"SABOR" is a food & wine and lifestyle series that savors Latinos' zest for life and passion for home and family.    

Venezuelan native Executive Chef Franco Robazetti, who is of Italian and Spanish descent, has a carnivorous appetite when it comes to perfecting the taste of his Smoked BBQ Baby Back Ribs, brisket, Applewood bacon dishes, specialty sausages, tasty burgers, Weiner Schnitzel and other numerous meat-inspired inventions.

When Robazetti opens his Southern Pride Cooker at Zeppelin Hall Restaurant, Biergarten, & Bar in Jersey City, New Jersey there is a sense of nostalgia as he breathes in the smoky aroma of the meat infused with apple cider and hickory wood and reminisces of his childhood growing up on a farm in Caracas, Venezuela.

Recalling his family's love of cooking and savoring pork and beef among fire pits, open grills, and barbecues and pig roasts, it's evident that Chef Robazetti is enthralled with the preparation, presentation and indulgence of meats.

Born to an Italian father from Turino and a Spanish mother from Barcelona and growing up in Venezuela, Robazetti experienced a savory trifecta of food, culture, and family that he relishes in everyday as he's often engulfed in his favorite smoke-filled, meat-induced coma.

"Food is about memories," Robazetti said to Latin Post as he reminisced of the familial and culinary legacy that he and his beloved parents left behind.

When Robazetti became Executive Chef of Zeppelin Hall Restaurant, Biergarten, & Bar in 2014, it was a perfect way for him to further explore his love affair with meat and incorporate his experience with a German flair.

"German food has been famous by the portions, the big portions and the really strong flavors. I try to incorporate a little bit of that American flair," Robazetti explained. "We're doing barbeque, the brisket and ribs. We try and do it with the same traditions as the Germans with the same portions for sure. There's no way you can leave Zeppelin Hall being hungry."

Chef Robazetti was recruited by John Argento to elevate the food and service at Zeppelin Hall. As a customer, he had enjoyed the German pub grub offered there, but saw there was potential to elevate the menu. He seized the opportunity to bring his ideas and skills learned while working with a German chef early in his career to fruition. 

In the spirit of a German biergarten, Zeppelin Hall Restaurant, Biergarten, & Bar has an impressive beer selection -- with almost 150 different types of beers that hail from its home state of New Jersey to upstate New York, the Czech Republic, and of course, Germany. As you taste different beer flights, your taste buds are temporarily transported.

Robazetti has had a blast at Zeppelin Hall, hosting events such as a "Bacon Fest," a "Sausage Fest," "Chilimania!" and a "Pig Out," where you can eat any portion of the pig you'd like, whether it's a Cuban sandwich made with pork shoulder or the highly sought-after, savory pig's head or feet.

"No part of the pig is ever wasted," Robazetti reiterates.

Robazetti's favorite part of the "Pig Out" is indulging on the pig's head and snout, which he praises for its crispiness and abundance of flavor.

Robazetti has a great sense of humor. During his "Bacon Fest, he included his spin on the "Fifty Shades of Grey" movie madness with his "Fifty Shades of Bacon BLT," which is made with 50 strips of Appelwood bacon.

He also added his unique "Alligator Chili Tacos" to the "Chilimania!" menu, which includes chunks of Florida alligator sausage and alligator chorizo roasted over red chipotle peppers served with queso fresco and guacamole. His "Route 666 Ten Alarm Chili" is so intense that it requires patrons to sign a waiver before consuming the "devilish dish!" Yikes!

When you visit the Zeppelin Biergarten, you can stay for an hour or you can stay for eight hours. You won't be rushed out, Robazetti stresses. That admired European approach of being able to relax, converse, indulge and be merry at your leisure is key for the entire experience.

Also the Executive Chef of Surf City in Jersey City, Chef Robazetti spices things up with his speciality shrimp cocktail that's served with Italian parsley, chili flakes, all bay spices and Tequila with a cool, added effect of spooky dry ice.

Being at the helm of two restaurants isn't easy and takes a colossal amount of work, he points out.

"As a chef you walk on the edge of a knife, all the time between being a businessman and being an artist," he said. "If you put too much on the blade and you don't watch your numbers, you don't make money. If you are just looking to make money, then you are just putting out the cheapest items that you can find. You can find that balance between giving that best experience to the customers and making sure that you are keeping the business alive, but it's a challenge everyday."

Chef Robazetti is a graduate from the Cordon Bleu Program in Caracas and has also completed Master baker Certification at the French Culinary Institute in New York.

In Venezuela, he trained with the top three Venezuelian Chefs: Sumito Estevez, Constantino Scanu and Pietro Neder. He traveled to South America and the Caribbean to hone his skills at fine dining steakhouses, five star hotels and country clubs. In 1998, he opened "Via Claudia Augusta" restaurant where he served up the newest trends in Italian avant-garde cuisine.

In 2002, Chef Robazetti's career brought him to southern Texas where he worked at Saltgrass Steakhouse and Saltwater Grill (Gulf of Mexico) before joining Palm restaurant team in 2005.

In 2009, he came to New York City where he became the Executive Chef at the famed Iridium Jazz Club, then in 2011 as Executive sous chef at Bobby Vans Steakhouse on Lexington.

In 2012, he joined the W Hotel in Hoboken, New Jersey as an Executive Sous Chef and Executive Banquet Chef at Zylo until he helmed the kitchen at Zeppellin Hall and Surf City in Jersey City.