Bruno's Bakery owner keeps cooking on 'Next Baking Master: Paris'

When the Food Network called Joseph Settepani and asked him to fly to Paris for a baking competition, he thought it was a joke.

"I said no, this is a hoax, they're not flying 10 Americans out to Paris for a Food Network show," said Settepani, who with his family owns Bruno's Bakery & Gelateria in Freehold Township. "I didn’t know they were doing international-style competitions like that."

But they are, and the 32-year-old had been chosen for the first season of "Next Great Baker: Paris," which premiered last month and airs at 9 p.m. Mondays.

Settepani has baked his way through five episodes of the the eight-episode show, which so far has challenged bakers to create desserts with French sugar, chocolate, butter and fruit.

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"I really liked this past episode ('Fresh and Forbidden Fruits') and my tomato tart because it's something I've never done before," he said. "I think it came out amazing."

He also is proud of crepes he made with persimmon, a fruit he grew up eating.

"There were a couple dishes I wish I could take back and redo, but that's the name of the game," said Settepani, recalling a snafu he made with American measuring cups versus European measuring cups. "And when they do the timing — an hour, two hours — that's no joke. You go in the kitchen and that's what you've got. Once you went in the kitchen, that was live. You're going full throttle, you're working with ingredients you've never worked with, with people you've never worked with before."

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This wasn't Settepani's first experience with Food Network. As a teenager, his family's cannoli proved victorious on "Beat Bobby Flay," and he competed on the network's "Sweet Genius" and "Holiday Baking Championship" shows.

"This show is completely different than whatever they have done in the past with baking," he said of "Next Great Baker: Paris." "Not only are we competing, but they're taking us to different places, they're introducing us to some of the best pastry chefs not only in France, but in the world.

"You get flown in, you're learning something not only from the guest chefs, but from the other contestants," Settepani added. "It was such an amazing experience. I'm very grateful for it."

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Taking part in the show provided inspiration for the family bakery.

"It opened a lot of things in my brain because ... day in and day out, doing the same thing, your inspiration goes away," he said. "Taking that break for the time I was in France and just getting more inspiration brought some [creative] juices for me, and that was really phenomenal."

Each Wednesday at Bruno's, Settepani re-creates one of his desserts from the most recent episode. This week, that's a Lebanese-inspired tomato tart with Middle Eastern praline, tomato cake, cream cheese mousse and tomato gelée.

"I realized in the past, on Food Network, you do this stuff and customers or the people that watch it, they never get to try it," he said. "I think it's a fun idea to have customers come in, and if they're watching the show, they can try it. If they're not watching the show, we let them know about the show.

"It's a good opportunity to get the community involved and make Monmouth County proud," Settepani said.

Go: Bruno's Bakery & Gelateria, 356 W. Main St., Freehold Township; 732-301-5126, brunosnyc.com.

Sarah Griesemer joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in 2003 and has been writing all things food since 2014. Send restaurant tips to sgriesemer@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruno's Bakery owner keeps cooking on Next Baking Master: Paris