Commence the swooning: “Queer Eye” food expert Antoni Porowski, arguably the dreamiest of the Fab 5 posse, is opening a restaurant in New York City, he revealed at a 92nd Y panel this week.
“I’m all about cheese and pork belly and the decadence of food, but also, as a result of the increased vanity of being on camera all the time, and working out and eating healthy, I’m developing a fast-casual food concept restaurant that I’m opening here in New York,” said the Brooklynite, who claims limited experience in professional kitchens, but plenty in food service.
The former struggling actor has worked as a “busboy, a waiter, a manager, a sommelier” at a whole gamut of dining establishments, from “a family-run Polish restaurant with grandmas in the basement hand-making pierogies” to the high-end NoHo sushi spot BondSt, he says. “I have experience more on the front-of-house side of things, but I’ve always had a strong reverence and a respect for chefs. … They’ve always been my rock stars.”
Porowski’s own self-taught cooking credentials have come under fire since the Netflix debut of season 1, when viewers criticized the recipes he taught show makeover recipients — guacamole, grilled cheese sandwiches, fancy hot dogs — as overly simplistic. (No one could get over the fact that he added Greek yogurt to his guac, either.)
But a perusal of the star’s recent Instagram posts, photographed expertly by his boyfriend Joey Krietemeyer, suggest he has the chops and the repertoire to feed the midtown office crowd the exact kind of healthy-ish lunches they’re looking for.
Here’s what we expect to see on the menu, after some social media sleuthing:
Avocados, for sure
Porowski shocked panel attendees by announcing the absence of avocados from his upcoming cookbook, but we’re expecting the pitted fruit to appear in some form at his new restaurant, as perhaps avocado toast with runny eggs and Vegemite, pictured here.
Greek “yoghurt”
Yes, that’s how Porowski spells it in an Instagram post that shows a taco loaded with what appears to be dollop of sour cream and avocado slices. His caption leans into the truth: “Yes that’s Greek yoghurt next to avocados. Get over it, folks.”
The dairy staple may serve as a topping for more than just tacos; it dresses roasted carrots with carrot-top pesto and pine nuts in another Porowski creation.
Roasted chicken
This is a no-brainer for the menu at any fast-casual spot in the vein of Dig Inn or The Little Beet. Our favorite incarnation in Porowski’s feed is a whole chicken rubbed with ancho, chipotle and maple syrup-infused butter and stuffed with lemons, yellow onions and crushed garlic cloves. Can you believe?
Sweet potatoes
Porowski prepares the tuber in multiple ways, as a side dish for his dad’s ribeye steak on Father’s Day, as twice-baked halves creamed with Cabot cheddar, and as fries drizzled with chimichurri sauce and parmesan cheese. God, we really hopes he puts those fries on the menu because they look “yummers.”
Gochujang
Porowski seems really smitten with this condiment, a fermented Korean chili paste he describes on Instagram as “not as intense as sriracha, more adventurous than catsup and satiates the need for some funk.” He uses it to spice up the mayo on his peppercorn-crusted burger and as a topping on cauliflower steaks.
Spaghetti
We’re pretty sure pasta is Porowski’s favorite comfort food, so he’d be doing a disservice to his brand (if not his chiseled abs) by leaving them out. And they had better be house-made, the way the food expert teaches husband/father/bartender Leo to do in season 2, episode 3.
Of course, any man committed to his workout regime knows that if you’re going to chow down on spaghetti coated in freshly grated Pecorino Romano, or a lemony, buttery crumbled sausage white wine sauce, you should probably just say “pace out” to that summer bod. (Or, more constructively, immediately book a morning SoulCycle class.)
