manage reality because there's a reality to this world. The reality is that you're gonna grow up, and you gotta get a job because you gotta pay a mortgage, and you're gonna find a nice girl, and you're gonna settle down, right? And if you can't figure this out by the time you're 18 or 19 years old, what are you gonna do? I needed to have a plan. I needed to have a real thing. After American Idol, I was still at St. John's University studying business. I wanted nothing to do with music professionally because I didn't think it was a practical career. My mother's mother came here from Italy at 31 years old, married a man who already had five kids, a widower. She worked in a sweatshop with no air conditioning and no heat in the winter, sewing bathing suits and children's dresses so that her children could have a life worthwhile in this country. She sacrificed so much. Of course, I had dreams, but I didn't have time for dreams. I'm gonna see my name in lights? My grandmother was happy to see her name on an American Social Security check. Having those types of aspirations, unless everyone cosigned that you had what it took, wasn't a reality in my mind until that Golden Buzzer moment. You could see my face. You can see my heart jump into my throat. That explosion of emotion was real because that's the moment that my life was completely affirmed. That was when I realized, at 20 years old, what I was going to be doing for the rest of my life. There was no other option.
You're on the road a lot. What are some of your favorite places to eat while traveling?
Oh my God! So many. The best steakhouse I've ever been to is in Chicago. It's called Gibson's. They make an unbelievable ribeye, and their baked Alaska is famous. I really like barbecue, and any time I'm passing within an hour of Charleston, South Carolina. I go to Lewis Barbecue. It is the best Texas style brisket I have had in the country, and I've been to Texas, so I can say it's true. Otherwise, in certain parts of the country, you want certain things. In LA, I always get Mexican, unless my wife is with me and we go for sushi. In Miami, there’s Cuban food or Middle Eastern food. The Israeli food in Miami is also tremendous. Tampa has great Cuban food. Of course, when you go to Boston, you have to go to the Italian restaurants in the North End. They are just as good, if not better, than anything we have here in New York. And also in Massachusetts, great donuts. I don't know why. L.A. is more famous for donuts, but the donuts in Massachusetts. Nuts. Nuts.
When you get home, what do you want to eat?
It depends on what I'm coming home to. I do all the cooking in my house. If I get home early enough on a Sunday, and I have the energy, I'll make my own Sunday sauce. My mother's Neapolitan, and my wife is Sicilian, so my Sunday sauce is kind of a blend of those two traditions. During the week, I’m typically seasoning and stuffing a chicken breast or maybe some thighs. We love chicken thighs in my house. We're big steak people. I believe that the king of steaks is the bone-in ribeye. If you're not making a bone-in ribeye, what's the point of eating red meat?
