How Antoni Porowski rose above the “Can Antoni cook?” controversy

Antoni Porowski is ready to talk about the guacamole. “Look,” he says now, “it affected me at the beginning in a really big way.”

Back in 2018, when the Montreal native debuted on a rebooted “Queer Eye,” he and his castmates became an overnight cultural phenomenon. Yet, along with the fame and the accolades (The show has gone on to win 11 Emmy Awards), there came a deeply Porowski-centered discourse. As he shepherded the makeover candidates of those early episodes, the question of whether or not Porowski could cook soon arose.

“He’s preparing food a child would make,” Bowen Yang complained in Vulture, while sites like Junkee and Mashable “investigated” his culinary skills and Out called his guacamole “blasphemous.” Porowski weathered the skepticism good-naturedly, going on to write a best-selling cookbook and becoming an enduring fan favorite on the show.

Yet behind the scenes, he now admits he was wrestling with the desire to prove that “I can actually make a proper mirepoix with my eyes closed.” After taking in some good advice from his therapist and his showrunner, however, he says he was able to remember that it’s not about showing off his skills, “It’s about being of service to the person who we’re with for such a short amount of time.” 

While Porowski is still doing that service with the rest of the Fab Five (Season 9, with new cast member Jeremiah Brent, released on Netflix in December), he talked to me about his new show for National Geographic, “No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski.” The series is an apt fit for the personable 40-year-old, a mix of cooking, travel and tears — as this time he goes around the globe with a collection of equally charming celebrities, including James Marsden, Florence Pugh and Issa Rae, tracing their roots from their family kitchens.

Porowski opened up to us about the inspiration for — and timeliness of — “No Taste Like Home,” a show about the immigrant experience and “leaning into really embracing diversity.” And, in his trademark forthright style, he also shared about his first brush with Taylor Swift, accepting that he’s not Ina Garten and moving past his “pathological need to be seen.”

Watch our “Salon Talks” here, or read it below to learn more about Porowski’s experience becoming an overnight star, the hardest he cried while making “No Taste Like Home” and why he’s hoping for more seasons of “Queer Eye.”

The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

Let’s start with this lovely show, where you and six of the best-looking people in the world go to these beautiful places and eat beautiful food, but there’s a real depth and heart to it. 

The irony is that you’re describing the beautiful optics of a National Geographic show and all this stunning talent and everything, but it was a deeply personal journey. We started with every single one of these guests by asking them about a dish that shaped them growing up, something that they remember from childhood. It could be either from a special occasion, like a family holiday, or it could be just a normal weekly night meal that their mom or their dad or their grandparent made for them.

We go to their country of origin. We explore their family history through food. We unpack the dish. We look at what was going on culturally, politically and socially at the time. Then, we hone in with an incredible research team. I can take zero credit for [the] three to six months of research on every single episode to uncover all these people in their family that they didn’t even know existed. 

Why use food as the through line for connecting to our ancestors, the things they went through and the struggles they endured?

As a jumping-off point, it’s literally how I navigate the universe. It’s how I was raised to be. When I go to someone’s house, I immediately look through their fridge. It’s like looking through their diary, and asking people about their relationship with it, because it tells you about the type of lives that they lead now. It can tell you about provenance, about where they come from and their ancestry, and it also dictates where we’re heading, as well. It’s so much more than just the dish. It is this historical, deeply emotional thing that we all have. Every single person has their own version of that, no matter how humble or how complicated the dish is. 

For the show’s six guests, food becomes a way to find out things about themselves they never knew. Was there a moment on this journey that you felt, “Maybe we’ve gone too far. Maybe we’re going to touch a nerve in someone that we can’t untouch?”

Hats off to all of them. None of them knew what we were doing on a daily basis. They knew which city we were going to be in, but they truly signed up for a mystery. 

I think for actors especially, who are used to having lines to rehearse and certain start and end times, it took them a day to shed that a little bit. I kept on reminding them, “I only want this to feel like a gift for you. I want this to be something that you’re able to pass on.” 

Where I was a little anxious was with the Awkwafina episode. It was such a sensitive subject matter. Her mother was South Korean. She’d lost her when she was four years old, and she hadn’t been back to South Korea since. I definitely wanted to provide her with a little bit more information, but even then you never really know what you’re going to uncover. We started with this dish that her paternal grandmother made for her. Her paternal grandmother is Chinese-American, but she made her this traditional South Korean dish jajangmyeon, so that Nora would remember her mom.

Then, halfway through the episode, we’re learning about this beautiful soup with thin pieces of beef that’s rehydrated with dry kelp. When Nora smelled the scent that was coming off the pot, she remembered that smell from when she was a kid. You learn that in Korean history, mothers prepare this for themselves to heal themselves after they give birth, and also teach it to their daughters. It was linked to mythology because they used to watch whales giving birth and being depleted of iron, [and then] eating kelp. It is just such a loaded, beautiful thing. 

I cried so hard by the end of it. Nora actually had to take care of me, which I was so embarrassed about because this was about her, but that’s just what a great person she was. It was a journey that she wanted to go on. It’s one of those classic things in life where you know that you have to get through something that you want to, but it’s painful, as well. But what’s on the other side can be beautiful, what you end up discovering. That was just a shining example of that in action. 

This show feels very topical right now because it’s interrogating the idea of home — where we are in the world and where we come from. What do you think a show like this has to say about helping us understand that right now? 

Every single person on the show including myself, and you at some point, we are all the descendants of immigrants. It’s something that touches a chord with me because I feel like a lot of people are forgetting that right now. We have to remember that we’re all here because of other people who’ve made great sacrifices. It’s just about leaning into embracing that diversity — not just tolerating it or accepting it, but seeing it for the beauty that it has and the gifts that all of us have.

I joke with my friends a lot about generational trauma, it’s our favorite topic of conversation for all my therapized friends. But I feel like we don’t talk enough about generational gifts. Why are we the way that we are? Why am I so obsessed with food? I don’t know, I can tell you why my parents are, but I haven’t gone back a few generations. 

Where we’re at as a culture right now, we’re just at these polar opposites, and no one’s stepping toward the center. To find universal threads gives me a bit of hope for the next four years and beyond. 

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You work with the United Nations Food Program in places like Senegal, where you took Issa Rae. Tell me about what that work is and what you’re doing, especially now at a moment when so many federal programs are being cut off.

That all came to be just from my time in Senegal. They had reached out and asked if I would ever consider going back. I was like, “Let’s go yesterday.” 

We made an announcement about a donation at Global Citizen [Festival] in Central Park this past summer. Then we started having conversations about how we could work together in a meaningful way. What touched me about their work is they deal with the fortification of rice to make sure the kids get the nutrients and minerals that they need. Specifically [they are] keeping girls in school long enough so that they not only learn sustainable harvesting and agriculture practices, but take lessons on how to prepare food back home that they can teach their parents. Keeping them in school assures them the highest chance of getting a job later on. 

As much of a dumpster fire as this country is right now, It’s important to also remember that there’s a whole world out there. Selfishly, in a very personal way, it reminds me that there are people who are thriving, who are suffering, who are living, loving and doing all of that outside of this bubble that I’m in New York. It’s a good perspective-building exercise, and it’s important for a lot of people to just pay attention to what’s going on out there in the world, too. 

Speaking of the dumpster fire, how are you doing my Canadian friend? As someone from north of the border, what is going through your mind these days? 

Well, I do like to joke that I still maintain my Canadian citizenship, even though I love this country so much. It’s afforded me a life beyond my wildest dreams. But it’s one of those reminders where I have to reposition my thinking into the realization that the people are not the government. There are a lot of people who have certainly led us to where we are right now. At the same time, others have different values. It’s definitely scary. Humor is very helpful to me.

I hope Canada remains independent and part of the Commonwealth moving forward. I just don’t see that as a possibility of changing. And I think Trudeau said some really smart words to that effect. But it’s just very weird, and it’s very strange, and I laugh about it. Then when I sit in my feelings, it’s like, “Okay, this is actually pretty terrifying.” I’m at this weird Catch-22 and being torn in two different directions of, “You can’t take this too seriously. Keep one foot in front of the other and focus on the things that I can control,” but also paying attention to very scary things that are happening. 

“Queer Eye” premiered during the first Trump administration and made a big splash. What feels different now about this show, about the need for it, about the audience for it, about the message for it, eight years later?

For me, it’s knowing the difference between the things I can control and the things I can’t control. I’m still part of “Queer Eye.” The show is continuing. I hope we get another season, maybe five more. What I can control is the ability to tell diverse stories through food and offer people a platform to be able to do that.

In Vegas, we decided to take the perspective of, “Yes, it’s this big neon colossus, but it’s a living, breathing city with people who keep it alive, who have lost so much during the pandemic.” And now, back to immigrants whose rights are being taken away and families are being separated. 

It’s important to tell those stories because we have to take concepts to the people who don’t understand. Behind those concepts there are living, breathing individuals who are doing the best that they can with the resources that they have or don’t. I feel like it’s a renewed sense of responsibility.

When the show first debuted, a lot of people didn’t understand what you were doing. This is not “MasterChef.” You’re trying to teach people who maybe don’t know how to cook. How did you feel about all of the different reactions and critiques?

Let’s get into it, the guacamole. Look, it affected me at the beginning in a big way. The thing my therapist told me from the get-go was, “This is going to be one of your biggest life lessons. Because as someone who really cares what people think about him, you’re going to have to learn how to re-navigate your attention and take the good with the not-so-good.” 

People are entitled to their opinions. I can’t be loved by everyone. I’m not Ina Garten. None of us are, unfortunately. I can credit our showrunner, Jen Lane, because I came back after a lot had happened in seasons one and two, and I wanted to make a cassoulet when I was back in Kansas City. She’s like, “Ant, what are you doing showing a recipe that has 18 different ingredients and is going to be a whole day in front of the stove? Also, how are we going to film this? Is this you actually wanting to serve the person that we’re helping this week, or is this your ego right now?” I was like, “You’re right.” 

It’s a reminder to just meet people where they’re at, because it’s so easy for me to just get fueled by, “I need to show them that I can make a proper mirepoix with my eyes closed.” Not that I would ever want to do that with my eyes closed, but anyway. It’s about being of service to the person who we’re with for such a short amount of time. It’s just staying in my lane and learning to get rid of the clutter, which I’ve gotten so much better at. I’m so much better at not looking at comments anymore. Thank goodness. 

“Queer Eye” made overnight stars of all of you. You were a guy working, acting, when suddenly, boom, you’re on a show and people know who you are, have thoughts about you, love you. What is that like to take all that on immediately and do it with four other people at the same time?

On one end, yes, it was overnight, but at the same time, I internally scoff a little because it was 10 years in the making. I was planning a completely different trajectory for my career. Life is what happens when you’re making plans. On one end, it was like, “No, it took a while to get here,” but on another front, it did feel like it happened almost instantly. 

I remember we finished seasons one and two, which we filmed simultaneously in Atlanta, and then I had this five-month gap of not really being able to work, so I decided to take Italian lessons. The day that a publication announced our names, I went from 500 followers to like 70,000. My notifications were on my phone so it was glowing until the battery just died. 

The day when the show launched, Netflix didn’t tell us the ad spend that they put towards the billboards. We were driving towards “Good Morning America” early in the morning, and then all of a sudden, Tan noticed, “Wait, we’re on that billboard on that bus stop.” I was like, “No, wait. We’re on that one, as well.” It was on every single one. Then, leading to Times Square, we were on double jumbotrons. I remember this sense of shock and fear, like, “What have I done? I’m not anonymous anymore. My face is out there.” I was like, “Ant, but you’ve wanted this since you were a little kid.” [The] pathological need to be seen because you’re the youngest of three. 

A mentor of mine compared this whole overnight syndrome of suddenly being so exposed, he was like, “It’s like losing your virginity. Once your anonymity is gone, it’s gone. It’s going to be a very complex, beautiful, sad, heartbreaking, devastating, joyous, thrilling journey. But once it’s gone, it’s gone. You just have to mourn that and accept this new normal of who you are.”

My thing was, “I don’t want to change. I’m going to stay exactly the same.” I thought I was being humble and evolved. A friend in my board of directors, my trusted circle, was like, “No, you have to accept the fact that your entire life is changing, and how you navigate and the decisions you make. It’s going to come with beautiful things and things that are going to be more challenging to deal with. But it’s this.”

You started as an actor. We know that you were in “You Need to Calm Down” with Taylor Swift back in 2019, but that was not your first brush with her. You also auditioned for a role in the “Blank Space” music video. What was that like?

I didn’t meet her because she wasn’t at the casting, understandably. She’s a very busy woman dominating everything that she does with such grace and dignity. She’s just amazing. But I was auditioning. I was with another agency. I was still waiting tables at Bond Street, and I got a casting call for a music video. We only found out what it was when I got called back. They put us in all these different scenarios where I was running away from a lion and acting scared, and I went back for the second one. Then I didn’t get it. It all worked out. 

Maybe it prepared me for when we got the call [in 2019], and they were like, “Taylor wants you to be in her new music video.” It relieved a bit of the tension. Everything does happen in life the way that it’s supposed to. That’s a good reminder, especially for me today. It might not make sense at the time, but when you look back, it’s going to be like, “Yeah, that was all your higher power’s plan,” or whoever it is that you worship. Let time do its thing.