February 24, 2025 • 41 mins
Antoni Porowski, star of “Queer Eye” and host of “No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski,” shares about the power of food in connecting cultures and people, the lessons learned from his immigrant background, and the importance of preserving family stories. Hear about his surprising journey to the cast of “Queer Eye,” what he’s looking for in love, and what he wants to be doing when he’s a “wrinkly old raisin.” Plus, for anyone who’s ever counted their macros — Simone surprises Antoni with a protein snack taste test!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello Sunshine, Hey fam Today on the bright Side you
know and love him from Queer Eye, Anthony Borowski is here.
We're getting a little taste of his brand new nat
Geo show. Plus he's opening up about the people in
places that shaped his childhood, how he became an Emmy
winning TV host, and he's even revealing what's hanging in
his Museum of failure. It's Monday, February twenty fourth. I'm
(00:26):
Simone Boyce.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine. On My Mind Monday is brought to you
by Laurel Paris.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
So what's on your mind today, Danielle.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, on my mind, Simone was I was just reading
this story in the New York Times. It's called three
Lessons for Living Well from the Dying, And before you
get upset, I just want to sort of reframe this
because I think there's a lot that we can learn
from death about how we can lead a more meaningful.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Lifepletely agree, I'm I would never get upset about this
topic because I am that existential friend that brings up
death at the dinner table.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
So lfg okay, well in that vein, would you do
anything differently. Now, if you knew you were at the
end of your life, would you make any different choices?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Probably? Yeah, I think I would.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I mean, i'd probably like quit my job and go
work for an NGO in a different country.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Really yeah. Probably.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, that's the one question that this article digs into,
and the piece mentions that the one regret hurt over
and over and over again is letting relationships with her
People at the end of their lives wish they had
made more plans with their friends, reached out to that
old friend. Basically, they regret not prioritizing those relationships. And
(01:52):
it made me think about my grandfather because at the
very end of his life kept talking about his childhood
friend Maury, who lived down the street, and we kept
trying to get in contact with him, and they had
lost touch over the years, but it was so interesting
to me that that was the one thing he kept
bringing up.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
That's really interesting to me.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
I don't know that I was expecting that to be
the regret that people would think of the most I know.
Did the article mention anything about things we can start
doing today to ensure that we don't have these same
relational regrets.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yes, The writers spoke with palliative and hospice care experts
about what they've learned from their patients, and they offered
this advice, and they're all sort of the platitudes.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
That we would think of.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It's find joy in the ordinary, don't fret over the
small stuff, and consider what you've left unresolved. So maybe
there's a relationship you've always wanted to repair, something you've
wanted to do or see, And if you have a
wish that's within your reach, they say, go for it.
Tomorrow is just not promised to any of us.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Do you have any relationships that you feel you've left unresolved?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Ooh, I do, Thanks for asking me that. My relationship
with my grandmother is really complicated. And she's still alive.
She's eighty eight years old. She's actually coming to La
to visit. And I see so much of myself in her.
She's one of the people who taught me how to
(03:22):
love the arts and love different cultures and language and travel.
She's so interesting and she has such a jouad a
vive and at the same time, she's done some things
that have really hurt my mom, and so I hold
on to those and it's hard for me to have
(03:44):
a relationship with her. I don't feel like there's been
I don't feel like we've had the I'm sorry. And
my mom keeps telling me that you can't wait for
an i'm sorry from an eighty eight year old person.
You have to like give that to yourself and and
move on. But I don't know. I do feel complicated
about that one. Do you have anybody in your life
(04:06):
that feels complicated unresolved.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I think there's some unresolved stuff with my own mom,
But I've found that I think when I became an
adult and a mother, I think she found it hard
to let go of the parent daughter relationship, and I
think it was hard for her to accept that she
(04:28):
can't control what I do anymore. But I've found that
just being extremely transparent with her and just saying like
this is not going to fly. You know, you're not
allowed to control me in this way anymore, or attempt
to that actually like led to a breakthrough for us.
So I think there's some more work to be done there.
(04:51):
But you know, something that we've talked about in the
past with just family members in general, not even speaking
about my mom, but it can be hard if like
you're willing to go to therapy but the other people aren't.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
You know.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, they have that age old saying that there's a
person in the family that goes to therapy to deal
with all the.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
People who won't. That's funny and very accurate.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Okay, Well, the other thing they mentioned was don't fret
over the small stuff. Do you find yourself stewing over
like getting cut off in traffic or little things?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
No, not so much.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
I think for me, it's like I do get stressed
out with parenting stuff, and I think I'm getting better
about like letting go of that stress. I think also
it's just like my kids are getting a little bit
easier to manage with time. But you know, I just
I just saw this video with Kristen Bell the other
day and she was talking about this time Share gave
(05:47):
her this really great advice, and I can't stop thinking
about it. It's like, if it doesn't matter in five years,
it doesn't matter. So I'm trying to apply that to
my life a lot more.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I love in that video that Melissa McCarthy goes, oh,
I wish Share gave me advice.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, it's such a classic Melissa McCarthy Zinger so good. Well,
when I think about the value of meaningful relationships, I
think we have a lot to learn from our guests today,
Anthony Parowski, whether he's transforming the lives of everyday heroes
as the resident food and wine expert on Queer Eye,
(06:23):
or traveling the world with celebrity guests taking them on
a culinary journey across the globe on his new National
geographic show, No Taste Like Home. I think Antony just
has this knack for genuine connection and making people feel
at ease, and that's one of the reasons why I
just love watching him and following his career. So I
(06:45):
watched his new show, No Taste Like Home with Michael
and we were both like.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Oh my gosh, this is so good.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
It's like it's like a combination of like travel shows
like Parts Unknown, you know, Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown, but
then it brings in this like genealogy and family history
re element and he's He's got some really great guests
on the show, like our girl Isa Ray.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
They went to Senegal together. This is so cool.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
First of all, he is the most lovable, likable person,
like completely, He's so in His energy is so infectious.
So to see him travel around looking fabulous because he
always has great outfits with his great taste with other
awesome celebrities and like see the world and taste food
(07:27):
through his eyes and his mouth and his ears.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
I can't wait for this the show. It's like lightning
in a bottle.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
It's like if you're looking for something that's just gonna
put you in a good mood at the end of
the day.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
This show is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Oh I'm so mad I missed this interview, but I
can't wait to listen to it.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
All right, ch'elle After the break our conversation with Anthony Parowski.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
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Speaker 3 (08:16):
Welcome to the bright Side, Anthony.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Thank you for having me. Simone.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
I'm so happy to have you here. Okay, we have
to talk about no taste like home. You were born
for this show.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
You are so.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Magnetic on camera. You went to Senegal with Isray, You
went to the UK with Florence Pugh, Germany with James Marsden.
I mean, talk about a dream job. International travel changes
me every time, and I'm curious how this show changed you.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
I mean it changes like understatement of the Century. I
think I just traveling in general and diversity, exposure to
question my belief system, my values, to see what values
present themselves in other cultures. I think there's just something
(09:04):
so healing and taking yourself out of your comfort zone
and being a little uncomfortable and just being like exposed
to different things. Like it's not yes, the food is
obviously fascinating, and it's you know, at the core of
how I, you know, relate to other people and show
my love and it's it's incredibly important. But I think
just travel in general, is it does it changes you
(09:24):
as a person and to feel like a citizen of
the earth and to understand how the world works is
so attractive in people that I meet, and it's something
that I think I kind of like strive for and
I'm just drawn towards And.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
I can imagine traveling the world with these array changes
you as well.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah, I mean, there are no words to describe just
how incredible she is. I loved your episode with her
in Senegal and the way you just like slid right
in there with the Senegalese aunties.
Speaker 5 (09:55):
The thing is like, throw me in any type of
kitchen or room in general with any type of auntie,
grandma or a mom, and I'm like a.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Moth to a flame.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
I have to win their affection and their respect, even
if I have to be extra self deprecating and play
like the clown or the good student or the doting sun,
whatever it is, I'm up for it. I just like,
I don't know just powerful women are just so incredibly
attractive to me?
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Are what are the conversations, the moments, the places that
are just hard to shake from this experience, There's.
Speaker 5 (10:30):
So many, but because you mentioned Isa, like, oh, there's
just there's so much in that episode alone that we covered.
But it was my first time in Senegal and to
land in San Luis, this beautiful coastal town and old
fishing village, to learn that their number one value is
sharing this concept of tadanga where you take what is
(10:50):
yours and you stay in your lane, and to learn
that the fishermen there. I believe it was fifty percent
of what they fish they can use, they can use
to sell to me, money for the family, twenty five
percent they consume for themselves, and twenty five percent is
meant to give to somebody who has less than you
and where that's like a standard cultural practice that's like
not written into law, but it's just custom and it's
(11:12):
respected across the board, I think, especially just with the
US and what the hell is going on in the
dumpster fire that we're in right now. Even though I'm
an optimist at heart, it's just eye opening and it
just puts everything in perspective and it's like life goes on.
There's a whole entire world going on there and people
just doing their best to make ends meet and to
(11:35):
continue living their lives. It's just like it's for me.
It's like it's a drug. It's inspiring, it's everything. I
really mean that.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, Wow, that concept is so beautiful of just sharing
being embedded into the very fabric of like the business.
It's almost so it feels abstract to me because it's
so radically different from how we live our lives.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Yeah, I can hear the optimism in your voice as
you speak. And I also whenever I watch you, I
just am. I marvel at your ability to connect with
people and this like deep well of empathy.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
That I feel like you have.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
And I'm curious, where did that knack for connection come from?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
When? When did that start?
Speaker 5 (12:16):
Well, to quote my therapist, if it's hysterical, it's probably historical.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Sounds like a good therapist.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
She's Carol's the best. I don't think she likes it
when I use her full name, but awareness, I think
that I mean the connection for me when I look
back on like childhood memories and like the positive ones,
because I came from I would say, arguably like a
pretty dysfunctional household. The best moments that we had were
(12:44):
always at the dinner table or when my mother was
cooking and we were all kind of in her periphery.
Like that's where that human connection happens. So my tide
to food definitely comes from there.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
But I don't know.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
It's like I traveled with my dad this summer and
we went on a hiking trip, and like I thought
I was obsessed with people, but like with him, it's
just it's so pathological, Like he'll talk to any Uber
driver and tell him his entire life story within three minutes.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
I just love people. I don't.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
I've been on a journey of figuring out how to
like just be comfortable and like really enjoy being on
my own. But it's I love getting to know people,
whether it's you know, personally, professionally, friends, relationships, all of it.
I just like I adore hearing other people's stories. I
feel like we're just meant to connect to other humans. Yeah,
during this short amount of time that we have here,
it's like it's what inspires me.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, I could not relate to that more. I'm the
exact same way I grew up. I grew up in
only childs for most of my life, and I found
that and I also moved around a lot, so I
found that connecting with people, whether that was through humor
or vulnerability or trying on different identities, you know, it
just became like a part of me and a part
(13:52):
of me that, as you said, can you know, be
the cause of a downfall. Let's say, like if you
lean into that too. But it also is like so
life giving to.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
Men, the trying, like you said, trying different identities, there's
like a Taylor Swift line about like you're trying different
lives on. Yeah, I've never really thought of that, and
I think that's something that definitely moving around a lot,
I can relate to that. I went back and forth
between Canada and West Virginia when my parents split up
twice and got back together, and so it was kind
(14:22):
of like I never really felt like, I don't know
the experience, but I feel like it's kind of relatable
to like an army brat syndrome of like moving around
in that sense and trying to to assimilate, especially when
you're an immigrant coming from another country. It's like you
shed the clothes, you pick on whatever is there just
so that you can fit in. You figure out how
to become a chameleon. And I used to like be
(14:43):
hard on myself for that part, but at the same time,
it's like that was the best that I was doing
at the time, just to figure out how to just
how to like assimilate, and in the end, you end
up I think, finding out who you really are, because
there are parts of it, like in any relationship that
you take on that you take with you, and there's
other stuff that you shed that you're like, Okay, this
is like this isn't serving me anymore.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, well you mentioned that you are the son of immigrants,
and as I was watching this show, I was I
was like, man, I would love to see you do
an episode about your own family history, like you be
the subject of one of these episodes and No Taste
like home, what do you think you would discover or
is there anything that you want to discover about your
own family history?
Speaker 5 (15:24):
I thought that I knew so much about myself and
my family going into this, and I realize with you know,
obviously what you're dealing with, Uh, with No Taste, It's
like we have a research team. They spend three to
six months on every single episode. You can tell like
they do a deep die.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Yeah, it's impressive.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
And it kind of made me realize like why, Like
there's so much that I don't know, Like why the
hell's cabbage so prominent in Polish cuisine? Where the hell
did perogis come from? We definitely didn't invent dumplings, like
we use crapes and so many things like that's clearly
French influence, so like where did that come about? And
then in terms of family history, I mean, I know
that both my grandfather as Catholics, were in concentration camps.
(16:02):
I know my father's mother fought in the Warsaw Uprising
in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War Two. There's like
his great uncle was a secretary to the Polish Prime Minister.
That's like kind of like our everyone's got like the
whole like royal family tire, like the famous Marie Antoinette story.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
That's ours.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
But there's not much else that I really know, and
so I think that there's definitely a lot to uncover
there because it's even making me think of Like with Isa,
I was a little nervous in that episode because she
mentioned like she goes to Senegal every year, and so
I was like, shit, like we're gonna have to like
really find out some stuff that she doesn't know. But
to her point, she was like, when I come here,
I go to my aunties, I go to relatives. Like
(16:42):
you're sitting in people's homes and they're just stuffing you
with food and love and adoration and catching up a nostalgia.
You're not actually out there in the streets sort of
like exploring the culture, getting to like understand how everything
works there and the same is the case for me
when I go to Poland. It's like we go from
one relative to another's and it's just like pickled hairing
(17:03):
after pickled haring, until you're just like a pickle.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
You know. Yeah, well we everyone has a story, right,
and like everyone's family has a story. But to your point,
we kind of we kind of take it for granted.
We don't often take the time to really do the
deep dive and understand whose shoulders were standing on.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
And it's which are like ESA's words of you know,
at the end of the episode with the Griot, with
this person who travels from town to town and like
recites your whole family history through oral tradition, like what
a what a beautiful thing. And I think a lot
of people, I mean, there are a lot of reasons
why people don't, but I was thinking even the James
Marsden episode where we were in San Antonio, I wouldn't
(17:42):
say that he was embarrassed about it, but he was
very humble about like mine's chicken fried steak, Like I
had a single mom, she had to feed the kids,
and like that was like cheap and cheerful and like
filled our bellies after like practice sports games.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
And that kind of stuff.
Speaker 5 (17:56):
Yeah, and as we start doing a deep dive, we
kind of learn that the history of just meet in
that part of Texas where his family emigrated to from Bavaria,
from Germany. The German immigrants were anti slavery and the
freed slaves. They kind of sort of like joined forces
(18:17):
because the Germans were excellent butchers, they couldn't cook for shit,
and the freed slaves were excellent pit masters, and both
of those forces joined into what is known today as barbecue,
which is the most iconically American thing. Nothing is really American,
it's all everything is on the shoulders of immigrants, right, Yeah,
And then taking a journey to Bavaria and noticing like duh,
(18:40):
of course chicken fried steak is a very close relative
of schnitzel, which is beloved here. So with anything, like,
I think the messaging there is sort of like, I
don't care how simple or how humble, or however your
emotional tie is to what a dish is. When you
start to do a deep dive, you'll realize that it's
so much more complex, and there's such a wealth of
knowledge of what was going on culturally, socially, politically when
(19:04):
you start to do that deep dive. So I just
encourage people to like and even myself and my friends
to just like get curious. Start asking the older people
you know at your family reunions who are like off
sitting in a corner while you're like socializing with your cousins.
It's like, get those stories. Tell those stories. We have
to continue to tell them, especially if you're the child
of immigrants or even two generations away, because if we don't,
sorry to get like all into like current affairs, but
(19:26):
it's like, if we don't tell those stories, we start
to repeat the same patterns that we start to see
in corporation leaders up on stages making like certain hand
gestures and shit, and seeing that like we have to
to to make sure that we don't make those same mistakes.
It's like we have to continue preserving those stories in
those traditions.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Yeah, curiosity is everything, everything everything. Yeah, It's been a
driving force of my career. When I think about the
dishes that define my childhood, you know, I think about
my mom's wild mushroom soup. I think about my mom's
apple cobbler, a recipe that's been passing.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Wild mushroom soup talking me through it.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Oh, it's so good.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
I wish my mom was here so she could do
this justice. But it's like several different types of mushrooms,
some dried, some not dried, and you blend it up
and you add cream, and the soup looks terrible antony,
it looks like concrete, but it is so rich and delicious,
and the final touch is a bit of sherry.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
Wait did you go foraging when you were a kid? Like,
what was the deal? Why the love of wild mushrooms?
Speaker 3 (20:27):
You know what? I did not go foraging.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
I think I think this story is like not as
romantic as I think it is. I'm sure my mom
just discovered it like through like Emerald, probably because he
had us in a choke hold.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
I mean, yeah, agreed, same, But.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Now now it becomes MyH of course, you know, yeah,
of course that's like that childhood memory, you know, that
thing that you have that you can look back on,
and the thing that your mom made for you with
love and also like wild mushrooms.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Suit, the sherry is perfect.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
I'd love to send it to you.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Also, the recipe We've got to take a quick break,
but don't go anywhere. We'll be right back to our
conversation with Antony Parovski. And we're back with TV host
and culinary expert Anthony Perovski. Okay, we're going to take
(21:19):
a jump here. I've read the story of how you
were cast on Queer Eye, but it's so wild I
almost don't believe it.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
I want to hear it from you.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
What did you don't believe everything you read? I know
that's the thing. I have to fact check it with you.
Would you tell me the story of how it all happened.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
I didn't talk about this for a few years because
I felt like it was kind of too fresh, and
I had this like weird fear when I got the
job that I was going to lose it somehow.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Really like an imposter something.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Yeah, it's kind of like that.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
I try not to use it because Martha Stewart recently
was asked about imposter syndrome and she was like, I
don't believe in imposter syndrome.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Like that is the most boss answer ever. I'm like,
forget about it.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
Meanwhile, the entire introduction to my first cookbook is about
imposter syndrome. But whatever, but we grow, we changed, We
evolved or we stayed the same. Who knows nature nurture,
But basically with Queer Eye, it was the type of
thing where I always wanted to be an actor. I like,
(22:16):
that was like kind of what I had my sight
set on. I moved to New York, I went to conservatory,
graduated after two years, and then all these years went by,
I worked as a waiter in different restaurants, and then
I started working as a personal assistant to Ted Allen,
Who'szog food and wine expert on Queer Eye.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Not knowing that I was literally.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
Preparing myself for the role that I would eventually get
because there was no word of the the show was
still like a few years away from being rebooted, and
so I had friends of mine who kind of suggested, like,
you should like really consider the food space. And that
was something that was like very sacred and personal that
I never wanted to pursue in a professional way. And
then finally someone reached out and they were like Queer
Eyes being rebooted for Netflix. They wanted to be a
(22:55):
lot more documentary style, like would you consider doing this?
And I was like, shit, I'm like food in a
professional way, I'm not a chef. I'm a home cook,
confident at what I do, but like I have friends
who are chefs, and it's like, you know. And the
other part was like my sexuality was something that was personal.
I was in a committed relationship at the time, but
I kind of it was in a lot of rooms,
(23:17):
I was just assumed to be straight and I didn't
necessarily correct people either way. And then I decided to
audition for it anyway because I wasn't getting any younger
and I was tired of having literally three jobs going
on at the same time, struggling actor, a personal assistant
and waiter and a manager at a sushi restaurant. And
I like went in. It was a big pool of
us in LA the pool got smaller and smaller, and
(23:38):
then they put me in a room with these four muppets.
This was the first time that I had that chemistry testing.
Chemistry testing is where they basically see how you gel
on camera, and we were like completing each other's sentences.
We were like really simpatico, like it was there was
like a good connection there.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Now, could you kind of feel it in the room?
Speaker 5 (23:56):
One hundred percent felt it, not only from the energy
of David Collins, the show creator, running around behind us
like excited, and I was like, oh, I'm like, this
is what I've never been able to accomplish in any
single audition. The year's coming too. I'm like, this is
what it's like when it feels good. And so the
next day they slashed like two thirds of us, gave
(24:16):
us calls. We came back, they gave us notes. I'm like,
what to work on, what to do more of, less of,
and they narrowed it down to ten of us, and
it was like they told us that we're going to
do like a mock episode. They outfitted an suv with
a bunch of go pros. They put me in the
car with four other guys that I'd never even chemistry
(24:38):
tested with, and they were really nice guys. And the
four that I was in the car with, they were like, guys,
pretty sure it's us. And I was like, in my mind,
i was like, I'm like, they say they want a
diverse cast. I'm like, we're all white, Like what's happening here.
I'm the most ethnic one and I'm like a super
white dude. I just have a Polish name. That's as
(24:59):
close as we're getting to the diversity part here and
we like went and did the thing and recorded, and
then I went back to New York and then I
got a call from an incredible casting agent at ITV
who I adore, and she was like, look, you didn't
get it.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
You didn't not get it.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Which is the worst thing that you could as.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
She was communicative, because you have many hundreds of auditions
I've gone for where they never even gave me feedback.
Tell me I was shit, tell me that I wasn't good,
tell me that my nose wasn't right, just telling me
so that I can work on or maybe I don't
have to work on it. And it's just I'm not
what you were looking for, right, And so I was like, okay, great,
and she's like, so we're going to wait a little bit.
So we waited a few weeks and then she contacted
(25:43):
me again and Ali, I just said her name Ali, whatever,
it's fine, Well, I love her.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
Why am I being anonymous? Hey? Ali, Hey, Alie, we
love you.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
And she was like, so we want you to come
back to LA and you're going to audition against for
new food Experts. And I was in my mind internally,
I was like, no, they don't want me. I'm going
to stay here. And my partner at the time thankfully
looked at me and he was like, you, dude, like
(26:12):
you need a perspective shift. He's like, you're going into
this defeatus, Like they're all up against you, external locus
of control. It's like all their fault. He was like,
maybe they just haven't had an opportunity to see you
and they saw something. If they're going to be flying
your ass back to La, so just like go fight
for it. And then my pathological competitiveness kicked in.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
I went in.
Speaker 5 (26:31):
We'd already had a group chat with the five of
us because we had like a really strong connection. And
I went in there and I did the thing, and
I made some I remember what we did, like a
mock episode, and I made pasta carbonera. Knowing that Tan
doesn't eat pork because he's Muslim, like an asshole, I
put panchetta in so it's just like bacon fat, you know,
like smelling up the kitchen. And he was such a
(26:52):
sweetheart about it and didn't eat it, but he was
really gracious. And then I ended up getting the part
like two weeks later.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Isn't it fun?
Speaker 1 (27:00):
How life works, like you put so much energy and
time into this dream of becoming an actor. Yeah, and
then when you least expect it, quere I comes along.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
A completely different medium, Right, I get it. Some people
are like, oh no, but like you got the entertainment
industry job, like you got the thing that you were
looking for, but it wasn't that wasn't it. And I've
said this before, but it's like, I feel like I
got the job that I needed and not the job
that I wanted, because it led me to leaning into something.
It was already my own internal low hanging fruit, my
passion and my obsession for storytelling through food, which has
(27:32):
now evolved into other different projects, whether it's cookbooks, public speaking,
and now no tastes like home. Yeah, I just kind
of like I stopped. I had to stop fighting myself.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
So where are you at with the acting dream now?
Is that something that's still in your heart?
Speaker 5 (27:45):
It's apples and oranges to me, it's definitely still something
that like I still have the itch. I've done little
things here and there, like fun, meaningful projects. Sometimes it's
just something that I really love And there's there's a
really good one in the pipeline that I'm really excited
about that. I'll tell you when we stop recording. But
I'm about to see Yeah, but it's fun. But it's
(28:06):
like it's it's it's definitely something that I still really enjoy.
But I actually don't know because on one and it
was a dream for such a long time that it's like,
did I just not mourn the loss and it's my
muscle memory or is it something I really want to do.
I still think it's something I really want to do,
but I think when the time is right, it's going
to happen. Yeah, I'm definitely you know, knock on wood
on the busier side right now and very grateful and happy.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
But yeah, I mean I'm patient.
Speaker 5 (28:30):
And what I've learned is like sorry for the culinary reference,
but it's like I want to low slow burn in
my career. I just want to kind of keep doing
a version of this for a really long time and
until I'm a wrinkly old raisin.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
And that's kind of the goal.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
And there's always room for reinvention. It's I'm never too late.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Yeah, you light up when you talk about it. So
I hope this dream comes tru free.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
From the outside, it seems like you've had this like
midas touch with your career right like ever re overnight
success is ten years in the making. But when people
see you on the outside, like you said, you're busy,
You've got all these you've got a pack schedule. But
I know that there are failures. There are so many
disappointments along the way. I don't know if you've seen
this trend on social called museum of failure. People talk
(29:15):
about like what's in their museum of failure. It's like
a resume of failures, almost as opposed to a resume
of successes. What would be in your museum of failure?
What are the the missed opportunities that come to mind
or the disappointments or failures along the way.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
I just want to clarify, like, and I know this
isn't what you're leaning towards, but I want to be
clear that when I say failure, I don't mean regret,
because I genuinely even if sometimes I regret things in
the moment when they don't work out, and I get
like pissed off with myself in the end, like they
truly are. I can't believe I'm quoting Kim Kardashian, But
she's like everything is a is a lesson in life
or whatever it is that she says, and I.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Like really believe that.
Speaker 5 (29:57):
But I would say the one that I keep on
because of, you know, my obsession and as a hopeless
romantic is it's relationships. Yeah, like I get, you know,
it makes me a little emotional thinking about it because
it's like, I'm so grateful for all the ones that
I have, but it's like I fall deeply and I
try to give all of myself in every capacity and
(30:19):
when it doesn't work out, and it hasn't worked out
for a multitude of reasons, and it's never black and white,
it's always complex. I you know, it's that thing of
where it feels like a failure and where I kind
of have to reconfigure my thinking and shift my perspective.
Is that I realize that the hardest thing with any
(30:39):
relationship ending, even with friendships, I would say, and even
with family members, because I have family members that I'm
no longer in contact with who are part of my
immediate family growing up and they were there every single
day and now we have nothing, and it's longing for
all the things that never came to be. I am
a nostalgic person. But it's all the plan. Whether there
(31:01):
were plans that that you shared with this specific person
or not doesn't really matter. It's also like my own
imaginative brain and my heart and the stuff that I
kind of envision for the future and mourning that where
it's sort of like, so that's the closest thing I
would say, where the thing that yeah, the thing that
I have to actively work on.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Yeah, thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I know that's really painful to think about the things
that you envisioned with someone that didn't come true. What
do you envision from love in your life? Like?
Speaker 3 (31:33):
What what do you want?
Speaker 4 (31:36):
Damn, let's fucking go.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
I mean, I I wanna. I want to make sure
that I feel loved and that I don't have to
question it. And that's not about the person, whether it's relationship,
(32:05):
family member, or friend, but it's also my own side
of my own abandonment issues and all that kind of stuff. Yeah,
where I just feel like safe and love and comfortable
enough to be my own person. And the most important
thing for me that I've learned. I think in the
past decade, I've been going to therapy since I was seventeen,
(32:27):
But the past decade, I'm realizing that I've kind of
acknowledged the fact that it is so paramount for me
to make sure that I feel seen for who I
really am.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
That's all we want, that's all everybody wants.
Speaker 5 (32:41):
If I get mischaracterized or misjudged, And that's been a
massive lesson having a public facing job where people make
a lot of assumptions about you, and even in my
personal life with people when someone doesn't see me for
who I really am or my intentions. And I'm not
saying that I'm perfect, and I make mistakes all all
the time. But when I'm when I'm seen for who
(33:05):
I really am, that's when I feel the most safe.
And I have that with very close friends of mine
who just like never question my intentions. Yeah, and there's
there's nothing more beautiful. And that's like a warm cup
of like brown tea in front of a fireplace, you know,
on like a soft blanket, Like there's nothing that feels
more comforting and nurturing than that.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
I look back on my life and I when I
think about the times where romantic love wasn't present, I'm
so grateful for the friendships that showed me that unconditional love.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
And you kid, you're a judgment of.
Speaker 5 (33:36):
Course, of course, yeah you can be. I call it
my board of directors.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
Oh that's so good. That's so good.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
My good friend Anna taught me that one. She's like,
if I have like a life situation, She's like, consult
your board of directors. Yeah, that's my advice that no
one asked for. It is like, make sure you have
like a solid ass boarded directors. Those people are going
to keep you in check, keep your ego in check.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
The ones who are going to be.
Speaker 5 (33:59):
Brutally honest with you no matter what, even if it's
a little even if it's a little painful.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
Like that's what we should aspire to in our lives.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
It's less about the specific romance or the family or
the friends, but it's like a mix of all those things.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
How big is your board of directors? You tend to
keep it small or I would.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
Say it's probably about like I have like five or six,
like a solid perfect size.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
Yeah, that's also the perfect dinner party size.
Speaker 5 (34:23):
Nothing drives me more crazy than like making dinner for
ten people.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Is thank you, Mi Zerre six max.
Speaker 5 (34:29):
Unless it's like two different types of pasta, that's fine,
but like dinner table conversations, you end up having multiple
conversations going on simultaneously. I don't like going too restaurants
unless it's like a work thing where it's like more
than six people.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Same because you like you'd lose, you lose.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
The plot, and then you have to focus on the
person on your left for the first course and then
on the right for the If you're following Tiffany's Book
of Manners like, it just becomes a dumpster fire.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
No. No, it's too overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
I'm so weird about my birthday. I'm like, no large
parties six people max. Yeah, and I'll do like three
separate parties of like four to six people. But it's
the only way to connect, correct from my opinion. To
wrap things up today, Anthony, I want to do a
taste test with you. It's not your average taste test, okay,
it's it's not hard to tell that you know your
(35:13):
way around a set of dumb bells, right. I know
that we both love our protein forward snacks, so I've
brought a few for us to try today and rate together.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
Let's go.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
So I don't know about you.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Whenever I'm shopping for protein snacks, I have to make
sure that they pass the gag test, like, because a.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Lot of them they just well, yeah, you know, it's
like protein bars.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
Yeah, ninety nine point nine percent of them are mealy
and like they leave your stomach feeling weird afterwards, and
it's like I'm getting the protein, but I feel like
a mess afterwards.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
What is the point. What's the point.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Yeah, So I've brought some of my favorites and then
some new ones that I haven't tried.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
Okay, I'm curious how many I know and how many
I don't.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Okay, So our right side bessies who listen to our
show know how much I love my chicken chips.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
I'm obsessed with.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
Everyone.
Speaker 5 (36:00):
Look sit me cross eyed when I bring up these
wilds same they gaslight us because it makes no sense.
They're like, is it like, is it like poor cracklings?
Speaker 3 (36:09):
No, No, it's not.
Speaker 5 (36:11):
I know these intimately I have. I'm in a long
term relationship with whoever runs their social media. They send
me the new flavors when they try them out.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
Wild. May I open these? Yes?
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Please?
Speaker 1 (36:20):
We're cracking open some wild protein chips. This is actually
like my airplane snack. If they have them in the
in the airport, I usually buy these or I bring
up with me. My two favorite flavors are Buffalo or
Nashville Hot.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
Hey, you're a spice girl, I am.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
It was so good.
Speaker 4 (36:36):
You know what they slap?
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Here's through like four or five in his mouth. Okay,
left Buffalo.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
I eat them like pringles.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
Have you tried National Hot?
Speaker 4 (36:44):
No, try National Hot? Okay They're not too hot.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
No, they're not okay, Yeah, but the Buffalo, I would say,
is like a great entry point for anyone wanting to
you know.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
It's like a good dry heat.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Okay, have you tried these? These are peetos?
Speaker 4 (36:58):
No?
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Okay, These I will say are not as the macros
aren't as strong.
Speaker 5 (37:03):
Here.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
We've got about four four grams of protein.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
Okay, okay, so these are petos A jam of junk
food tastes. Its plant based, crunchy, cheese less puffs.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
I feel like I need a little more cheesy essence
in there.
Speaker 5 (37:15):
Look, the flavor intensity is probably like a solid six
out of ten. Yeah, but what I'm impressed with is
the texture. It's light as light as it's light the
way crappy junk food is. And it's airy and it
doesn't feel too mealy, you know when they feel melli
and there's like that grit.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Yeah, it's not terrible. Would I would five out of ten.
Speaker 5 (37:36):
He's going back to a har mag of these on
a flight, I wouldn't complain.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
It's true. It's true. I would take that on a fight.
Speaker 5 (37:41):
They're not extremely high in sodium, which is great. Mm
hmmm because that I always checked for. Yep Pa and
lentil flour are good. I like it when they mix
it with with fava bean as well, because just pee
alone will like mess up your stomach.
Speaker 4 (37:55):
A lot of really good ingredients. There's no like weird
fillery stuff. Wow, Oh you're teaching me things. I love this.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Next we're getting into a no cow bar chocolate caramel
peanut protein snack bar. I am a dairy free girly,
so I only buy like plant protein.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Okay, we're gonna try it by to this. Mm hmmm.
I'm sorry. Now it's a no for me.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
No one's gonna accuse us of being delicious.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
It doesn't pass the gag test.
Speaker 4 (38:23):
It's that mealiness.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
I know. Can you make can you make a protein bar?
Speaker 4 (38:29):
I have tried the one.
Speaker 5 (38:31):
I feel like I'm one of these like TikTok shops
right now. But the one that i've actually the taste
is okay, but it has a shocking I think it
has thirty or forty grams of protein in it and
the lowest amount of calories, and for what it is,
doesn't have a shocking amount of ingredients.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
Have you heard of David Bar?
Speaker 3 (38:53):
No?
Speaker 4 (38:54):
Are you know RX bars?
Speaker 5 (38:55):
Yeah, I like started our X bars, sold the company
and now he started as David Bar and it's the
bar on the market with the most amount of protein.
Full disclosure, I've never had a delicious protein bar where
I'm like, damn, Like I could really use that protein
bar right now. But sometimes it's like I'm eating a
salad I didn't have time to like cook salmon or
whatever it is, and I need to get my protein
and I like finish off with that because it kind
of feels like a dessert. Yeah, that bar is really
(39:16):
good because it gets like your protein fix and you
stay full for longer. Okay, wait, can I tell you? Okay,
since you like you like sweets dessert? Yes, have you
heard of Gselle's Bakery No vegan, gluten free, dairy free,
and something else free.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
It's here in La.
Speaker 5 (39:32):
Here in La they sell it. She has her shop.
I don't know where it is. I've ordered it freeze dried,
like freezer packed to New York. There's an oatmeal, peanut
butter and jelly bar. There's a Keto chocolate fudge brownie,
really good macro. She has a protein bar that I
haven't tried yet. It's delicious and it's surprisingly like really
good for what it is.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Okay, I can't wait to try this, considering.
Speaker 5 (39:54):
There's no like like dairy fat and all that kind
of stuff incorporated.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
I love cake so much. Cake is like part my identity.
Speaker 5 (40:00):
So it's your favorite, like birthday cake, describe it. I'm
making you one and I'm bringing it to you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Boom, Oh my gosh, Sweet Lady Jane. Their triple berry cake. Okay,
that has like it's just white cake but berries in
the middle, and then like that really light whipped cream. O.
Speaker 4 (40:16):
Love that.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Also Susie Cake celebration cake. Have you had Susie Cake? Oh,
oh my god, you have to try Susi Cakes so good.
And then red velvet. Those are my top three. I
have the diet of like an eight year old child.
Speaker 4 (40:26):
Oh, I love it? Are you kidding?
Speaker 3 (40:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (40:27):
It's all about balance. For me. It's vanilla and strawberry for.
Speaker 5 (40:30):
A cake of vanilla cake with like a good little
like a crempat situation and just like a good strawberry
jam or even fresh preserved strawberries like that.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
That's it for me.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
We covered so much ground today, Anthony, Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (40:45):
Thank you so much for having me. This is we
really did cover everything you really did.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Anthony Barovski is an Emmy winning producer, TV host, culinary expert,
and New York Times best selling author. His new show,
No Taste Like Home is out now.
Speaker 3 (40:59):
On That's it for today's show.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Tomorrow, we're talking to actor and reality star Denise Richards
all about her new docuseries Denise Richards and her Wild Things.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
Join the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect
with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram
and at the bright Side Pod on TikTok oh, and
feel free to tag us at Simone Boyce and at
Danielle Robe.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Listen and follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio, app,
Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (41:37):
See you tomorrow, folks, keep looking on the bright side.
Hello Sunshine, Hey fam Today on the bright Side you
know and love him from Queer Eye, Anthony Borowski is here.
We're getting a little taste of his brand new nat
Geo show. Plus he's opening up about the people in
places that shaped his childhood, how he became an Emmy
winning TV host, and he's even revealing what's hanging in
his Museum of failure. It's Monday, February twenty fourth. I'm
(00:26):
Simone Boyce.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine. On My Mind Monday is brought to you
by Laurel Paris.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
So what's on your mind today, Danielle.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, on my mind, Simone was I was just reading
this story in the New York Times. It's called three
Lessons for Living Well from the Dying, And before you
get upset, I just want to sort of reframe this
because I think there's a lot that we can learn
from death about how we can lead a more meaningful.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Lifepletely agree, I'm I would never get upset about this
topic because I am that existential friend that brings up
death at the dinner table.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
So lfg okay, well in that vein, would you do
anything differently. Now, if you knew you were at the
end of your life, would you make any different choices?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Probably? Yeah, I think I would.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I mean, i'd probably like quit my job and go
work for an NGO in a different country.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Really yeah. Probably.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, that's the one question that this article digs into,
and the piece mentions that the one regret hurt over
and over and over again is letting relationships with her
People at the end of their lives wish they had
made more plans with their friends, reached out to that
old friend. Basically, they regret not prioritizing those relationships. And
(01:52):
it made me think about my grandfather because at the
very end of his life kept talking about his childhood
friend Maury, who lived down the street, and we kept
trying to get in contact with him, and they had
lost touch over the years, but it was so interesting
to me that that was the one thing he kept
bringing up.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
That's really interesting to me.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
I don't know that I was expecting that to be
the regret that people would think of the most I know.
Did the article mention anything about things we can start
doing today to ensure that we don't have these same
relational regrets.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yes, The writers spoke with palliative and hospice care experts
about what they've learned from their patients, and they offered
this advice, and they're all sort of the platitudes.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
That we would think of.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It's find joy in the ordinary, don't fret over the
small stuff, and consider what you've left unresolved. So maybe
there's a relationship you've always wanted to repair, something you've
wanted to do or see, And if you have a
wish that's within your reach, they say, go for it.
Tomorrow is just not promised to any of us.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Do you have any relationships that you feel you've left unresolved?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Ooh, I do, Thanks for asking me that. My relationship
with my grandmother is really complicated. And she's still alive.
She's eighty eight years old. She's actually coming to La
to visit. And I see so much of myself in her.
She's one of the people who taught me how to
(03:22):
love the arts and love different cultures and language and travel.
She's so interesting and she has such a jouad a
vive and at the same time, she's done some things
that have really hurt my mom, and so I hold
on to those and it's hard for me to have
(03:44):
a relationship with her. I don't feel like there's been
I don't feel like we've had the I'm sorry. And
my mom keeps telling me that you can't wait for
an i'm sorry from an eighty eight year old person.
You have to like give that to yourself and and
move on. But I don't know. I do feel complicated
about that one. Do you have anybody in your life
(04:06):
that feels complicated unresolved.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I think there's some unresolved stuff with my own mom,
But I've found that I think when I became an
adult and a mother, I think she found it hard
to let go of the parent daughter relationship, and I
think it was hard for her to accept that she
(04:28):
can't control what I do anymore. But I've found that
just being extremely transparent with her and just saying like
this is not going to fly. You know, you're not
allowed to control me in this way anymore, or attempt
to that actually like led to a breakthrough for us.
So I think there's some more work to be done there.
(04:51):
But you know, something that we've talked about in the
past with just family members in general, not even speaking
about my mom, but it can be hard if like
you're willing to go to therapy but the other people aren't.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
You know.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, they have that age old saying that there's a
person in the family that goes to therapy to deal
with all the.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
People who won't. That's funny and very accurate.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Okay, Well, the other thing they mentioned was don't fret
over the small stuff. Do you find yourself stewing over
like getting cut off in traffic or little things?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
No, not so much.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
I think for me, it's like I do get stressed
out with parenting stuff, and I think I'm getting better
about like letting go of that stress. I think also
it's just like my kids are getting a little bit
easier to manage with time. But you know, I just
I just saw this video with Kristen Bell the other
day and she was talking about this time Share gave
(05:47):
her this really great advice, and I can't stop thinking
about it. It's like, if it doesn't matter in five years,
it doesn't matter. So I'm trying to apply that to
my life a lot more.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
I love in that video that Melissa McCarthy goes, oh,
I wish Share gave me advice.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, it's such a classic Melissa McCarthy Zinger so good. Well,
when I think about the value of meaningful relationships, I
think we have a lot to learn from our guests today,
Anthony Parowski, whether he's transforming the lives of everyday heroes
as the resident food and wine expert on Queer Eye,
(06:23):
or traveling the world with celebrity guests taking them on
a culinary journey across the globe on his new National
geographic show, No Taste Like Home. I think Antony just
has this knack for genuine connection and making people feel
at ease, and that's one of the reasons why I
just love watching him and following his career. So I
(06:45):
watched his new show, No Taste Like Home with Michael
and we were both like.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Oh my gosh, this is so good.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
It's like it's like a combination of like travel shows
like Parts Unknown, you know, Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown, but
then it brings in this like genealogy and family history
re element and he's He's got some really great guests
on the show, like our girl Isa Ray.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
They went to Senegal together. This is so cool.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
First of all, he is the most lovable, likable person,
like completely, He's so in His energy is so infectious.
So to see him travel around looking fabulous because he
always has great outfits with his great taste with other
awesome celebrities and like see the world and taste food
(07:27):
through his eyes and his mouth and his ears.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
I can't wait for this the show. It's like lightning
in a bottle.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
It's like if you're looking for something that's just gonna
put you in a good mood at the end of
the day.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
This show is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Oh I'm so mad I missed this interview, but I
can't wait to listen to it.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
All right, ch'elle After the break our conversation with Anthony Parowski.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
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Speaker 3 (08:16):
Welcome to the bright Side, Anthony.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Thank you for having me. Simone.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
I'm so happy to have you here. Okay, we have
to talk about no taste like home. You were born
for this show.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
You are so.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Magnetic on camera. You went to Senegal with Isray, You
went to the UK with Florence Pugh, Germany with James Marsden.
I mean, talk about a dream job. International travel changes
me every time, and I'm curious how this show changed you.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
I mean it changes like understatement of the Century. I
think I just traveling in general and diversity, exposure to
question my belief system, my values, to see what values
present themselves in other cultures. I think there's just something
(09:04):
so healing and taking yourself out of your comfort zone
and being a little uncomfortable and just being like exposed
to different things. Like it's not yes, the food is
obviously fascinating, and it's you know, at the core of
how I, you know, relate to other people and show
my love and it's it's incredibly important. But I think
just travel in general, is it does it changes you
(09:24):
as a person and to feel like a citizen of
the earth and to understand how the world works is
so attractive in people that I meet, and it's something
that I think I kind of like strive for and
I'm just drawn towards And.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
I can imagine traveling the world with these array changes
you as well.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah, I mean, there are no words to describe just
how incredible she is. I loved your episode with her
in Senegal and the way you just like slid right
in there with the Senegalese aunties.
Speaker 5 (09:55):
The thing is like, throw me in any type of
kitchen or room in general with any type of auntie,
grandma or a mom, and I'm like a.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Moth to a flame.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
I have to win their affection and their respect, even
if I have to be extra self deprecating and play
like the clown or the good student or the doting sun,
whatever it is, I'm up for it. I just like,
I don't know just powerful women are just so incredibly
attractive to me?
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Are what are the conversations, the moments, the places that
are just hard to shake from this experience, There's.
Speaker 5 (10:30):
So many, but because you mentioned Isa, like, oh, there's
just there's so much in that episode alone that we covered.
But it was my first time in Senegal and to
land in San Luis, this beautiful coastal town and old
fishing village, to learn that their number one value is
sharing this concept of tadanga where you take what is
(10:50):
yours and you stay in your lane, and to learn
that the fishermen there. I believe it was fifty percent
of what they fish they can use, they can use
to sell to me, money for the family, twenty five
percent they consume for themselves, and twenty five percent is
meant to give to somebody who has less than you
and where that's like a standard cultural practice that's like
not written into law, but it's just custom and it's
(11:12):
respected across the board, I think, especially just with the
US and what the hell is going on in the
dumpster fire that we're in right now. Even though I'm
an optimist at heart, it's just eye opening and it
just puts everything in perspective and it's like life goes on.
There's a whole entire world going on there and people
just doing their best to make ends meet and to
(11:35):
continue living their lives. It's just like it's for me.
It's like it's a drug. It's inspiring, it's everything. I
really mean that.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, Wow, that concept is so beautiful of just sharing
being embedded into the very fabric of like the business.
It's almost so it feels abstract to me because it's
so radically different from how we live our lives.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Yeah, I can hear the optimism in your voice as
you speak. And I also whenever I watch you, I
just am. I marvel at your ability to connect with
people and this like deep well of empathy.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
That I feel like you have.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
And I'm curious, where did that knack for connection come from?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
When? When did that start?
Speaker 5 (12:16):
Well, to quote my therapist, if it's hysterical, it's probably historical.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Sounds like a good therapist.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
She's Carol's the best. I don't think she likes it
when I use her full name, but awareness, I think
that I mean the connection for me when I look
back on like childhood memories and like the positive ones,
because I came from I would say, arguably like a
pretty dysfunctional household. The best moments that we had were
(12:44):
always at the dinner table or when my mother was
cooking and we were all kind of in her periphery.
Like that's where that human connection happens. So my tide
to food definitely comes from there.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
But I don't know.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
It's like I traveled with my dad this summer and
we went on a hiking trip, and like I thought
I was obsessed with people, but like with him, it's
just it's so pathological, Like he'll talk to any Uber
driver and tell him his entire life story within three minutes.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
I just love people. I don't.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
I've been on a journey of figuring out how to
like just be comfortable and like really enjoy being on
my own. But it's I love getting to know people,
whether it's you know, personally, professionally, friends, relationships, all of it.
I just like I adore hearing other people's stories. I
feel like we're just meant to connect to other humans. Yeah,
during this short amount of time that we have here,
it's like it's what inspires me.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, I could not relate to that more. I'm the
exact same way I grew up. I grew up in
only childs for most of my life, and I found
that and I also moved around a lot, so I
found that connecting with people, whether that was through humor
or vulnerability or trying on different identities, you know, it
just became like a part of me and a part
(13:52):
of me that, as you said, can you know, be
the cause of a downfall. Let's say, like if you
lean into that too. But it also is like so
life giving to.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
Men, the trying, like you said, trying different identities, there's
like a Taylor Swift line about like you're trying different
lives on. Yeah, I've never really thought of that, and
I think that's something that definitely moving around a lot,
I can relate to that. I went back and forth
between Canada and West Virginia when my parents split up
twice and got back together, and so it was kind
(14:22):
of like I never really felt like, I don't know
the experience, but I feel like it's kind of relatable
to like an army brat syndrome of like moving around
in that sense and trying to to assimilate, especially when
you're an immigrant coming from another country. It's like you
shed the clothes, you pick on whatever is there just
so that you can fit in. You figure out how
to become a chameleon. And I used to like be
(14:43):
hard on myself for that part, but at the same time,
it's like that was the best that I was doing
at the time, just to figure out how to just
how to like assimilate, and in the end, you end
up I think, finding out who you really are, because
there are parts of it, like in any relationship that
you take on that you take with you, and there's
other stuff that you shed that you're like, Okay, this
is like this isn't serving me anymore.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, well you mentioned that you are the son of immigrants,
and as I was watching this show, I was I
was like, man, I would love to see you do
an episode about your own family history, like you be
the subject of one of these episodes and No Taste
like home, what do you think you would discover or
is there anything that you want to discover about your
own family history?
Speaker 5 (15:24):
I thought that I knew so much about myself and
my family going into this, and I realize with you know,
obviously what you're dealing with, Uh, with No Taste, It's
like we have a research team. They spend three to
six months on every single episode. You can tell like
they do a deep die.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Yeah, it's impressive.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
And it kind of made me realize like why, Like
there's so much that I don't know, Like why the
hell's cabbage so prominent in Polish cuisine? Where the hell
did perogis come from? We definitely didn't invent dumplings, like
we use crapes and so many things like that's clearly
French influence, so like where did that come about? And
then in terms of family history, I mean, I know
that both my grandfather as Catholics, were in concentration camps.
(16:02):
I know my father's mother fought in the Warsaw Uprising
in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War Two. There's like
his great uncle was a secretary to the Polish Prime Minister.
That's like kind of like our everyone's got like the
whole like royal family tire, like the famous Marie Antoinette story.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
That's ours.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
But there's not much else that I really know, and
so I think that there's definitely a lot to uncover
there because it's even making me think of Like with Isa,
I was a little nervous in that episode because she
mentioned like she goes to Senegal every year, and so
I was like, shit, like we're gonna have to like
really find out some stuff that she doesn't know. But
to her point, she was like, when I come here,
I go to my aunties, I go to relatives. Like
(16:42):
you're sitting in people's homes and they're just stuffing you
with food and love and adoration and catching up a nostalgia.
You're not actually out there in the streets sort of
like exploring the culture, getting to like understand how everything
works there and the same is the case for me
when I go to Poland. It's like we go from
one relative to another's and it's just like pickled hairing
(17:03):
after pickled haring, until you're just like a pickle.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
You know. Yeah, well we everyone has a story, right,
and like everyone's family has a story. But to your point,
we kind of we kind of take it for granted.
We don't often take the time to really do the
deep dive and understand whose shoulders were standing on.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
And it's which are like ESA's words of you know,
at the end of the episode with the Griot, with
this person who travels from town to town and like
recites your whole family history through oral tradition, like what
a what a beautiful thing. And I think a lot
of people, I mean, there are a lot of reasons
why people don't, but I was thinking even the James
Marsden episode where we were in San Antonio, I wouldn't
(17:42):
say that he was embarrassed about it, but he was
very humble about like mine's chicken fried steak, Like I
had a single mom, she had to feed the kids,
and like that was like cheap and cheerful and like
filled our bellies after like practice sports games.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
And that kind of stuff.
Speaker 5 (17:56):
Yeah, and as we start doing a deep dive, we
kind of learn that the history of just meet in
that part of Texas where his family emigrated to from Bavaria,
from Germany. The German immigrants were anti slavery and the
freed slaves. They kind of sort of like joined forces
(18:17):
because the Germans were excellent butchers, they couldn't cook for shit,
and the freed slaves were excellent pit masters, and both
of those forces joined into what is known today as barbecue,
which is the most iconically American thing. Nothing is really American,
it's all everything is on the shoulders of immigrants, right, Yeah,
And then taking a journey to Bavaria and noticing like duh,
(18:40):
of course chicken fried steak is a very close relative
of schnitzel, which is beloved here. So with anything, like,
I think the messaging there is sort of like, I
don't care how simple or how humble, or however your
emotional tie is to what a dish is. When you
start to do a deep dive, you'll realize that it's
so much more complex, and there's such a wealth of
knowledge of what was going on culturally, socially, politically when
(19:04):
you start to do that deep dive. So I just
encourage people to like and even myself and my friends
to just like get curious. Start asking the older people
you know at your family reunions who are like off
sitting in a corner while you're like socializing with your cousins.
It's like, get those stories. Tell those stories. We have
to continue to tell them, especially if you're the child
of immigrants or even two generations away, because if we don't,
sorry to get like all into like current affairs, but
(19:26):
it's like, if we don't tell those stories, we start
to repeat the same patterns that we start to see
in corporation leaders up on stages making like certain hand
gestures and shit, and seeing that like we have to
to to make sure that we don't make those same mistakes.
It's like we have to continue preserving those stories in
those traditions.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Yeah, curiosity is everything, everything everything. Yeah, It's been a
driving force of my career. When I think about the
dishes that define my childhood, you know, I think about
my mom's wild mushroom soup. I think about my mom's
apple cobbler, a recipe that's been passing.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Wild mushroom soup talking me through it.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Oh, it's so good.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
I wish my mom was here so she could do
this justice. But it's like several different types of mushrooms,
some dried, some not dried, and you blend it up
and you add cream, and the soup looks terrible antony,
it looks like concrete, but it is so rich and delicious,
and the final touch is a bit of sherry.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
Wait did you go foraging when you were a kid? Like,
what was the deal? Why the love of wild mushrooms?
Speaker 3 (20:27):
You know what? I did not go foraging.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
I think I think this story is like not as
romantic as I think it is. I'm sure my mom
just discovered it like through like Emerald, probably because he
had us in a choke hold.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
I mean, yeah, agreed, same, But.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Now now it becomes MyH of course, you know, yeah,
of course that's like that childhood memory, you know, that
thing that you have that you can look back on,
and the thing that your mom made for you with
love and also like wild mushrooms.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Suit, the sherry is perfect.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
I'd love to send it to you.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Also, the recipe We've got to take a quick break,
but don't go anywhere. We'll be right back to our
conversation with Antony Parovski. And we're back with TV host
and culinary expert Anthony Perovski. Okay, we're going to take
(21:19):
a jump here. I've read the story of how you
were cast on Queer Eye, but it's so wild I
almost don't believe it.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
I want to hear it from you.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
What did you don't believe everything you read? I know
that's the thing. I have to fact check it with you.
Would you tell me the story of how it all happened.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
I didn't talk about this for a few years because
I felt like it was kind of too fresh, and
I had this like weird fear when I got the
job that I was going to lose it somehow.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Really like an imposter something.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Yeah, it's kind of like that.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
I try not to use it because Martha Stewart recently
was asked about imposter syndrome and she was like, I
don't believe in imposter syndrome.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Like that is the most boss answer ever. I'm like,
forget about it.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
Meanwhile, the entire introduction to my first cookbook is about
imposter syndrome. But whatever, but we grow, we changed, We
evolved or we stayed the same. Who knows nature nurture,
But basically with Queer Eye, it was the type of
thing where I always wanted to be an actor. I like,
(22:16):
that was like kind of what I had my sight
set on. I moved to New York, I went to conservatory,
graduated after two years, and then all these years went by,
I worked as a waiter in different restaurants, and then
I started working as a personal assistant to Ted Allen,
Who'szog food and wine expert on Queer Eye.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Not knowing that I was literally.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
Preparing myself for the role that I would eventually get
because there was no word of the the show was
still like a few years away from being rebooted, and
so I had friends of mine who kind of suggested, like,
you should like really consider the food space. And that
was something that was like very sacred and personal that
I never wanted to pursue in a professional way. And
then finally someone reached out and they were like Queer
Eyes being rebooted for Netflix. They wanted to be a
(22:55):
lot more documentary style, like would you consider doing this?
And I was like, shit, I'm like food in a
professional way, I'm not a chef. I'm a home cook,
confident at what I do, but like I have friends
who are chefs, and it's like, you know. And the
other part was like my sexuality was something that was personal.
I was in a committed relationship at the time, but
I kind of it was in a lot of rooms,
(23:17):
I was just assumed to be straight and I didn't
necessarily correct people either way. And then I decided to
audition for it anyway because I wasn't getting any younger
and I was tired of having literally three jobs going
on at the same time, struggling actor, a personal assistant
and waiter and a manager at a sushi restaurant. And
I like went in. It was a big pool of
us in LA the pool got smaller and smaller, and
(23:38):
then they put me in a room with these four muppets.
This was the first time that I had that chemistry testing.
Chemistry testing is where they basically see how you gel
on camera, and we were like completing each other's sentences.
We were like really simpatico, like it was there was
like a good connection there.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Now, could you kind of feel it in the room?
Speaker 5 (23:56):
One hundred percent felt it, not only from the energy
of David Collins, the show creator, running around behind us
like excited, and I was like, oh, I'm like, this
is what I've never been able to accomplish in any
single audition. The year's coming too. I'm like, this is
what it's like when it feels good. And so the
next day they slashed like two thirds of us, gave
(24:16):
us calls. We came back, they gave us notes. I'm like,
what to work on, what to do more of, less of,
and they narrowed it down to ten of us, and
it was like they told us that we're going to
do like a mock episode. They outfitted an suv with
a bunch of go pros. They put me in the
car with four other guys that I'd never even chemistry
(24:38):
tested with, and they were really nice guys. And the
four that I was in the car with, they were like, guys,
pretty sure it's us. And I was like, in my mind,
i was like, I'm like, they say they want a
diverse cast. I'm like, we're all white, Like what's happening here.
I'm the most ethnic one and I'm like a super
white dude. I just have a Polish name. That's as
(24:59):
close as we're getting to the diversity part here and
we like went and did the thing and recorded, and
then I went back to New York and then I
got a call from an incredible casting agent at ITV
who I adore, and she was like, look, you didn't
get it.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
You didn't not get it.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Which is the worst thing that you could as.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
She was communicative, because you have many hundreds of auditions
I've gone for where they never even gave me feedback.
Tell me I was shit, tell me that I wasn't good,
tell me that my nose wasn't right, just telling me
so that I can work on or maybe I don't
have to work on it. And it's just I'm not
what you were looking for, right, And so I was like, okay, great,
and she's like, so we're going to wait a little bit.
So we waited a few weeks and then she contacted
(25:43):
me again and Ali, I just said her name Ali, whatever,
it's fine, Well, I love her.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
Why am I being anonymous? Hey? Ali, Hey, Alie, we
love you.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
And she was like, so we want you to come
back to LA and you're going to audition against for
new food Experts. And I was in my mind internally,
I was like, no, they don't want me. I'm going
to stay here. And my partner at the time thankfully
looked at me and he was like, you, dude, like
(26:12):
you need a perspective shift. He's like, you're going into
this defeatus, Like they're all up against you, external locus
of control. It's like all their fault. He was like,
maybe they just haven't had an opportunity to see you
and they saw something. If they're going to be flying
your ass back to La, so just like go fight
for it. And then my pathological competitiveness kicked in.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
I went in.
Speaker 5 (26:31):
We'd already had a group chat with the five of
us because we had like a really strong connection. And
I went in there and I did the thing, and
I made some I remember what we did, like a
mock episode, and I made pasta carbonera. Knowing that Tan
doesn't eat pork because he's Muslim, like an asshole, I
put panchetta in so it's just like bacon fat, you know,
like smelling up the kitchen. And he was such a
(26:52):
sweetheart about it and didn't eat it, but he was
really gracious. And then I ended up getting the part
like two weeks later.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Isn't it fun?
Speaker 1 (27:00):
How life works, like you put so much energy and
time into this dream of becoming an actor. Yeah, and
then when you least expect it, quere I comes along.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
A completely different medium, Right, I get it. Some people
are like, oh no, but like you got the entertainment
industry job, like you got the thing that you were
looking for, but it wasn't that wasn't it. And I've
said this before, but it's like, I feel like I
got the job that I needed and not the job
that I wanted, because it led me to leaning into something.
It was already my own internal low hanging fruit, my
passion and my obsession for storytelling through food, which has
(27:32):
now evolved into other different projects, whether it's cookbooks, public speaking,
and now no tastes like home. Yeah, I just kind
of like I stopped. I had to stop fighting myself.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
So where are you at with the acting dream now?
Is that something that's still in your heart?
Speaker 5 (27:45):
It's apples and oranges to me, it's definitely still something
that like I still have the itch. I've done little
things here and there, like fun, meaningful projects. Sometimes it's
just something that I really love And there's there's a
really good one in the pipeline that I'm really excited
about that. I'll tell you when we stop recording. But
I'm about to see Yeah, but it's fun. But it's
(28:06):
like it's it's it's definitely something that I still really enjoy.
But I actually don't know because on one and it
was a dream for such a long time that it's like,
did I just not mourn the loss and it's my
muscle memory or is it something I really want to do.
I still think it's something I really want to do,
but I think when the time is right, it's going
to happen. Yeah, I'm definitely you know, knock on wood
on the busier side right now and very grateful and happy.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
But yeah, I mean I'm patient.
Speaker 5 (28:30):
And what I've learned is like sorry for the culinary reference,
but it's like I want to low slow burn in
my career. I just want to kind of keep doing
a version of this for a really long time and
until I'm a wrinkly old raisin.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
And that's kind of the goal.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
And there's always room for reinvention. It's I'm never too late.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Yeah, you light up when you talk about it. So
I hope this dream comes tru free.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
From the outside, it seems like you've had this like
midas touch with your career right like ever re overnight
success is ten years in the making. But when people
see you on the outside, like you said, you're busy,
You've got all these you've got a pack schedule. But
I know that there are failures. There are so many
disappointments along the way. I don't know if you've seen
this trend on social called museum of failure. People talk
(29:15):
about like what's in their museum of failure. It's like
a resume of failures, almost as opposed to a resume
of successes. What would be in your museum of failure?
What are the the missed opportunities that come to mind
or the disappointments or failures along the way.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
I just want to clarify, like, and I know this
isn't what you're leaning towards, but I want to be
clear that when I say failure, I don't mean regret,
because I genuinely even if sometimes I regret things in
the moment when they don't work out, and I get
like pissed off with myself in the end, like they
truly are. I can't believe I'm quoting Kim Kardashian, But
she's like everything is a is a lesson in life
or whatever it is that she says, and I.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Like really believe that.
Speaker 5 (29:57):
But I would say the one that I keep on
because of, you know, my obsession and as a hopeless
romantic is it's relationships. Yeah, like I get, you know,
it makes me a little emotional thinking about it because
it's like, I'm so grateful for all the ones that
I have, but it's like I fall deeply and I
try to give all of myself in every capacity and
(30:19):
when it doesn't work out, and it hasn't worked out
for a multitude of reasons, and it's never black and white,
it's always complex. I you know, it's that thing of
where it feels like a failure and where I kind
of have to reconfigure my thinking and shift my perspective.
Is that I realize that the hardest thing with any
(30:39):
relationship ending, even with friendships, I would say, and even
with family members, because I have family members that I'm
no longer in contact with who are part of my
immediate family growing up and they were there every single
day and now we have nothing, and it's longing for
all the things that never came to be. I am
a nostalgic person. But it's all the plan. Whether there
(31:01):
were plans that that you shared with this specific person
or not doesn't really matter. It's also like my own
imaginative brain and my heart and the stuff that I
kind of envision for the future and mourning that where
it's sort of like, so that's the closest thing I
would say, where the thing that yeah, the thing that
I have to actively work on.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Yeah, thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I know that's really painful to think about the things
that you envisioned with someone that didn't come true. What
do you envision from love in your life? Like?
Speaker 3 (31:33):
What what do you want?
Speaker 4 (31:36):
Damn, let's fucking go.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
I mean, I I wanna. I want to make sure
that I feel loved and that I don't have to
question it. And that's not about the person, whether it's relationship,
(32:05):
family member, or friend, but it's also my own side
of my own abandonment issues and all that kind of stuff. Yeah,
where I just feel like safe and love and comfortable
enough to be my own person. And the most important
thing for me that I've learned. I think in the
past decade, I've been going to therapy since I was seventeen,
(32:27):
But the past decade, I'm realizing that I've kind of
acknowledged the fact that it is so paramount for me
to make sure that I feel seen for who I
really am.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
That's all we want, that's all everybody wants.
Speaker 5 (32:41):
If I get mischaracterized or misjudged, And that's been a
massive lesson having a public facing job where people make
a lot of assumptions about you, and even in my
personal life with people when someone doesn't see me for
who I really am or my intentions. And I'm not
saying that I'm perfect, and I make mistakes all all
the time. But when I'm when I'm seen for who
(33:05):
I really am, that's when I feel the most safe.
And I have that with very close friends of mine
who just like never question my intentions. Yeah, and there's
there's nothing more beautiful. And that's like a warm cup
of like brown tea in front of a fireplace, you know,
on like a soft blanket, Like there's nothing that feels
more comforting and nurturing than that.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
I look back on my life and I when I
think about the times where romantic love wasn't present, I'm
so grateful for the friendships that showed me that unconditional love.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
And you kid, you're a judgment of.
Speaker 5 (33:36):
Course, of course, yeah you can be. I call it
my board of directors.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
Oh that's so good. That's so good.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
My good friend Anna taught me that one. She's like,
if I have like a life situation, She's like, consult
your board of directors. Yeah, that's my advice that no
one asked for. It is like, make sure you have
like a solid ass boarded directors. Those people are going
to keep you in check, keep your ego in check.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
The ones who are going to be.
Speaker 5 (33:59):
Brutally honest with you no matter what, even if it's
a little even if it's a little painful.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
Like that's what we should aspire to in our lives.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
It's less about the specific romance or the family or
the friends, but it's like a mix of all those things.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
How big is your board of directors? You tend to
keep it small or I would.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
Say it's probably about like I have like five or six,
like a solid perfect size.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
Yeah, that's also the perfect dinner party size.
Speaker 5 (34:23):
Nothing drives me more crazy than like making dinner for
ten people.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Is thank you, Mi Zerre six max.
Speaker 5 (34:29):
Unless it's like two different types of pasta, that's fine,
but like dinner table conversations, you end up having multiple
conversations going on simultaneously. I don't like going too restaurants
unless it's like a work thing where it's like more
than six people.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Same because you like you'd lose, you lose.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
The plot, and then you have to focus on the
person on your left for the first course and then
on the right for the If you're following Tiffany's Book
of Manners like, it just becomes a dumpster fire.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
No. No, it's too overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
I'm so weird about my birthday. I'm like, no large
parties six people max. Yeah, and I'll do like three
separate parties of like four to six people. But it's
the only way to connect, correct from my opinion. To
wrap things up today, Anthony, I want to do a
taste test with you. It's not your average taste test, okay,
it's it's not hard to tell that you know your
(35:13):
way around a set of dumb bells, right. I know
that we both love our protein forward snacks, so I've
brought a few for us to try today and rate together.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
Let's go.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
So I don't know about you.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Whenever I'm shopping for protein snacks, I have to make
sure that they pass the gag test, like, because a.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Lot of them they just well, yeah, you know, it's
like protein bars.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
Yeah, ninety nine point nine percent of them are mealy
and like they leave your stomach feeling weird afterwards, and
it's like I'm getting the protein, but I feel like
a mess afterwards.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
What is the point. What's the point.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Yeah, So I've brought some of my favorites and then
some new ones that I haven't tried.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
Okay, I'm curious how many I know and how many
I don't.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Okay, So our right side bessies who listen to our
show know how much I love my chicken chips.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
I'm obsessed with.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
Everyone.
Speaker 5 (36:00):
Look sit me cross eyed when I bring up these
wilds same they gaslight us because it makes no sense.
They're like, is it like, is it like poor cracklings?
Speaker 3 (36:09):
No, No, it's not.
Speaker 5 (36:11):
I know these intimately I have. I'm in a long
term relationship with whoever runs their social media. They send
me the new flavors when they try them out.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
Wild. May I open these? Yes?
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Please?
Speaker 1 (36:20):
We're cracking open some wild protein chips. This is actually
like my airplane snack. If they have them in the
in the airport, I usually buy these or I bring
up with me. My two favorite flavors are Buffalo or
Nashville Hot.
Speaker 4 (36:32):
Hey, you're a spice girl, I am.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
It was so good.
Speaker 4 (36:36):
You know what they slap?
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Here's through like four or five in his mouth. Okay,
left Buffalo.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
I eat them like pringles.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
Have you tried National Hot?
Speaker 4 (36:44):
No, try National Hot? Okay They're not too hot.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
No, they're not okay, Yeah, but the Buffalo, I would say,
is like a great entry point for anyone wanting to
you know.
Speaker 4 (36:54):
It's like a good dry heat.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Okay, have you tried these? These are peetos?
Speaker 4 (36:58):
No?
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Okay, These I will say are not as the macros
aren't as strong.
Speaker 5 (37:03):
Here.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
We've got about four four grams of protein.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
Okay, okay, so these are petos A jam of junk
food tastes. Its plant based, crunchy, cheese less puffs.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
I feel like I need a little more cheesy essence
in there.
Speaker 5 (37:15):
Look, the flavor intensity is probably like a solid six
out of ten. Yeah, but what I'm impressed with is
the texture. It's light as light as it's light the
way crappy junk food is. And it's airy and it
doesn't feel too mealy, you know when they feel melli
and there's like that grit.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Yeah, it's not terrible. Would I would five out of ten.
Speaker 5 (37:36):
He's going back to a har mag of these on
a flight, I wouldn't complain.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
It's true. It's true. I would take that on a fight.
Speaker 5 (37:41):
They're not extremely high in sodium, which is great. Mm
hmmm because that I always checked for. Yep Pa and
lentil flour are good. I like it when they mix
it with with fava bean as well, because just pee
alone will like mess up your stomach.
Speaker 4 (37:55):
A lot of really good ingredients. There's no like weird
fillery stuff. Wow, Oh you're teaching me things. I love this.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Next we're getting into a no cow bar chocolate caramel
peanut protein snack bar. I am a dairy free girly,
so I only buy like plant protein.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Okay, we're gonna try it by to this. Mm hmmm.
I'm sorry. Now it's a no for me.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
No one's gonna accuse us of being delicious.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
It doesn't pass the gag test.
Speaker 4 (38:23):
It's that mealiness.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
I know. Can you make can you make a protein bar?
Speaker 4 (38:29):
I have tried the one.
Speaker 5 (38:31):
I feel like I'm one of these like TikTok shops
right now. But the one that i've actually the taste
is okay, but it has a shocking I think it
has thirty or forty grams of protein in it and
the lowest amount of calories, and for what it is,
doesn't have a shocking amount of ingredients.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
Have you heard of David Bar?
Speaker 3 (38:53):
No?
Speaker 4 (38:54):
Are you know RX bars?
Speaker 5 (38:55):
Yeah, I like started our X bars, sold the company
and now he started as David Bar and it's the
bar on the market with the most amount of protein.
Full disclosure, I've never had a delicious protein bar where
I'm like, damn, Like I could really use that protein
bar right now. But sometimes it's like I'm eating a
salad I didn't have time to like cook salmon or
whatever it is, and I need to get my protein
and I like finish off with that because it kind
of feels like a dessert. Yeah, that bar is really
(39:16):
good because it gets like your protein fix and you
stay full for longer. Okay, wait, can I tell you? Okay,
since you like you like sweets dessert? Yes, have you
heard of Gselle's Bakery No vegan, gluten free, dairy free,
and something else free.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
It's here in La.
Speaker 5 (39:32):
Here in La they sell it. She has her shop.
I don't know where it is. I've ordered it freeze dried,
like freezer packed to New York. There's an oatmeal, peanut
butter and jelly bar. There's a Keto chocolate fudge brownie,
really good macro. She has a protein bar that I
haven't tried yet. It's delicious and it's surprisingly like really
good for what it is.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Okay, I can't wait to try this, considering.
Speaker 5 (39:54):
There's no like like dairy fat and all that kind
of stuff incorporated.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
I love cake so much. Cake is like part my identity.
Speaker 5 (40:00):
So it's your favorite, like birthday cake, describe it. I'm
making you one and I'm bringing it to you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Boom, Oh my gosh, Sweet Lady Jane. Their triple berry cake. Okay,
that has like it's just white cake but berries in
the middle, and then like that really light whipped cream. O.
Speaker 4 (40:16):
Love that.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Also Susie Cake celebration cake. Have you had Susie Cake? Oh,
oh my god, you have to try Susi Cakes so good.
And then red velvet. Those are my top three. I
have the diet of like an eight year old child.
Speaker 4 (40:26):
Oh, I love it? Are you kidding?
Speaker 3 (40:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (40:27):
It's all about balance. For me. It's vanilla and strawberry for.
Speaker 5 (40:30):
A cake of vanilla cake with like a good little
like a crempat situation and just like a good strawberry
jam or even fresh preserved strawberries like that.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
That's it for me.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
We covered so much ground today, Anthony, Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (40:45):
Thank you so much for having me. This is we
really did cover everything you really did.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Anthony Barovski is an Emmy winning producer, TV host, culinary expert,
and New York Times best selling author. His new show,
No Taste Like Home is out now.
Speaker 3 (40:59):
On That's it for today's show.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Tomorrow, we're talking to actor and reality star Denise Richards
all about her new docuseries Denise Richards and her Wild Things.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
Join the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect
with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram
and at the bright Side Pod on TikTok oh, and
feel free to tag us at Simone Boyce and at
Danielle Robe.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Listen and follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio, app,
Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (41:37):
See you tomorrow, folks, keep looking on the bright side.
Hosts And Creators
Simone Boyce
Danielle Robay
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