How I became a star on ‘Queer Eye’
Food expert Porowski follows his passions
Food expert Antoni Porowski, left, opens up.
As the food and wine expert on Netflix’s “Queer Eye,” Antoni Porowski spends his time connecting with people over the ultimate equalizer: the dinner table.
USA TODAY caught up with Porowski, 35, to discuss everything from a healthful lifestyle to the new season of “Queer Eye,” which premiered on Netflix March 15.
Question: How did you get your start in cooking?
Porowski: Of all of the passions I’ve pursued in my life, cooking was the only one that was never in a professional capacity. I wanted to be an actor, so I took acting lessons; I wanted to be a therapist at one point, so I finished a major in psychology; I loved art history and was thinking I would possibly be a curator, so I took every elective possible in art history when I was in university. But cooking has always been something that was very important in my home growing up. I come from a pretty dysfunctional family, but the one time we all really got along was when we were all sitting at a dinner table and just enjoying each other’s company, having a really lovely meal. I’ve always had a very strong emotional tie to it, and at a very young age, it taught me that for me, personally, it’s the easiest way to connect with people ... whether I was dating and trying to impress someone with the perfect risotto, whether I was apologizing to my family, or making meatballs and tomato sauce with my best friend Reema (Sampat).
I realized recently actually that it was also, work-wise, sort of always there. The longest job I’ve ever held was that of working at a restaurant, whether I was a busboy, waiter, or manager here in New York at BondST.
Q: What does a typical workday look like on the ‘Queer Eye’ set?
Porowski: Every episode takes a week to film. The first day is usually a production day where we get together, get a little bit of information about the hero – very little, because the producers like us to have that moment of discovery. Logistically, the first day of the week, we all go downstairs from whatever apartment we’re living at. We pick up a coffee and drive to set, where we discover everything at our hero’s home.
We get together when there are little lulls and we discuss “What did you learn?” and debrief, because some scenes we’re together and other scenes we’re separate. We give each other as much information as we can to make sure we’re all on the same page and really figure out: What does this person need this week?
Then there’s Tuesday, the first day that we film, and for the following two days we have our field trips sort of spread out. When we’re not filming, we go to the production office and do our little interview segments. The week ends with the big reveal, which is always my favorite, watching somebody step into their new home. My second favorite is the following day, where we all sit in the loft and actually watch a video of what their event is like. We see if they’ve picked up our advice or if they haven’t, and that’s always nice because we get dressed up a little better, we eat pizza that day, and I make something for the boys in the kitchen that’s usually pertaining to the episode. It’s literally like watching TV with your friends, except you’re dressed a little better.
Q: How do you juggle a busy schedule with a healthy lifestyle?
Porowski: I’m still figuring it out, especially on set. We do have healthy options – they’re not bringing in fast-food all the time – but it is more difficult to eat fresh. The first season we didn’t have any requests, and we just would eat whatever was given.
I tend to eat between a certain block of the day unless I work out really early in the morning. Then, I make myself a smoothie with different types of fruit and vegan protein powder. I usually only start eating as of noon, and I make sure to have a lot of fiber-y vegetables, a big handful of fresh fruit (especially berries), and then in the afternoon I’ll have a snack of a protein bar, more veggies if I can, and I snack on almonds all day – that’s my favorite snack. My biggest challenge is not drinking enough water, so I try to remember to always have a bottle in my hand. At night, the most important thing for me is either chamomile tea or rooibos. It calms me down.
Q: What’s been your most memorable experience on ‘Queer Eye’ so far?
Porowski: My most memorable was in Season 1, when I was watching A.J., when he told his stepmom – he was basically coming out to her. We were all convinced that she knew, because a mother – whether biological or not – always knows, but she didn’t. She was surprised, and this is a very Catholic woman. She welcomed him with open arms. The cathartic cry that he had was almost not of this world – I’ve never heard that kind of noise come out of a person. He really needed to have that.
Q: What are you looking forward to most in the new season?
Porowski: Not all of the world’s problems, but I think most of the world’s problems, can be attributed to a lack of diversity. When there’s more diversity in any given setting, it’s only an opportunity to learn about a different culture or a different way of thinking or a different way of living. With the heroes that production has chosen, we continue that conversation. It’s not “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” – it’s just “Queer Eye” – we really have to live by that, and I think that we are, which I’m super proud about. Especially in today’s times, where everything is so polarized.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?
Porowski: I wish I had a blueprint, but I didn’t get this job because I thought it out. I got this job because I was open to all of the opportunities that I was given.
If you know what it is that you want to do – if you want to be the food guy on “Queer Eye” – talk to people who are doing a similar thing. I would be nowhere without my mentors, and for the most part, mine have always been teachers – whether in elementary school, junior high, high school and university.
Whatever it is, just try to be super passionate about it. Try to involve passion in every facet of your life.