September 16, 2019 • 24 mins
Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski makes his way to Nashville for the first time and joins Cody Alan in the studio to dish on his southern city experience, talk about his new cookbook, "Antoni in the Kitchen" and reveal what he has learned about himself being a cast member on the show "Queer Eye."
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Cody Cast, Cody Allen's podcast. You know him
as your food and wine expert on Queer Eye on Netflix.
Also a new book out called Anthony in the Kitchen.
Anthony Perowski is here with us in Nashville, and I
assume this is your first time here. I was trying
to figure it out because I have done like university
um speaking tours. I have never been in Nashville before.
(00:22):
And I have to say I was just at a
book signing and I was shocked at how lively and
cheerful and happy everyone is here, Like everyone is so kind.
What's up? Like I don't even understand right now, because
I feel like we're all miserable from the heat it's been.
I'm telling you, it's September. It's supposed to be pumpkin
spice weather, and it's not. You're not there. I'm in
(00:45):
full denial though. But everyone is in such a good
mood and so polite. It's like, you guys are almost Canadian.
That was a humble brag. So you're playing tonight, yes,
which is super exciting. And when we get to the
cookbook and all kinds of fun questions about Queer Eye
and so on. But I do want to ask, like,
when people go to see this tour tonight, what is that?
Like I'm cooking, so I'm gonna be doing a little
(01:06):
food demo. I'm gonna have somebody help me with said demo,
and then um, and then I'm just gonna have like
a nice little panel discussion and sort of talk about
the book. Q and A. Yeah, like a little Q
and nice session. Well that sounds a little fun games
mixed in between. And it's a very It's not something
that anybody would typically do for a cookbook, but mine,
(01:28):
um because I'm a pathologically sensitive and emotional guy. Um
Mine is very much like a it's a culinary memoir.
So it's like dishes that have shaped me basically. So
it's a lot of like backstory and happy sad stuff
in there. I've read every word. It's a big book.
What was your favorite word? Butternut? Yeah? Now, I love
(01:54):
I do love a good butternut squash soup. Who's with
me on this? People? Come on now? And who doesn't?
I mean, it's so good. If it did feel like fall,
it would be the perfect soup for today. It is
the perfect soup for September Day. In Nashville when yeah,
and I also love some of you. Listen, there's a
ton of photos of Anthony in here as well, so
(02:14):
no shortage of those. There's yeah, so uh and here
you are buying actual squash. You're buying some gourd's. I
am oh, I am double fisting, but are not squash
um with my little toe in New York my happy place? Okay?
Was this post or I sweat? Okay? So Paul Brisman,
who's a photographer for the book he used to he
(02:35):
photographed like a bunch of um a bunch of punk
bands way back then, and he's like this ex rock
and roller type and he is the most badass photographer
I've ever worked with. We were fully in the middle
of Canal Street and he was like jumping up on
hydrants and like trying to take photos while I was walking.
So it was like kind of distracting, like knowing usually
photographer is good and not letting you know that they're
(02:56):
not really there. But it was like very painfully obvious
that he was as he was like jumping around, but
nothing was really except the photos around directly looking into
the camera. None of those are are really post He's
very like he's he's very much like a photojournalist. It's awesome,
great photography, and I can tell not only you're obviously
recipes and Anthony in the kitchen, but also great stories
behind some of these recipes and really about your life.
(03:17):
Right Yeah, like you said, sort of would you call it?
It's like a culinary memoir. It's all dishes, you know.
I I sort of plead my case with all the
with every single one of the hundred recipes, like they've
all had some kind of an important role in my life.
I mean, I don't bake. I love a sweet, but
even I'm salty over sweet. But like my dessert section,
for example, is like an homage to all the women
and men who have made desserts for me growing up.
(03:37):
And then I have recipes in there that um that
I made during like a lovely seven year relationship that
I had with with with someone very special whose family
taught me on conditional love um, and it was food
that I made for them and and food that I
ate when I was like a broke ass student and
I had like no money and I was overdrafting my
TV bank account and paying that thirty seven dollar fee
and asking my dad to send me a check, and
(03:58):
he didn't know how to wire or use his apps.
We would have to mail me a check, which would
take a week and a half. Um. Like I said,
it's a lot of happy sad um. So what's that
recipe by the way, That would definitely be the white
butter beans with sort of like this nice Herby tomato sauce,
which literally costs like three dollars to make and I
ate it all the time. And then my very favorite,
(04:19):
I'm obsessed with peas. I just I don't know what
it is about them. I just loved them because rule
number ten here frozen peas for president. Well, because they
definitely should if they were human. And I will anthropomorphize
them as long as I need to until they become president. Um.
I just I I peas are something that I remember,
like they're literally a dollar a bag. And I used
to come home from from her from rehearsals. I was
(04:41):
in theater school for two years in New York and um,
and I'd have like a bag of frozen peas. I
would thaw them out with some really good butter, put
some mald and salt and fresh mint. And that's something
that I still do when I come back from whether
I'm filming Queer Eye or touring or whatever it is
that I'm doing, I come home and I want a
meal in five minutes. It reminds me of the person
I was when I first moved to New York, and
like food is sentimental, it's emotional, it's nostalgic. It's all
(05:03):
of these things, and I think sometimes it's important to revisit,
like recipes that you had when you were a kid too.
Do you have a favorite recipe and it's narrowed down
to one in the book, but um today um In
Leah of the Weather, I think I would pick Poland's
version of gaspacho, which is We're known for Borsch, which
is like a beat soup that is very hot that
has these little dumplings in it. But the chilled Borsh
(05:25):
version is like bright pink. It looks radioactive and there's
a hard boiled egg and sour cream which I love,
and pickles and cucumber and it's just like refreshing soup
that just wakes you up and it's the most thirst
quenching thing ever. Yeah, let's go back to the broke
days for a second. I want to get back to
the mantras in the book, and you've got some great
top ten monsters I want to talk about. But uh,
how did Queer Eye in the call to be the
(05:47):
food and wine cuisine guy? How did that change everything? Um?
I mean it changed my life. UM. I remember exactly
where I was the day that I got that call.
It was Barrett, one of the show creators. I was
working in a gallery at the time. I've had a
lot of jobs. UM. I think that's why they had
a bit of confusion when they were casting the show,
because they knew that I was obsessed with food. But
(06:08):
I studied psychology, I was an actor. I worked in
a gallery. UM, spoke many languages and like I was
a little all over the place. I'm very a d
D and UM. And so I was working this gallery job.
I was about to sell this very specific piece of furniture.
It was a French Art Deco side cabinet that Andy
Warhol used to own, and I was about to make
a really big commission. But I got the call, and
I was like, holy crap, I've been waiting for this
(06:29):
call for three weeks. And they basically told me to
sit down and asked me if I wanted to be
a part of the family, and I was just sort
of like flushed and freaked out. And I called my
boyfriend at the time and he came to pick me up.
And then we were going home to Brooklyn that day
and we were on the subway, um, listening to music,
and then we just like both looked at each other
and smiled. And it's like I didn't I didn't know
(06:51):
what was going to happen, and I didn't know if
it was going to be a big show or just
an homage to the original. But like I knew that
my life was about to change and it was this,
and it literally did. It was like a zero hundred
overnight situation. It would be one thing to sort of
restart the show, a reboot the show, Um, it's another
like recreated and I think you guys have done that,
where yeah, I think it's a different show altogether. I
(07:12):
mean I had the benefit I weirdly worked as a
personal assistant to Ted Allen. The original the o g
phon and and and the first iteration of the show.
It was definitely more humor driven. It was funny and
it was entertaining. I think I don't think people were
ready to to to deal with some of the stories
and the things that we address in in in the
Netflix version of it. But um, yeah, I mean it's
a show all about heart and vulnerability and opening yourself
(07:34):
up to to to other people and sort of having
that conversation. And I cried. I mean I the only one.
Do I cry every episode of Queer. I I mean
I do too. It's like it's it gets me every time.
I'm like, how can you not? Like these are perfect
strangers who are opening up about things that they've never
really shared before. I'm about to cry right now, just
think about And I only came out a couple of
(07:58):
years ago myself. I don't know, I know some of
your story, and so it was freeing to me to see.
And it always is anytime I've met anyone else who's gay,
Like it's like, oh, there's someone kind of it's like me,
and right, there's something reassuring about that, even if you're not,
you can kind of see humans just being completely real,
which is so awesome. Like for some of us, some
(08:21):
of my castmates, like our our sexuality comes at the
forefront of who we are and for others a dozen
for me, it never really did. It was just always
assumed that I was straight and I would just share
with people sort of like one by one. I never
really had like a big coming out situation. And what
I like about the show is that we're not pushing
any agenda. This isn't We don't treat every episode as
an opportunity to talk about gay stuff. Like it comes
(08:42):
up and if our hero has a question, awesome, I'm
there to talk about it at the end of the day,
like I'm I'm here to show you how to show
up for your family and yourself, like the other stuff
can come up, like it's it's not like the main
it's not it's not like the main m O or
the goal at hand. Authenticity seems to be the main
to me. And if it, like you said, if it
brings you around to some of those topics, even better,
(09:02):
but it's not the central focus, right. Um. What have
you sort of learned about yourself in the journeys you've
been watching other people go through? Um, I mean it's
been an exponential growth curve in terms of literally everything
in my life. I'm I'm somebody. I'm the type of
person who I'm very Canadian. Um, there's an expression we
(09:23):
like apologize for taking up air in the room when
we walk in. And I'm very sort of I've never
really been good at addressing my needs because I'm the
people please ear, and I need everyone to love me. Um,
And in with public life, you know, it's actually impossible
to have everyone love you. UM. So I've kind of
like it's it's directed me to sort of like sort
of stay in my own lane. But in terms of
the heroes, UM, just in terms of like meeting somebody
(09:46):
who's a parent, meeting somebody like Mama Tammy, who um
changed her whole perception on how she viewed her son
based on you know, the church that she was raised in.
It sort of showed me that, like, family dynamics can
always change. I was raising a very dysfunctional family. UM.
Growing up, I was extremely close to my biological mother
and my middle sister, And now it's the reverse. I'm
(10:06):
very close with my father and my oldest sister. UM.
But the reverse isn't true. UM. But family dynamics can change,
and I'm sort of more open to that now. And
it's just, um, yeah, it's it's completely like the vulnerability
that these people have and and their willingness to share
about everything. I came on that show and I told myself,
I'm not going to talk about gay stuff. I'm not
going to ever bring it up. And then lo and behold,
(10:28):
fourth episode, we have our lovely hero, A j who
never had a chance to come out to his father.
He came I lost my mind, and so he came
out to his step mom and he wanted to talk
about sexuality. And then suddenly I was like, oh, this
is an opportunity to talk about the fact that I
actually don't identify as gay. Um. I've been in more
relationships with women than i've been with men. I've been
in love with women. UM. And so I think the
(10:49):
closest word to it, at least for now, because I
hate boxes and I think I'm just a rebel at
heart um or I'm just in a brat um. But um,
I've always considered myself as fluid. And then I was like, okay, great, Well,
if he's going to tell us about his life, I
have to do the same. You can't expect somebody to
open up about everything that they're going through and just
sit there and be preachy. You've taken the show to Japan,
or perhaps you already have. I guess the episodes have
(11:11):
been filmed. We did their film. They're coming out in
November first, I think November one. Yes, I almost. I
just got a little bit of back sweat because I
always say things that I'm not supposed to say and
Netflix is very secretive as we know. But that's fine.
The secrets out, so it's I'm not getting in trouble
for this. Well, this is an interesting concept because obviously
it's Japan, so it's a completely different take on what
(11:33):
you guys do. But how will this series be different
this season? Yeah? I was. I was intimidated going in
because of the obvious language barrier, and then we had
a lovely translator who sort of held our hands throughout
the whole process, and um, I think everyone's going to
be really like we really. It's incredible how there are
(11:54):
so many similarities in terms of the human experience and
what we're going through. But when you add to that
sort of the cultural nuances and the differences and how
people um express their love. For example, like in Japanese culture,
if you go to any single store, like you go
to a seven eleven, if you see the packaging yes,
I'm gonna bring it up because I bring it up
anytime I can. The egg salad sandwich at seven eleven
and Lawson is the best egg sandwich you will ever
(12:16):
have in your life. It is crustless. The yolks are amazing,
the mayo is like a nice bright yellow. They're just
so good. But the packaging is just so beautiful. And
they take care into every single thing that they do,
and that's how they show their love. Whereas in the
U S we're a lot more comfortable giving hugs and
giving words of affirmation. So it's um. It's interesting to see,
like when you come up to somebody UM in Japan,
like one of the heroes, and you tell them something
(12:36):
like I think what you're doing is really beautiful, or
thank you for being vulnerable, and they just they lose
their ship because like no one's ever said anything like
that before, and they're just like in total shock, and
like before you know it, it's just not crying fast. Well,
I can't wait to watch it me too. I haven't
seen it either, and that's doesn't show us. I'll probably
see it when you do. You'll see the edits before
(12:57):
they go out. No, they send it to us literally
like a day or before they come out. But also
I'm being a brat, but like I don't really like
to watch myself, so it's not like I'm going to
really watch it anyway. I was gonna get to that,
like it's it's something you you watch every episode and
like kind of pick apart, like oh I can said
this better or um, yes, absolutely all the time. I mean, look,
these scenes take three people please write h percent, but
(13:18):
also severe pathological control freak. Um, So these scenes they
take three to four hours. And especially with like the
methodology of a recipe something that's a little more complex,
it's like a lot of things get cut out. It's
impossible to do the whole thing in two minutes, and
you want to get certain beats in. So I've sort
of learned to like let go and let God and
like trust the editing team who does a fantastic job,
(13:40):
and I just kind of stay in my lane. And
it's it's best when I don't watch it. Well, they
always make you look good, that's for sure. Um, Taylor,
great job, Yeah, Taylor Swift her video you need to
calm down. Yeah. Part of of course, Taylor connects to
our little world here, So what was like that day?
It looked like a circus. She's okay, I just I
(14:00):
love her so much. I've had like the opportunity to
meet um a lot of my idols and people that
I've that I've looked up to, and a couple of
times with certain people. Sometimes you get disappointed, Um, who
needing her? And I'm not, We're not going there. Um,
that's not my brand. That's not why I'm here, not
falling for that one. Um. But um, but Taylor is
(14:22):
just like what she does. What I knew about her
before is like what she does for her fans, and
I think no other talent does that. Um. The amount
of like commitment and like dedication and like attention she
gives to people who um love her and her music.
But to see the way that she behaves on a set,
I think is like a true sort of like testament
to the person that she is. It could not have
(14:43):
been more of a collaborative process. It was all kindness. Meanwhile,
it was an extremely stressful situation because there's like pap
helicopters everywhere going to pee, which I do every ten
minutes because I drink so much coffee and drink a
lot of water and have the smallest bladder in the world.
Thanks Mom and Dad. Um. From a genetic standpoint, Um,
they would like walk us with umbrellas to the urinals.
(15:03):
And it was just like very like everything was just
so kind of like calculated and sort of like on
a very strict timeline because they had so much talent
on the set um and she just couldn't have been
nicer and sweeter. And she she has the best taste
in music. And you know what, you didn't ask for it.
But let's talk about her album. My favorite songs right
now and they change every week. Um, Cornelia Street is
(15:25):
really speaking to me. Death by a Thousand Cuts destroyed
me when I finally like actually listened to the lyrics
because at first it was just catchy and then it
was like boom um. And Archer is still my number
one really. Yeah, I'm one of those tailors with fans
and I have to listen to a song several times
because they're so deep. There's so much there and you
(15:47):
don't you know, if it's not that hookie, catchy thing
in the beginning that you have to really study it. Yeah,
I immediately go for the ballads or the sadder stuff
right off, right off the bat, because that's sort of
like I'm a sad boy, Like that's my that's my leaning,
that's my inclination. But I just think it's such an
excellent album, and I'm like, I'm just so proud of her.
And she has great taste in music. She loves the National.
(16:08):
To anyone who loves the National, it's like somebody who
who likes dogs, it's like, immediately respect you. It's true.
Have you ever met a bad dog person? Never? Are
the best correct cat people? Never mind? Um, we're not
bringing that up in the book. You do have your
your top ten culinary monstres. I mentioned one of them,
(16:30):
which is frozen piece for President Uh, and I have
I think what I think is my favorite of these.
But which one do you think is the most important
mantra when it comes to cookie? Um, let's remember these
ten mantras. I think it would actually be because now
I'm thinking of um Taylor and UM a lot of
her music. I think French omelets are romantic, Yes, that
(16:52):
is one right, I'm not wrong. Are romantic? Yeah. I
like number two. Don't put too much pressure on yourself.
I think a lot of people do that in the
kitchen because cooking is supposed to be fun. It's supposed
to be calm and meditating. And for somebody who's as
manic as I am and running around all the time,
the thing I most look forward to, Like my ultimate
(17:13):
luxuries these days are one sleeping in my own bed
and two actually cooking in my own kitchen and like
being at home and preparing a meal and busting on
some Miles Davis or Maggie Rogers or whatever it is,
and like listening to just good music and waiting for
friends or someone to come home um and cook for
is like the ultimate. That's like the ultimate thing, and
it should be an enjoyable experience. And I feel like
you bring that on Queer Ride to uh those who
(17:35):
you're working with and working you know, helping their lives progress.
Is that calming sort of Anthony's spirit, you know, I'm
talking about just that that calmness that I feel like
you bring in and that joy in the kitchen that
I think a lot of people are missing because it's
just so much easier to go to yeah food And
by the way, is there a is there a chain
(17:56):
restaurant that you will go to a chain restaurant that
I will go to. Um, yeah, fast food for that.
So my very favorite number one, if I had to pick,
um would be shake Shack and here's my order, a
shock stack, Um, but add a beef patty because there's
(18:19):
only one and it's really thin. And there's like a
Portabella mushroom burgger that's stuffed with guda and it's deep
fried and it just boozes out and it's fantastic. Although
Sentimes Gouda could be tad salt here, but anyway, Um,
the buns are perfect. And then I would have a
ten piece chicken nuggets situation with a honey mustard and
the barbecue sauce because the barbecue sauces tangy, it has
the right level of acid. And that would have whatever
milkshake they have available there because they're awesome. And I'm
(18:42):
usually not one for fries unless it's putine, which is
a French Canadian classic with gravy and cheese curds. But
there I would really um, I would really mess up
some waffle fries with the cheese sauce. I get some
extra cheese sauce on the side. I'm sorry, I'm not done.
And also the I forgot I forgot the name of it,
but it's the hot dog that has um, the onion
(19:03):
and the pick. It's like the one with the child's
veggies on it. It's just fantastic. What's the biggest mistake
as you're coming across people on the show or otherwise
people make in the kitchen, what's the first thing you
notice the wake? I think people get too ambitious from
the get go and they want to take on a
recipe that's overly complicated. I do this mistake as well,
(19:24):
Like if I have somebody over who I really want
to impress, I'll be like, yeah, this is the first
time I'm going to try some dish that I've never
made before. It is not the time. Like invite your
best friends over and then go screw up a recipe
so you can test it out a few times and
get it right. You're probably not going to get it
right the first time. Like, we're not all in a garden.
The world just doesn't work that way. Um, but um,
I say, like, start off with something really simple and
(19:47):
then like the Italians have it figured out. It's a
few amount of ingredients, but everything is high quality. It's
a little bit of technique, and it's like like pesto,
not presto pesto, Like I was actually thinking about pesto
because it's really just basil, garlic, pine nuts, and Partaman,
you have one of the most delicious sauces ever. Real
quick switching gears. Karamo is gonna be on Dancing with
(20:08):
the Stars of course, co star with you on Queer I, Um,
were you surprised to see him add to the show.
Where was it like, Oh, that's a perfect thing, um,
as somebody who basically has two left feet. Um, my
father is an excellent dancer. I am horrible for Kramo
zero surprises that he decided to join. He is definitely
(20:29):
he And if I didn't say Jonathan, Um, Jonathan would
probably violently hurt me if I didn't say this that
Kramo and Jonathan are both number one in terms of
like dancing and choreography out of the Fab five, but
Karama is a little better. You didn't hear that, right? Okay? Good?
Which by way, I saw your I think you've taken
(20:50):
down now. But you and Jonathan there for a while,
we're kind of a thing. Now it still exists. I
think we're I think we're at three fifty or three
d as your couple page j v Antony is live
and well. Thank you very much and we will continue
to post. One of the sidebar things that I love
about watching queer. I also is um your shirts. I
feel like you've you've got either a really cool shirt
(21:10):
on or like a message shirt. And by the way,
we should say it is a Viacom Inclusion week. You're
helping us kick it off with this chat, yere, so
give it up for our Viacom sparkers over here. UM,
that was very enthusiastic. Let's give a real one. There
you go. Do you have a favorite message shirt? A
(21:33):
favorite message shirt? I think it would be Oh, I
think it was in this past season or the one
before that. Um, in the first season, I wore a shirt.
By the thing is like the stylists didn't give me
any direction during the beginning. They just wanted it. They
described my look or my mood board as like we
(21:54):
want you to be like the New York or James
Dean type, just jeans and T shirts. So I was like, great,
I'm going to promote bands that I like in books
that I like, and um, one of the most important books. Um.
Probably the single most important book I've ever read, which
destroyed me the two times that I read it is
called A Little Life by hany Yanna Guihara and UM
it's it's a book about four boys who basically grow
up and one of them has dealt with, um uh,
(22:16):
some some really difficult stuff. He's been given some really
tough a tough hand of cards. And although the story
itself is very difficult and deals with a lot of
issues and things that a lot of us have experienced
and gone through, it really is a story about kindness,
and it's about three people showing up for somebody and
showing them unconditional love and not unlike Queer Eye, where
it's like loving the person until they love themselves. Um.
(22:38):
And that's one that continues to be incredibly important because
the amount of d ms that I received and like
tweets about people who read the book. Just because I
wore a T shirt with the four character names, UM,
I thought that was that was pretty dope. And also
let's promote female artists in general. Um I wore. I
wore a T shirt in the last season UM porning
one was with Artemisia Gentileski. I think freed to CALLO
(22:59):
was on air Louise Bourgeois or Louise Nevilson if you
like her. But anyway, now I'm getting pretentiously lady, and
I forgot who the fourth one is, but that's no
offense to that artist. But um yeah, no, I do
like things that have sort of I'm very attraction versus
promotion and any opportunity now because I'm in this like
reality unscripted world where I can sort of voice my opinion.
If I think it's something that kind of makes people
(23:21):
want to be better people than I'm all for it. Good.
You talked earlier about how when you meet people who
you've seen on television or people you admire, you want
them to live up to those expectations. And thank you
for living up to mind. And I think all of
us today, thank you, Thank you so much, Thank you
great person. You are truly you don't want to see
me when I'm boarding a flight at five o'clock in
the morning and I haven't had coffee yet. That's a
(23:44):
very different Anthony. That is the gremlin zombie me. But
um well, it's Anthony in the kitchen and today everyone,
I'm like Oprah, you get a book and everyone's going
home today and see the tour as well. How many
dates are you doing that? Um? I think it's a
total of thirteen, plus Canada and the UK as well.
Good stuff. One more time for Anthony right, thank you,
(24:04):
Thank you so much for having me. This has been
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Welcome to Cody Cast, Cody Allen's podcast. You know him
as your food and wine expert on Queer Eye on Netflix.
Also a new book out called Anthony in the Kitchen.
Anthony Perowski is here with us in Nashville, and I
assume this is your first time here. I was trying
to figure it out because I have done like university
um speaking tours. I have never been in Nashville before.
(00:22):
And I have to say I was just at a
book signing and I was shocked at how lively and
cheerful and happy everyone is here, Like everyone is so kind.
What's up? Like I don't even understand right now, because
I feel like we're all miserable from the heat it's been.
I'm telling you, it's September. It's supposed to be pumpkin
spice weather, and it's not. You're not there. I'm in
(00:45):
full denial though. But everyone is in such a good
mood and so polite. It's like, you guys are almost Canadian.
That was a humble brag. So you're playing tonight, yes,
which is super exciting. And when we get to the
cookbook and all kinds of fun questions about Queer Eye
and so on. But I do want to ask, like,
when people go to see this tour tonight, what is that?
Like I'm cooking, so I'm gonna be doing a little
(01:06):
food demo. I'm gonna have somebody help me with said demo,
and then um, and then I'm just gonna have like
a nice little panel discussion and sort of talk about
the book. Q and A. Yeah, like a little Q
and nice session. Well that sounds a little fun games
mixed in between. And it's a very It's not something
that anybody would typically do for a cookbook, but mine,
(01:28):
um because I'm a pathologically sensitive and emotional guy. Um
Mine is very much like a it's a culinary memoir.
So it's like dishes that have shaped me basically. So
it's a lot of like backstory and happy sad stuff
in there. I've read every word. It's a big book.
What was your favorite word? Butternut? Yeah? Now, I love
(01:54):
I do love a good butternut squash soup. Who's with
me on this? People? Come on now? And who doesn't?
I mean, it's so good. If it did feel like fall,
it would be the perfect soup for today. It is
the perfect soup for September Day. In Nashville when yeah,
and I also love some of you. Listen, there's a
ton of photos of Anthony in here as well, so
(02:14):
no shortage of those. There's yeah, so uh and here
you are buying actual squash. You're buying some gourd's. I
am oh, I am double fisting, but are not squash
um with my little toe in New York my happy place? Okay?
Was this post or I sweat? Okay? So Paul Brisman,
who's a photographer for the book he used to he
(02:35):
photographed like a bunch of um a bunch of punk
bands way back then, and he's like this ex rock
and roller type and he is the most badass photographer
I've ever worked with. We were fully in the middle
of Canal Street and he was like jumping up on
hydrants and like trying to take photos while I was walking.
So it was like kind of distracting, like knowing usually
photographer is good and not letting you know that they're
(02:56):
not really there. But it was like very painfully obvious
that he was as he was like jumping around, but
nothing was really except the photos around directly looking into
the camera. None of those are are really post He's
very like he's he's very much like a photojournalist. It's awesome,
great photography, and I can tell not only you're obviously
recipes and Anthony in the kitchen, but also great stories
behind some of these recipes and really about your life.
(03:17):
Right Yeah, like you said, sort of would you call it?
It's like a culinary memoir. It's all dishes, you know.
I I sort of plead my case with all the
with every single one of the hundred recipes, like they've
all had some kind of an important role in my life.
I mean, I don't bake. I love a sweet, but
even I'm salty over sweet. But like my dessert section,
for example, is like an homage to all the women
and men who have made desserts for me growing up.
(03:37):
And then I have recipes in there that um that
I made during like a lovely seven year relationship that
I had with with with someone very special whose family
taught me on conditional love um, and it was food
that I made for them and and food that I
ate when I was like a broke ass student and
I had like no money and I was overdrafting my
TV bank account and paying that thirty seven dollar fee
and asking my dad to send me a check, and
(03:58):
he didn't know how to wire or use his apps.
We would have to mail me a check, which would
take a week and a half. Um. Like I said,
it's a lot of happy sad um. So what's that
recipe by the way, That would definitely be the white
butter beans with sort of like this nice Herby tomato sauce,
which literally costs like three dollars to make and I
ate it all the time. And then my very favorite,
(04:19):
I'm obsessed with peas. I just I don't know what
it is about them. I just loved them because rule
number ten here frozen peas for president. Well, because they
definitely should if they were human. And I will anthropomorphize
them as long as I need to until they become president. Um.
I just I I peas are something that I remember,
like they're literally a dollar a bag. And I used
to come home from from her from rehearsals. I was
(04:41):
in theater school for two years in New York and um,
and I'd have like a bag of frozen peas. I
would thaw them out with some really good butter, put
some mald and salt and fresh mint. And that's something
that I still do when I come back from whether
I'm filming Queer Eye or touring or whatever it is
that I'm doing, I come home and I want a
meal in five minutes. It reminds me of the person
I was when I first moved to New York, and
like food is sentimental, it's emotional, it's nostalgic. It's all
(05:03):
of these things, and I think sometimes it's important to revisit,
like recipes that you had when you were a kid too.
Do you have a favorite recipe and it's narrowed down
to one in the book, but um today um In
Leah of the Weather, I think I would pick Poland's
version of gaspacho, which is We're known for Borsch, which
is like a beat soup that is very hot that
has these little dumplings in it. But the chilled Borsh
(05:25):
version is like bright pink. It looks radioactive and there's
a hard boiled egg and sour cream which I love,
and pickles and cucumber and it's just like refreshing soup
that just wakes you up and it's the most thirst
quenching thing ever. Yeah, let's go back to the broke
days for a second. I want to get back to
the mantras in the book, and you've got some great
top ten monsters I want to talk about. But uh,
how did Queer Eye in the call to be the
(05:47):
food and wine cuisine guy? How did that change everything? Um?
I mean it changed my life. UM. I remember exactly
where I was the day that I got that call.
It was Barrett, one of the show creators. I was
working in a gallery at the time. I've had a
lot of jobs. UM. I think that's why they had
a bit of confusion when they were casting the show,
because they knew that I was obsessed with food. But
(06:08):
I studied psychology, I was an actor. I worked in
a gallery. UM, spoke many languages and like I was
a little all over the place. I'm very a d
D and UM. And so I was working this gallery job.
I was about to sell this very specific piece of furniture.
It was a French Art Deco side cabinet that Andy
Warhol used to own, and I was about to make
a really big commission. But I got the call, and
I was like, holy crap, I've been waiting for this
(06:29):
call for three weeks. And they basically told me to
sit down and asked me if I wanted to be
a part of the family, and I was just sort
of like flushed and freaked out. And I called my
boyfriend at the time and he came to pick me up.
And then we were going home to Brooklyn that day
and we were on the subway, um, listening to music,
and then we just like both looked at each other
and smiled. And it's like I didn't I didn't know
(06:51):
what was going to happen, and I didn't know if
it was going to be a big show or just
an homage to the original. But like I knew that
my life was about to change and it was this,
and it literally did. It was like a zero hundred
overnight situation. It would be one thing to sort of
restart the show, a reboot the show, Um, it's another
like recreated and I think you guys have done that,
where yeah, I think it's a different show altogether. I
(07:12):
mean I had the benefit I weirdly worked as a
personal assistant to Ted Allen. The original the o g
phon and and and the first iteration of the show.
It was definitely more humor driven. It was funny and
it was entertaining. I think I don't think people were
ready to to to deal with some of the stories
and the things that we address in in in the
Netflix version of it. But um, yeah, I mean it's
a show all about heart and vulnerability and opening yourself
(07:34):
up to to to other people and sort of having
that conversation. And I cried. I mean I the only one.
Do I cry every episode of Queer. I I mean
I do too. It's like it's it gets me every time.
I'm like, how can you not? Like these are perfect
strangers who are opening up about things that they've never
really shared before. I'm about to cry right now, just
think about And I only came out a couple of
(07:58):
years ago myself. I don't know, I know some of
your story, and so it was freeing to me to see.
And it always is anytime I've met anyone else who's gay,
Like it's like, oh, there's someone kind of it's like me,
and right, there's something reassuring about that, even if you're not,
you can kind of see humans just being completely real,
which is so awesome. Like for some of us, some
(08:21):
of my castmates, like our our sexuality comes at the
forefront of who we are and for others a dozen
for me, it never really did. It was just always
assumed that I was straight and I would just share
with people sort of like one by one. I never
really had like a big coming out situation. And what
I like about the show is that we're not pushing
any agenda. This isn't We don't treat every episode as
an opportunity to talk about gay stuff. Like it comes
(08:42):
up and if our hero has a question, awesome, I'm
there to talk about it at the end of the day,
like I'm I'm here to show you how to show
up for your family and yourself, like the other stuff
can come up, like it's it's not like the main
it's not it's not like the main m O or
the goal at hand. Authenticity seems to be the main
to me. And if it, like you said, if it
brings you around to some of those topics, even better,
(09:02):
but it's not the central focus, right. Um. What have
you sort of learned about yourself in the journeys you've
been watching other people go through? Um, I mean it's
been an exponential growth curve in terms of literally everything
in my life. I'm I'm somebody. I'm the type of
person who I'm very Canadian. Um, there's an expression we
(09:23):
like apologize for taking up air in the room when
we walk in. And I'm very sort of I've never
really been good at addressing my needs because I'm the
people please ear, and I need everyone to love me. Um,
And in with public life, you know, it's actually impossible
to have everyone love you. UM. So I've kind of
like it's it's directed me to sort of like sort
of stay in my own lane. But in terms of
the heroes, UM, just in terms of like meeting somebody
(09:46):
who's a parent, meeting somebody like Mama Tammy, who um
changed her whole perception on how she viewed her son
based on you know, the church that she was raised in.
It sort of showed me that, like, family dynamics can
always change. I was raising a very dysfunctional family. UM.
Growing up, I was extremely close to my biological mother
and my middle sister, And now it's the reverse. I'm
(10:06):
very close with my father and my oldest sister. UM.
But the reverse isn't true. UM. But family dynamics can change,
and I'm sort of more open to that now. And
it's just, um, yeah, it's it's completely like the vulnerability
that these people have and and their willingness to share
about everything. I came on that show and I told myself,
I'm not going to talk about gay stuff. I'm not
going to ever bring it up. And then lo and behold,
(10:28):
fourth episode, we have our lovely hero, A j who
never had a chance to come out to his father.
He came I lost my mind, and so he came
out to his step mom and he wanted to talk
about sexuality. And then suddenly I was like, oh, this
is an opportunity to talk about the fact that I
actually don't identify as gay. Um. I've been in more
relationships with women than i've been with men. I've been
in love with women. UM. And so I think the
(10:49):
closest word to it, at least for now, because I
hate boxes and I think I'm just a rebel at
heart um or I'm just in a brat um. But um,
I've always considered myself as fluid. And then I was like, okay, great, Well,
if he's going to tell us about his life, I
have to do the same. You can't expect somebody to
open up about everything that they're going through and just
sit there and be preachy. You've taken the show to Japan,
or perhaps you already have. I guess the episodes have
(11:11):
been filmed. We did their film. They're coming out in
November first, I think November one. Yes, I almost. I
just got a little bit of back sweat because I
always say things that I'm not supposed to say and
Netflix is very secretive as we know. But that's fine.
The secrets out, so it's I'm not getting in trouble
for this. Well, this is an interesting concept because obviously
it's Japan, so it's a completely different take on what
(11:33):
you guys do. But how will this series be different
this season? Yeah? I was. I was intimidated going in
because of the obvious language barrier, and then we had
a lovely translator who sort of held our hands throughout
the whole process, and um, I think everyone's going to
be really like we really. It's incredible how there are
(11:54):
so many similarities in terms of the human experience and
what we're going through. But when you add to that
sort of the cultural nuances and the differences and how
people um express their love. For example, like in Japanese culture,
if you go to any single store, like you go
to a seven eleven, if you see the packaging yes,
I'm gonna bring it up because I bring it up
anytime I can. The egg salad sandwich at seven eleven
and Lawson is the best egg sandwich you will ever
(12:16):
have in your life. It is crustless. The yolks are amazing,
the mayo is like a nice bright yellow. They're just
so good. But the packaging is just so beautiful. And
they take care into every single thing that they do,
and that's how they show their love. Whereas in the
U S we're a lot more comfortable giving hugs and
giving words of affirmation. So it's um. It's interesting to see,
like when you come up to somebody UM in Japan,
like one of the heroes, and you tell them something
(12:36):
like I think what you're doing is really beautiful, or
thank you for being vulnerable, and they just they lose
their ship because like no one's ever said anything like
that before, and they're just like in total shock, and
like before you know it, it's just not crying fast. Well,
I can't wait to watch it me too. I haven't
seen it either, and that's doesn't show us. I'll probably
see it when you do. You'll see the edits before
(12:57):
they go out. No, they send it to us literally
like a day or before they come out. But also
I'm being a brat, but like I don't really like
to watch myself, so it's not like I'm going to
really watch it anyway. I was gonna get to that,
like it's it's something you you watch every episode and
like kind of pick apart, like oh I can said
this better or um, yes, absolutely all the time. I mean, look,
these scenes take three people please write h percent, but
(13:18):
also severe pathological control freak. Um, So these scenes they
take three to four hours. And especially with like the
methodology of a recipe something that's a little more complex,
it's like a lot of things get cut out. It's
impossible to do the whole thing in two minutes, and
you want to get certain beats in. So I've sort
of learned to like let go and let God and
like trust the editing team who does a fantastic job,
(13:40):
and I just kind of stay in my lane. And
it's it's best when I don't watch it. Well, they
always make you look good, that's for sure. Um, Taylor,
great job, Yeah, Taylor Swift her video you need to
calm down. Yeah. Part of of course, Taylor connects to
our little world here, So what was like that day?
It looked like a circus. She's okay, I just I
(14:00):
love her so much. I've had like the opportunity to
meet um a lot of my idols and people that
I've that I've looked up to, and a couple of
times with certain people. Sometimes you get disappointed, Um, who
needing her? And I'm not, We're not going there. Um,
that's not my brand. That's not why I'm here, not
falling for that one. Um. But um, but Taylor is
(14:22):
just like what she does. What I knew about her
before is like what she does for her fans, and
I think no other talent does that. Um. The amount
of like commitment and like dedication and like attention she
gives to people who um love her and her music.
But to see the way that she behaves on a set,
I think is like a true sort of like testament
to the person that she is. It could not have
(14:43):
been more of a collaborative process. It was all kindness. Meanwhile,
it was an extremely stressful situation because there's like pap
helicopters everywhere going to pee, which I do every ten
minutes because I drink so much coffee and drink a
lot of water and have the smallest bladder in the world.
Thanks Mom and Dad. Um. From a genetic standpoint, Um,
they would like walk us with umbrellas to the urinals.
(15:03):
And it was just like very like everything was just
so kind of like calculated and sort of like on
a very strict timeline because they had so much talent
on the set um and she just couldn't have been
nicer and sweeter. And she she has the best taste
in music. And you know what, you didn't ask for it.
But let's talk about her album. My favorite songs right
now and they change every week. Um, Cornelia Street is
(15:25):
really speaking to me. Death by a Thousand Cuts destroyed
me when I finally like actually listened to the lyrics
because at first it was just catchy and then it
was like boom um. And Archer is still my number
one really. Yeah, I'm one of those tailors with fans
and I have to listen to a song several times
because they're so deep. There's so much there and you
(15:47):
don't you know, if it's not that hookie, catchy thing
in the beginning that you have to really study it. Yeah,
I immediately go for the ballads or the sadder stuff
right off, right off the bat, because that's sort of
like I'm a sad boy, Like that's my that's my leaning,
that's my inclination. But I just think it's such an
excellent album, and I'm like, I'm just so proud of her.
And she has great taste in music. She loves the National.
(16:08):
To anyone who loves the National, it's like somebody who
who likes dogs, it's like, immediately respect you. It's true.
Have you ever met a bad dog person? Never? Are
the best correct cat people? Never mind? Um, we're not
bringing that up in the book. You do have your
your top ten culinary monstres. I mentioned one of them,
(16:30):
which is frozen piece for President Uh, and I have
I think what I think is my favorite of these.
But which one do you think is the most important
mantra when it comes to cookie? Um, let's remember these
ten mantras. I think it would actually be because now
I'm thinking of um Taylor and UM a lot of
her music. I think French omelets are romantic, Yes, that
(16:52):
is one right, I'm not wrong. Are romantic? Yeah. I
like number two. Don't put too much pressure on yourself.
I think a lot of people do that in the
kitchen because cooking is supposed to be fun. It's supposed
to be calm and meditating. And for somebody who's as
manic as I am and running around all the time,
the thing I most look forward to, Like my ultimate
(17:13):
luxuries these days are one sleeping in my own bed
and two actually cooking in my own kitchen and like
being at home and preparing a meal and busting on
some Miles Davis or Maggie Rogers or whatever it is,
and like listening to just good music and waiting for
friends or someone to come home um and cook for
is like the ultimate. That's like the ultimate thing, and
it should be an enjoyable experience. And I feel like
you bring that on Queer Ride to uh those who
(17:35):
you're working with and working you know, helping their lives progress.
Is that calming sort of Anthony's spirit, you know, I'm
talking about just that that calmness that I feel like
you bring in and that joy in the kitchen that
I think a lot of people are missing because it's
just so much easier to go to yeah food And
by the way, is there a is there a chain
(17:56):
restaurant that you will go to a chain restaurant that
I will go to. Um, yeah, fast food for that.
So my very favorite number one, if I had to pick,
um would be shake Shack and here's my order, a
shock stack, Um, but add a beef patty because there's
(18:19):
only one and it's really thin. And there's like a
Portabella mushroom burgger that's stuffed with guda and it's deep
fried and it just boozes out and it's fantastic. Although
Sentimes Gouda could be tad salt here, but anyway, Um,
the buns are perfect. And then I would have a
ten piece chicken nuggets situation with a honey mustard and
the barbecue sauce because the barbecue sauces tangy, it has
the right level of acid. And that would have whatever
milkshake they have available there because they're awesome. And I'm
(18:42):
usually not one for fries unless it's putine, which is
a French Canadian classic with gravy and cheese curds. But
there I would really um, I would really mess up
some waffle fries with the cheese sauce. I get some
extra cheese sauce on the side. I'm sorry, I'm not done.
And also the I forgot I forgot the name of it,
but it's the hot dog that has um, the onion
(19:03):
and the pick. It's like the one with the child's
veggies on it. It's just fantastic. What's the biggest mistake
as you're coming across people on the show or otherwise
people make in the kitchen, what's the first thing you
notice the wake? I think people get too ambitious from
the get go and they want to take on a
recipe that's overly complicated. I do this mistake as well,
(19:24):
Like if I have somebody over who I really want
to impress, I'll be like, yeah, this is the first
time I'm going to try some dish that I've never
made before. It is not the time. Like invite your
best friends over and then go screw up a recipe
so you can test it out a few times and
get it right. You're probably not going to get it
right the first time. Like, we're not all in a garden.
The world just doesn't work that way. Um, but um,
I say, like, start off with something really simple and
(19:47):
then like the Italians have it figured out. It's a
few amount of ingredients, but everything is high quality. It's
a little bit of technique, and it's like like pesto,
not presto pesto, Like I was actually thinking about pesto
because it's really just basil, garlic, pine nuts, and Partaman,
you have one of the most delicious sauces ever. Real
quick switching gears. Karamo is gonna be on Dancing with
(20:08):
the Stars of course, co star with you on Queer I, Um,
were you surprised to see him add to the show.
Where was it like, Oh, that's a perfect thing, um,
as somebody who basically has two left feet. Um, my
father is an excellent dancer. I am horrible for Kramo
zero surprises that he decided to join. He is definitely
(20:29):
he And if I didn't say Jonathan, Um, Jonathan would
probably violently hurt me if I didn't say this that
Kramo and Jonathan are both number one in terms of
like dancing and choreography out of the Fab five, but
Karama is a little better. You didn't hear that, right? Okay? Good?
Which by way, I saw your I think you've taken
(20:50):
down now. But you and Jonathan there for a while,
we're kind of a thing. Now it still exists. I
think we're I think we're at three fifty or three
d as your couple page j v Antony is live
and well. Thank you very much and we will continue
to post. One of the sidebar things that I love
about watching queer. I also is um your shirts. I
feel like you've you've got either a really cool shirt
(21:10):
on or like a message shirt. And by the way,
we should say it is a Viacom Inclusion week. You're
helping us kick it off with this chat, yere, so
give it up for our Viacom sparkers over here. UM,
that was very enthusiastic. Let's give a real one. There
you go. Do you have a favorite message shirt? A
(21:33):
favorite message shirt? I think it would be Oh, I
think it was in this past season or the one
before that. Um, in the first season, I wore a shirt.
By the thing is like the stylists didn't give me
any direction during the beginning. They just wanted it. They
described my look or my mood board as like we
(21:54):
want you to be like the New York or James
Dean type, just jeans and T shirts. So I was like, great,
I'm going to promote bands that I like in books
that I like, and um, one of the most important books. Um.
Probably the single most important book I've ever read, which
destroyed me the two times that I read it is
called A Little Life by hany Yanna Guihara and UM
it's it's a book about four boys who basically grow
up and one of them has dealt with, um uh,
(22:16):
some some really difficult stuff. He's been given some really
tough a tough hand of cards. And although the story
itself is very difficult and deals with a lot of
issues and things that a lot of us have experienced
and gone through, it really is a story about kindness,
and it's about three people showing up for somebody and
showing them unconditional love and not unlike Queer Eye, where
it's like loving the person until they love themselves. Um.
(22:38):
And that's one that continues to be incredibly important because
the amount of d ms that I received and like
tweets about people who read the book. Just because I
wore a T shirt with the four character names, UM,
I thought that was that was pretty dope. And also
let's promote female artists in general. Um I wore. I
wore a T shirt in the last season UM porning
one was with Artemisia Gentileski. I think freed to CALLO
(22:59):
was on air Louise Bourgeois or Louise Nevilson if you
like her. But anyway, now I'm getting pretentiously lady, and
I forgot who the fourth one is, but that's no
offense to that artist. But um yeah, no, I do
like things that have sort of I'm very attraction versus
promotion and any opportunity now because I'm in this like
reality unscripted world where I can sort of voice my opinion.
If I think it's something that kind of makes people
(23:21):
want to be better people than I'm all for it. Good.
You talked earlier about how when you meet people who
you've seen on television or people you admire, you want
them to live up to those expectations. And thank you
for living up to mind. And I think all of
us today, thank you, Thank you so much, Thank you
great person. You are truly you don't want to see
me when I'm boarding a flight at five o'clock in
the morning and I haven't had coffee yet. That's a
(23:44):
very different Anthony. That is the gremlin zombie me. But
um well, it's Anthony in the kitchen and today everyone,
I'm like Oprah, you get a book and everyone's going
home today and see the tour as well. How many
dates are you doing that? Um? I think it's a
total of thirteen, plus Canada and the UK as well.
Good stuff. One more time for Anthony right, thank you,
(24:04):
Thank you so much for having me. This has been
Cody cast subscribed now on iTunes. Listen anytime on the
I Heart radio app. Cody is Hurt on hundreds of
radio stations across America and seen on CMT Hot twenty
Countdown every weekend. For more, go to CMT Cody dot com.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.