‘Queer Eye’ Star Antoni Porowski Is Cooking Up His Own Empire Beyond Netflix’s Fab Five
02.06.2022 - 19:41
/ variety.com
Antoni Porowski was cast on Netflix’s 2018 reboot of “Queer Eye” and skyrocketed to fame as the makeover show’s boyishly charming food expert, he found himself struggling to say no.For years, he’d hustled as a busboy and waiter in upscale New York eateries while auditioning for acting gigs. So when he finally got the job that meant he could blend, rather than balance, entertainment and food, he wanted to go all-in.“I went through a weird phase when ‘Queer Eye’ came out where I was like, ‘I’m not going to enjoy myself,’” he says over breakfast at the downtown Manhattan restaurant The Smile.
“I’m just going to work and hustle. I’m going to do every single endorsement.” His yes phase proved to be rewarding, leading to cookbooks, a fast-casual restaurant in New York City’s West Village (which closed during the pandemic), and brand deals to tout espresso, nutrition gummies, meal-planning kits and other accouterments to his 4.5 million Instagram followers.But it all became too exhausting.
So when COVID-19 forced “Queer Eye,” which was filming in Austin, to halt production, Porowski used the time to mentally reset and refocus his priorities. He spent early pandemic days hunkered down in Texas with his boyfriend, Kevin, and their newly adopted foster dog, Neon.“I took a breather.
Not to use a food analogy … ” he starts, before offering one of many food analogies he’ll use during our two-hour conversation. He recalls advice that he got from his agent: “Think of it like a simmer.
You don’t have to say yes to everything.”Porowski, 38, started considering the kinds of projects that uniquely aligned with his newfound calling as the celebrity home cook next door. That has manifested in his first big swing outside of “Queer Eye,”
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