Not a Drill: 'Queer Eye' Star Antoni Porowski to Open Restaurant in NYC
On June 19 at the92nd Street Yin New York City, the cast of Netflix's hitQueer Eyegathered for a lively panel, andAntoni Porowski, the show'sresident culinary expert, gave us a lot of food for thought.
The Montreal-born, New York-based chef dropped quite a few bombshells during the talk, which was moderated byTeen Vogue's Phillip Picardi. The biggest piece of news?Porowskihas plans to open a fast-casual restaurant in NYC. When asked about the project, he said he wasn't "supposed to talk about it," but then decided to give in.
"I’m all about like cheese and pork belly and decadence, and as a result of the increased vanity of being on camera all the time and working out and eating healthy, I’m developing a fast-casual food concept restaurant that I’m gonna be opening here in New York," he said.
Here's what else we learned from Porowski about his food career from the talk.
1. He was 'a pretty damn good waiter.'
"I was a busboy, a waiter, a manager, a sommelier... like...all of it from a family-run Polish restaurant, with like grandmas in the basement hand-making pierogies, to working at Bond Street for a while. I’ve done it all. So I have experience more on the front-of-house side of things, but I’ve always had a strong reverence and a respect for chefs. .. I just thought of Bourdain… (pause) But, um, they’ve always been sort of like my rockstars and I’ve just always had a lot of respect for them, so for me I’ve always felt like I was sort of on the outside. For whatever reason, I also like to perform, so I think that’s why I liked being a waiter. And I was a pretty damn good waiter."
2. His forthcoming cookbook will have zero recipes that include avocado.
"It’s a 100-recipe cookbook. And I think ... oh my God ... not one of them has avocados in it! It’s turned, I realize, into my own culinary memoir, which I’m super excited about. I’ve submitted 50 recipes and I’m working on the rest, and I’m super excited for it to come out.
3. He's always loved food.
"They asked me how has food been part of your life, and I realized that it’s been this constant that’s always been there in some way, shape, or form, whether it’s privately cooking for my family and loved ones and friends, to working in a professional capacity. It’s always been there."