Jasper Mirabile Jr. loves cannoli, but his diet doesn’t

​Chef Jasper Mirabile Jr. is on the hunt for great cannoli. The title of his upcoming book, On the Cannoli Trail, comes from his search for the perfect version of the classic Sicilian carnavale dessert: a pastry shell filled with ricotta cheese and sometimes blended with cream and sugar or orange flower water. It’s one of the many desserts he serves at Jasper’s Restaurant, which he co-owns with his brother Leonard.

We sat down with Jasper Jr. — the only local chef to have cooked five times at New York City’s James Beard House — to find out why, among other things, he has to stay away from his own restaurant’s dessert cart.