Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - NYC Season - Ep 1: Zachary Quinto

Episode Date: January 30, 2019

We kick off NYC with the ridiculously talented and velvet voiced Zachary Quinto. The Broadway and Star Trek star gets served Jessie's cherished Marbella Chicken and we talk American table manners, the rights and wrongs of sweet and sour whilst Lennie and Zachary's rejoice at their shared love of plane food. Dinner is served!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Table Manners. With a slight twist you probably can hear sirens in the background, maybe the steam of a, what are they called? The manholes. We are in New York City baby. Stop looking at me like I'm mad, I'm trying to make it feel exciting it sounds really weird you sound like an extra from Pretty Woman do you sound like the homeless man at the beginning yeah welcome to LA

buddy yeah okay well I was trying to make it exciting we're in New York what better place to come than New York City

where I have eaten many a beautiful meal basically thanks to Benny Blanco who used to send me all around the restaurants in New York and we'd eat and eat and eat and everything would be planned forget about the song we were writing it was about what where we were going to go for dinner or what takeout we were going to get so

I have so many fond food memories of New York. We've got some really exciting guests coming up on this series from different walks of life and professions and I'm so intrigued to know what their favourite spots in New York are. First up we have the fantastic Zachary Quinto. Yeah, I can't wait to meet him. He's been on Broadway, he's been in films, he actually was in a film with my sister and that is how I got to know Zachary

he was in the very very popular heroes um Asyla the serial killer he's most famous for being the young Mr Spock is he Star Wars yes okay well he's also the young Mr Spock the new Mr Spock but he's hugely famous no he's the younger Spock. Because they've gone back in time, haven't they? I didn't know you were a Trekkie. I'm not, but that's what I know he's famous for. We have kindly been given the apartment of my friends who has lots of gadgets

and gizmos and actually no tables and chairs. We've got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 guitars And a massive teddy bear At least 4 pianos and about 20 keyboards And no tables and chairs?

No That's right, we've got a teddy What's on the menu today? Your very favourite My favourite Marbella chicken Yes Slight twist to it, put my own slant on it.

What's your slant? Mixed up the dried fruit rather than just prunes. I put apricots in as well. Oh, fabulous. That can make the cookbook. Yep. With pesto rice. Lovely.

And a salad and you've made the dressing. Yeah, I've kind of done it. I'm really into doing egg yolk in my dressings at the moment. Egg yolk, mustard. Actually, I need to put some lemon in it. Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, oil, salt and pepper, honey. And then Alex, who's been also flown over. Pudding Bay is here in New York.

Breaking hearts, left, right and centre. Is he? Apparently. Or having his heart broken, I'm not sure. He's made coconut macaroons. Yeah, dipped in chocolate. He did just need to set off the fire alarm by trying to microwave and melt some dark chocolate

for it to dip in. And I was really worried we were going to have to evacuate this whole building. That's right. Zachary Quinto coming up on Table Mellons. Zachary Quinto, thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me. Such dulcet tones.

I know, why? It's just fruity, his voice. Your voice is very fruity. Fruity? Yeah, I feel like you could have the voice that you could play King Lear with that voice. You know what I mean? Thanks, that would be great. I would love that.

Glenda Jackson's currently got the anchor on King Lear here in New York. Oh, she's playing it. She's a woman. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's like, I would love that. Glenda Jackson's currently got the anchor on King Lear here in New York. Oh, she's playing it. She's a woman. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's here. I told you that. She's here.

They're in rehearsal for it right now. She's amazing. I saw her twice in. She got awards in London for that. I know from doing it, yeah. It's a new production, though. Different director. Sam Gold's directing it here.

Yes. Because it's for her to play a man. Wasn't the production she did in London all women? Yeah. Okay, so this is not all women. It't the production she did in London all women? Yeah. Okay, so this is not all women. It's not. But there are other non-traditional, there are other women playing male roles.

But yeah, she's doing it here right now. I'm a little young as well, but someday. Do you get to go to the theatre a lot? All the time. So is that part of the pull of living in New York? Absolutely, yeah. I lived in LA for 12 years before I came back here. But I've always loved New York, and. Yeah. I lived in LA for 12 years before I came back here. Uh, but I've always loved New York and I always imagined myself like when I, when I was in, when I was younger and

in drama school, I always imagined I would come to New York. I never thought I'd live in LA. Actually. I, I, I remember when we were graduating from school, they took us to LA to do a showcase. We did one here and one in LA. And I remember driving to the showcase in New York with friends from my class who were like, well, you know, maybe you'll go to LA. And I was like, I will never go to LA. I loathe LA. I was like such a... Where did you start out then? I grew up in Pittsburgh. Oh. PA.

What? Because of the synagogue. Oh my God, yeah. Oh God, I know. It's too sad. Horrifying. I was just there yesterday. You were canvassing? Yeah, canvassing and campaigning there. And that synagogue was, you know, like very close to where I grew up and right around the corner. Yeah.

I mean, I grew up in a suburb on the other side of the city, but it's so small. It was like less than 15 minutes away from my house and very near one of our dear, dear friends who, you know, I'm sure she's passed on now, but she surely would have known some of the victims or families of them, you know. So when you're not campaigning and canvassing, what are you up to at the moment? Oh, this moment I'm doing, I'm working on a TV show. I'm shooting a new TV show. So I'm living in Providence, Rhode Island right now, going back and forth a lot between New York and Providence. And what's that like? I don't even know where it is, Rhode Island right now, going back and forth a lot between New York and Providence. And what's that like? I don't even know where it is, Rhode Island. Rhode Island is a little bit, it's like getting up into New England. From here, it's like

northeast on the coast. Good accent, like strong accent there, or not? I think it was actually, to my understanding, Rhode Island and Pittsburgh, they did a tournament of the ugliest accents in America, and it came down to Rhode Island and Pittsburgh and I think I don't know which one which one prevailed um so has it been announced the tv show yeah it is uh it's on AMC uh it's a show called Nosferatu is this the first series it's the first series that sounds familiar Nosferatu well nosferatu historically is like a very old uh vampire right like a german that sort of big ear yeah yeah yeah you know shaved head like you know

but in this version of it it's actually based on a novel that was written by joe hill who is stephen king's son oh you're kidding yeah yeah it's really uh stephen king is a real proper person with children yeah go figure right it's weird do you know what I mean yeah yeah he is he's so massive as a writer you can't imagine he's like yeah he's sort of monolithic as an author isn't he but yeah he's got um I think more than one child but Joe is uh a really interesting author in his own right and um and so it's based on a novel that he wrote and what's the character you're playing like a dark you always play dark people and you're so lovely so it's a i was just i went to visit my mom when i was in pittsburgh yesterday and uh and we were having this funny

conversation where um you know she was like giving me she was like giving me, she was like, you, she's like, are you evil? You know, I was like, wait, what are you talking about? I was like, no, mom, I'm not evil. But yeah, I do. I play a lot of dark characters. Like serial killers. Serial killers. And then, I mean, you were an asshole in Agent 47. No, I thought she was quite good.

But you, he wanted to kill Hannah in the end. Yeah, I don't know what it's about. I really don't. But this is, this was an interesting choice for me because I've been away from that for a while. I specifically didn't continue on with American Horror Story because of that. I was like, you know what, I really

want to take a little break from this. And then this opportunity came along. It's been about five years since I've been on television. It's been a minute. So I kind of thought it's very well written and it's a really different kind of character, even though he's evil. But he's this kind of, he's a vampire of sorts. But rather than, he doesn't take blood, but he kidnaps children and steals their souls.

And taking their souls gives him vitality. But so he, sometimes he's like my age. And then sometimes he's like my age and then sometimes he's like 135 years old so I go through Do you have to play the 100? I do

Oh that's cool I go through these real I mean since we're on a podcast I could show you Can't you get younger though? If you're stealing children's souls I don't get younger

than I am because the age that I you know the age that he is at his youngest the character's youngest is the age that he was when he youngest, the character's youngest, is the age that he was when he began to do this.

So he doesn't get younger than he... Who else is in it? Yeah, because I could steal souls if I thought I was going to get younger. What age would you be? Would you? 26. Is 26 the age you'd go back to? Yeah, I'd love to.

That would be my best age, yeah. In the last five years, I mean you i'm so gosh i missed it boys in the band boys in the band it and it's with um i mean there were there's five of you in it there's nine actually yeah there's nine oh nine members of the cast oh bloody hell they are all in the lineup of the photo yeah oh okay well whoops i was very drawn to the fact that the guy from girls was in it andrew annals yeah i love him andrew's great I was very drawn to the fact that the guy from Girls was in it. Andrew Reynolds, yeah. I love him. Andrew's great. Was it fun to do that?

It was incredible. Because I know it was brought back. It was a really important play, wasn't it? Well, Boys in the Band was the, yeah, 1968. It was the 50th anniversary of the play this year. It was the first American player that really dealt with gay relationships and psychology openly. gay relationships and psychology openly. It was actually written by Mark Crowley in response to an article in the New York Times that year

by a theater critic named Stanley Kaufman, who wrote this incredibly homophobic article, in a sense, that impugned the playwright the gay playwrights of that day who were tennessee williams william inch edward albee williams was gay oh yeah i didn't know why didn't i know that it was yeah then but he writes about all these craven women well this is the interesting thing about the article in the new york times is that it was about how these gay playwrights take their homosexual experiences and then appropriate them to heterosexual relationships and women. And Mark Crowley read this article and felt really impugned by this critic.

And so he wrote The Boys in the Band in response to that. How interesting. So it was a really seminal play in the late 60s. Edward Albee was gay, I think. Oh, yeah. Yeah. How interesting. So, I mean, you've done Broadway a few times.

This was my second Broadway play, but I've done a lot of theatre. Because you did Tennessee Williams. I did Tennessee Williams. I did The Glass Menagerie, yeah. I mean, have you ever done theatre in London? I really want to. You've got to. You heard it.

I really want to. You will. You know, when I go over to London, like last time I was in London was last October and I sat down with I made it a point to like sit down with the people that are making theater over there and you know just seeking them out and like letting them know

that I was offered the production that we did of The Glass Measure Here moved to the West End but it was two and a half years after we did it here and I felt like I had moved on from the experience and so I didn't go back and there were other work conflicts

that prevented me from doing it. We should talk about some food because that actually is kind of the podcast. I want to know, first of all, do you have brothers and sisters? I have one older brother. What does he do? He is a photographer

and a furniture builder actually wow he's really talented um he just moved i think he's kind of reconfiguring his life he just got married uh last month and two months ago and yeah and he's um just moved out of la he lived in la for a long time and now they've moved to um just outside tahoe oh nice so nice. And so, yeah, they're really like, yeah, for sure. That's a nice place to visit, your mom. Yeah, totally. And now he's kind of refiguring out what he wants to do there, so. So the three of you?

Yeah, my dad died when I was young. Yeah, you were really young. I was seven, yeah. That must have been so hard. Yeah. So I guess your mom kind of, she brought up two boys and. She did, yeah.

Never remarried, never dated again did never remarried never really never dated again never remarried nothing it was very that part of it was challenging to watch her kind of like switch that part of her life off after my father died she was only i mean she was basically my age when i am now when my father died which is like crazy to think about as I get older, you know? Yeah. She did it all herself, basically, you know, I did a bang up job if I do say so myself in terms of, you know, what she provided us with and, and, you know, um, the opportunities she afforded us and, and the fact that we never, we never wanted for anything, you know, as kids, even though she really, I think, struggled to make that

happen. But at great sacrifice, a great personal sacrifice. And that's something that now is, you know, I've seen the ways that that's come back to affect her life. You know, she kind of, there was a part of her that shut off after my father died. And that I don't think she ever fully processed the trauma of it. And it's, you know, difficult. Was he very young when he died? He was 50 when he passed. Shame. Yeah, yeah.

What did he do? He was a hairdresser. Really? Yeah, he was an incredible artist, musician, visual artist. He was kind of a Renaissance man. Yeah, he died of cancer. Oh, shame. Did he know? Were you kind of interested in acting at that age yeah so he didn't know about that i'm sure it was very dramatic as a child but now i didn't have any kind of boundaries for it or outlet for it maybe maybe you and your brother

both got your kind of artistic i definitely feel that you know my father and my mother both had um artistic sensibilities but interestingly i think for me acting became a bit of a way to cope with the trauma of losing my father. You know, like a place where I could explore an emotional landscape safely. And also because my mom then became a single parent. She had to go, you know, she was a stay-at-home mom until he died. And then she had to get a job. And so from a very young age, I was kind of fending for myself in ways. And so theater and acting became a place for me to go, for her to know that I was safe and taken care of.

So did that start with kind of after school activities? And did you have an amazing acting coach? I mean, was it that person, you remember that one teacher? Jill Wadsworth, yeah, for sure. I'm still in touch with her and she's still in Pittsburgh teaching. And yeah, she really shaped me in terms of what I was capable of, I think.

And she also taught me the most important thing that I learned from her was that being a good person is as important, if not more important than being a good actor. Because there was a period of time in my adolescence where I wasn't a particularly, I was like a little snotty bratty kid, I think, you know.

I can't see you like that. Yeah, I've evolved from that, but partly because of her, you know. But I was like snarky. I was like a little. Snarky. Yeah, you know. I mean, you were a teenager.

And you'd lost your dad. I lost my dad. I was gay. It's hard to rebel against someone who is, your mum sounds like a good person. It's very hard to rebel against a good person. Yeah, it just was like little ways that it would come into the light that I felt like she recognized and she was like,

no, no, no, that's not who, that's not how we are. And she really, you know, she really instilled me with the understanding that being a good person and being compassionate and being generous of spirit is actually what's important in the world did um if your mom was working what did she do she worked she got yeah she worked first as a sort of a a very good friend who was a neighbor got her a job at like an investment brokerage house and she was a a sort of, you know, I don't even really know what it would have been,

advisor, not a financial advisor. It was like a more of like an executive sort of managing accounts kind of thing, you know. She worked there for years and then she worked at a local magistrate's office sort of running the office for years until she retired. So did she cook when she got home? She did.

Yeah. I mean, she wasn't uh my father was yeah my father was he italian he was he was italian and he he would get very interested in different types of cuisine and sort of like i remember when i was young uh he got he became very interested in asian cuisine and so he bought all this like Asian cookware. There were woks in the, you know, hanging on the wall. Quite exotic. Yeah, totally. And as a kid, I was like, wow, these are really, and so he would work on different types of cuisine, but Italian certainly.

And so food was, you know, coming from family and and like the extended family right yeah yeah his yeah my aunts and uncles his older sister who was born in italy and then came over i mean there was a lot of food around that side of the family and holidays were big food events you know big feasts on the table did you celebrate christmas eve like italians do uh we you know like like the seven fishes yeah we didn't do that italians do uh we you know like like the seven fishes yeah we didn't do that but we had big i don't know what the seven fishes is it seven fishes is that right italians do this fish right the night before right um on christmas eve and that's their big meal it's more important than christmas day uh-huh yeah ours are no our christmas

eve for us was about midnight mass and we would open our presents on Christmas Eve actually So you're Catholic? Yeah I was raised Catholic and yeah but so my father was the cook and then my mother you know she cooked to feed us she didn't you know it wasn't a lot it was like very like grilled chicken on you know

I would go down and grill the chicken and she would make the salad and the vegetables or you know So everyone mucked in. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Russell Tovey was on the podcast a few weeks ago and he said. Yeah, I do know Russell.

And I listened to that episode. He was lovely. Yeah, he was great. But he was saying about how his mum treated food like fuel. Eat it. Hurry up and eat it. Yeah. And it kind of was just like, you know, it's not about it being cordon bleu.

It was like, eat it. They kind of eat just like you know it's not about it being caught on blur it was like eat it they kind of eat to live yeah and we live to eat sure that's great i love that i mean i'm more like him more fuel where i was you know like as a kid it was i would say like dinner time was always a time to communicate in our house like we always sat down for dinner it wasn't so much like eat it it was like let's eat yeah but it wasn't really like i remember like my favorite like i'd be like i want chicken tonight which was like a sauce in a jar that you like we all loved it you know what i mean like come on um so that kind of chicken it was it was a great theme tune it was yeah absolutely it was full of additives, wasn't it? Chicken Tonight. It was just like, you know, chemicals in a jar, but it was delicious. So it would be like that kind of thing, you know.

It wasn't really like, but yeah, but then, I don't know. So I don't, I'm not a huge cook. Are you a foodie now that you've kind of, you live in New York. Now you've evolved. And you're now, I'm sure you've experienced plenty of good meals through agents and fancy schmance stuff. It's quite fun. Do you feel like you're a foodie or you kind of still haven't?

I love a good meal. I love a good meal. And I love to share food with people and what the experience is of it. But I'm not like I'm I'm I'm somewhat of a finicky picky eater. Oh, Jesus. I'm worried about. No, I'm worried because it's not it's not no but it's it's it's a divisive meal it's my favorite i don't think it's a no peter's looking

my managers are looking at me because peter doesn't like i said i hope zachary isn't one of those doesn't like sweet with um sour and he went oh god what are we having and i said do you hate that no okay for you um it's a very simple thing it's called marbella chicken okay and it's to be fair it's probably quite a hearty meal for lunch but great i haven't eaten yet today so do you do fasting i don't i mean i don't do i do fasting uh sometimes yeah that's not why is it just because you forgot no i just didn't i went to bed very late last night. Did you?

Where did you go? I didn't go out. I was home watching House of Cards. Were you? So after a day of canvassing, you went home to watch the president. I flew home. I landed at like 9.30 and then we watched House of Cards until a wee hour. Hasn't it just started, the new series? Yeah, it just started this weekend.

What did you eat last night? I'm just interested. This is what I do the podcast for. What did I eat last night i'm just interested this is what i do the podcast for what did i eat last night yeah did you get a takeaway no um miles um we love miles miles is amazing the beautiful miles yeah beautiful he's the calmest i mean you're calm like he's even calmer than you he's like horizontal was he out campaigning no he didn't go with me this weekend, no. But I came home and he made dinner, which was so sweet. So we had a mushroom and spinach frittata. Oh, nice.

It was good. It was simple, but it was like really tasty. So it was Miles the cook in the relationship. Oh, a thousand percent. Really? I'm really hungry. Are you hungry? You must be hungry. I'm hungry. I'm really hungry are you are you hungry you must be hungry

you've like been living so we we've got my bear chicken which I don't know if you've ever had it it's this meal that

I don't know why I love it so much it just I think it gives so much of a flavor it's chicken with you marinate it overnight in

red wine vinegar and garlic and oregano oregano now we're here and uh there's prunes in it apricots capers is it sort of like is it an iraqian influence i don't know i kind of i guess it's more based southern spain so it's kind of getting there yeah absolutely and then mum's always just served it with pesto rice. It's very light. I just put pesto in rice. It's very simple.

I'm so excited. And then a salad. A salad. Jessie's made the dressing. Oh my God, that looks amazing. I hope it is. It smells nice. It doesn't smell too whiny.

I know. Okay, fine. But honestly, this is one that I've been talking about since the first series and we haven't done it, so it's a special occasion that Zahra is getting in. Help yourself darling. It's like a gourmet chicken tonight. Yeah, I don't know why. I love that.

Mum? Mum, gourmet chicken tonight. It's like a real like, Do you think it is? It's taking you back to your childhood, yeah? Like made with love chicken tonight. Made with love chicken tonight. Ooh, I just got a prune.

Yeah. Delicious. It's the gift that keeps on giving. So table manners. Uh-huh. Do you believe that you have good table manners? Yes. And is there anything that you see in other people that you just,

it's like, it's a no-go. It's like a hell no. It's a, it's a, I can't believe they just did that. I feel like blowing your nose at the table is pretty, I mean, I think there's like. We've had that one already. But blowing your nose with a napkin. Sandy Toksvig was very anti.

Do you know Sandy Toksvig? She's an incredible woman. She's, I mean, she's everything. She founded the Women's Equality Party. She's an actress. She's an actress. She's an activist. She's a TV presenter.

Yeah, she kind of presents a QI. But she said blowing your nose with a napkin is just absolutely. With like a cloth napkin? No, a paper napkin. But you've been using for food. like, she's just like, no. And then leaving it on your plate. No, that's horrifying. That's, like, absolutely...

I mean, I feel like if you're at home and, like, you're having a casual meal with your friend or partner or whatever, maybe, but no. Someone else said not cleaning your nose. Come on, like, that's just, like, don't step away. If I eat curry or anything spicy, my nose runs completely. Well, there's a difference between wiping or dabbing discreetly and like blowing your nose at the table, right? Yeah.

So that's one. I don't know. What else? That's fine. That's fine. You only have to have one. I don't know. I tell you what I find.

Mum's very judgmental. Really. I tell you what we find different in the States than from Europe. Like, we would never remove the plates from the table till everyone had finished eating. And here, in all the waiters... It's almost thought of as good service. If somebody finishes, you take it away.

Yeah, that is, yeah. Yeah, we'd never do that. We would wait until everyone finishes everyone would finish you'd have even dirty plates out you just everyone

interesting because when I'm done with my plate at a restaurant if it's like a you know either there's some food

still left on it but I'm done eating and I put it aside and I'm still talking to somebody who's eating I kind of want that gone so maybe it's just a cultural thing I wonder what it is of want that gone we feel it's so

rude to do that really yeah it makes the person feel the person that's still eating Jesse yours would be gone first because you actually let's see I have gone for seconds okay look at me no I'm so happy we're really happy if you're so delicious it makes us so happy yeah um what would be your desert island meal last supper but i still have the death penalty here oh states okay yes like the last meal i really love mediterranean food like falafel and yeah hummus and like just like like, I eat a lot of Greek food and,

um, so I think if I had to choose it would be like a really robust Greek salad, although I don't like tomatoes, so it would be, I know, right,

I'm in trouble. Raw or uncooked? I don't like raw tomatoes. I like tomato sauce. I like, you know, I can eat that, I can eat like that,

but I don't like raw tomatoes. Tomatoes do, to do, very divisive. They are divisive. Very divisive. We like, you know, I can eat that. I can eat it like that. Tomatoes do, to do... Very divisive. Very divisive. We know, who was the other person who did it? Ralph Little. Hated tomatoes. I mean, sometimes an heirloom tomato that's like perfectly ripe with some mozzarella, burrata or whatever, you know, I'll do that. But, yeah, so I would say like I love Kalamata olives,

Castelletrono olives, feta cheese. Or a mezze. A mezze, sure. Hummus, maybe a tagine I could get in on. This is sort of, yeah, this is kind of like a tagine. This is nearly a tagine. There's definitely a Moroccan vibe here. Yeah, good. Like, yeah, southern Spain, northern Morocco.

Okay, so what's for pud? Pud is like a generic term for you, right? Pudding. Pudding, I know, Spain and northern Morocco. Okay, so what's for pud? Pud is like a generic term for you, right? Pudding. Pudding. No, no, no, I know, but I mean like... Pudding means dessert. No, pudding is a different thing than dessert. Yeah, pudding's a specific dessert, right?

Yeah. Okay, but people say it. We usually say pud. We say, do you want some pud? I don't know. It's just kind of a lazy, kind of friendly way of saying... It's a more relaxed way of saying dessert. Can we have churros? Like, that might be wow with what dip chocolate no like a dulce de leche

that would be great um we ask everyone uber rating what's my uber rating yeah we need to know how do you find that out oh my god this is this is the best thing. Can you really find it out? Russell, right? I told him ours and he went, oof, that's low. And then he was so much lower. He was the lowest anybody's ever had. Can you find it out on your app? Yeah.

Wait, how? I'll show you. I bet you get five stars. Oh. Here's my Uber. Oh, hold on. So here. Okay.

Here. So you go. No, this is it. It's under my name, right? Zachary Quinto, what is your Uber rating? 4.74. Shit! That's so you go. I see it. It's right here. It's under my name, right? Zachary Quinto, what is your Uber rating? 4.74. Shit! That's because you're famous.

Is that low? No. That is super high. Is it? I think it's only because you're famous. Come on. What? That's the only reason?

I tip. Well, what was Russell Tovey's? 4.3. But I think it's just Rockies in the car. Because I think I'm passing wind a lot, I think. He's a Frenchie, right? Or they're scared of you. Or they think that you're going to kill them.

Maybe that's it. Yeah, and so basically they're like, ah, five star. What's the last thing you say to an Uber driver every time you get out of the car? Thank you so much. Have a nice day. I say thank you very much. What do you say? Drive safely.

Oh, okay. I'm going to do that one that one yeah but do your uber drivers come from miles away like sure some i'm sure yeah and do they drive toyota priuses like they do in england he's probably getting exact mom so when you do an uber here you either do uber what is it here i do uber black it's called Uber Black VIP because like I'm in it long enough now that I have this

different so it's like you get the best car in the area for the same price as an Uber regular like an Uber Black

I don't know you know what I will say this about myself and this is something I've come to know and embrace like I haven't

I don't think if you ask people who know me I don't really think that success has changed me all that much except when it comes to travel that's the one way that i've changed my routines and my patterns and like i just have come to like that's one way that i don't ever compromise or like to travel first yeah always yeah good on you do you think it's worth it yeah yes mom we we were not like for example but like i fly i fly in in the u.s i fly jet blue but jet blue has a mint

class you know what i mean so it's like it's not the nicest air like american is sort of the flagship airline of the u.s like jet blue is considered like a you know a user-friendly airline but they started a mint class a couple of years ago and i found it and it's like amazing and is sort of the flagship airline of the US. Like JetBlue is considered like a user-friendly airline, but they started a mint class a couple of years ago, and I found it, and it's like amazing, you know? And I love it, and it makes me feel comfortable and taken care of, and like that's just one way that I feel. So the same thing with Uber.

Like I don't, I'm not interested in, like I want the, I don't know, sorry. Do you eat the plain food, or do you bring your own? No, I eat the plain food. I love plain food. Me too. I own no i eat the plain food i love plain food me too i love it yeah i know and i'll eat things on planes that i'll never eat on the ground i'd be like oh a lobster tail sure like i would never eat a lobster tail order a lobster tail ever i'll be like shrimp okay like i don't like i'm not a big like shellfish or

no i like those that those those words, will you stick with the champagne? And I would say, yeah, of course. That was when I drank. That was my favorite place to drink, on planes. On planes? Oh, yeah. I had my last drink on a plane. Oh, really?

When was that? May 23rd, 2016. So you have only been abstinent for about two years. Yeah, sobriety has been a really interesting journey for me and I feel really grateful for it. For sure. It's been really... Did you need to...

For myself, I did. I think people who know me or... People were surprised. People in my life were kind of like, wait, what? But I also smoked a lot of pot. So I felt like just the two things and the combination of things I was just, you know, I was really unhappy. And I couldn't account for this unhappiness when I stepped back and looked at my life and saw how much abundance was in it.

There was no gratitude. The imbalance was shocking to me. And I was really, really miserable. And I thought this is at least this may not be why but this is preventing me from getting at the why this relationship that I have to alcohol and to pot and and yeah so I made that decision but I have incredibly fond memories of it and uh and particularly on planes because they never let your glass get more than half empty I have to say we didn't drink i didn't drink yesterday because we left so early and i felt so much better yeah you know if i'd had a drink i would get sleepy and when we were on like press tours and stuff i mean it's just like it never ends so i i have a really you know all of my my memories of drinking and you know partying are really fond ones

actually um but i think that's where they need to stay i want your go-to no nonsense not fancy schmancy and doesn't need to have a huge reservation like your go-to neighborhood restaurant that you love yeah um there's a few um say i love some good italian oh yes okay i would really love there's great Italian restaurants in my neighborhood in particular there's one called Vic's

don't know it which is to me it is my it's definitely our like haunt you know we go there probably more than any

restaurant in the city yeah Vic's where is it it's on Great Jones Street oh but Great Jones Street

has got Alimentari Il Buc Jones Street has got... Alimentari. Il Bucco. Il Bucco Alimentari. So there's Il Bucco on Bond Street, which is the original Il Bucco, which is like elevated Italian, which you might want to try if you haven't been. But the Alimentari, which is like

more family, it feels more relaxed. It's like a little casual. We went there with Hannah. Yeah. When I was there. It's next door to Bohemian. Yeah, Boh's like a little casual. We went there with Hannah. Yeah. When I was there. Yeah, when she was staying. It's next door to a bohemian. Yeah, bohemian. Oh, my God. So that's my, I live like.

Okay, great. But Vic's to me, I like it better. Okay, I don't know Vic's. I like the chef. She changes the menu all the time. She's very, like, she's very there. She's like, it's cool. Like, lots of people for their last supper say that they would like spetti vongole.

I don't know how to cook it. Can you cook it? But you're not a shellfish person, are you? That's the one thing that we were like, do you not eat anything? And they said, don't fancy shellfish. But you have lobster tail on a plane. Or when he's drunk. No, no, no.

No, I think more recently. Yeah, when I'm on a plane for some reason, I'll try things that I wouldn't try. That is when I would not try lobster on a plane. I think more recently. Yeah, when I'm on a plane for some reason, I'll try things that I wouldn't try. That is when I would not try lobster on a plane. I know, obviously. It doesn't make any sense that I would eat things on a plane. I got terrible food poisoning on an El Al meal. It was a kosher meal, wasn't it? It nearly killed me.

I was pregnant with Alex. I nearly ended up in hospital. Yeah. So, okay, so Vicks. This is good to know. There's another great restaurant called Narcissa, which is in the standard East village. Can you write these down, darling? Yeah.

Narcissa. Uh, it's not Italian, but it's, um, how would I describe it? I mean, they have a really good brunch, but their dinner food is like, um, they've got like a really great curry. Um, they've got, it's kind of just like i don't know like uh gastro fusion cuisine and they do curry yeah they do like a like a weird like it depends they change the protein sometimes and it'll be like uh they serve it and there's rice and veggies and then whatever protein then you like pour the curry on it's really nice um i like narcissus a lot those are a lot there's a lot of Italian in our place

and did your dad cook Italian? oh yeah so what was his go to meal? just a lot of pastas and putting different things in there he loved Italian sausages and pasta and he would make sausage and peppers

and boil that with tomato sauce and peppers it's a really good one We'd make sausage and peppers. Yeah, lovely. And boil that with tomato sauce and peppers. And that was a big thing in our family. It's a really good one, yeah. Yeah, for sure. Whereabouts in Italy is your family from? South? It's a little, no, outside of Rome, northeast of Rome,

a little town called Lenola. I've never been there. I've been all through Italy. You need to go. I know, I know. My aunt, my dad's youngest sister, has been and contacted the family there. So I definitely want to go.

Have you still got family there? Yeah. And what is that area known for? Is it kind of sausage? I don't know. I don't know. I'm about to go on like a food discovery pilgrimage. I'm doing, they have this show.

I don't know if you guys have it over there, but it's called Who Do You Think You Are? Yes. Yeah, we have a show. Are you doing it well I'm you know like they've come we've talked about it

and I've done my like DNA thing and they're like in touch with members of my family and kind of exploring so what have they found all your background

I don't know they don't tell you anything oh until because sometimes I gather that like they go down

this whole path and they don't find anything interesting enough to make an episode about some people find out like they've got not Danny Dyer found out that he was royal. Really?

Yes. Yeah, you can find out some pretty remarkable things. So you don't know whether you're interesting or your ancestry is interesting. I think you're interesting. Well, they've gone radio silent. I kept being like, wait, what's happening with that? And then they were like, they're on hiatus.

And I was like, oh, okay. And then like I asked my assistant the other day, I was like, what's going on with that? And she was like, oh, okay. And then I asked my assistant the other day. You do look Roman. I was like, what's going on with that? And she was like, I don't know. They won't respond. So am I that uninteresting? Or are they still on hiatus?

That is so annoying. A little bit. Would you like coffee and dessert? Sure. Yeah. It's not really. Basically, my mum. Can I help with the dishes?

No, you can sit down. No, no, no, no, no. Are you sure? Yes. We stupidly had it in our diary that you were coming for dinner. really basically my mum can i help with the dishes no you can sit down no no no no you sit yes we we stupidly had it in our diary that you were coming for dinner which doesn't matter no no no no it was a it was a mistake an administrative anyway we found and so i was like we're gonna do this mom was like it's really heavy for lunch i don't think that was heavy thank you very much no it was delicious so then then we've gone very light on the pud. Oh, great.

Which is, I mean, it's literally a macaroon and a coffee. Great. So I'm sorry. No, don't be sorry. That's good. Okay, let's just try this and see how it goes. You might have to, yeah, you might have to. Oh, they're good.

They taste good. That's good. Seeing as Alex kind of didn't know what he was doing this morning. Obviously, we prepared this and really thought about. That's good. Seeing as Alex kind of didn't know what he was doing this morning, obviously we prepared this and really thought about, that's good. That's delicious. I know you're not a cook per se,

but what dish are you proud of that you can cook, Zachary? If somebody was coming around for dinner and you had to be, and Miles was out of town, and you couldn't do takeout. What would I make? It would probably be a chicken. Tonight? No, I wouldn't do a chicken tonight.

But I would probably do like black rice. I love black rice. And coconut oil. And probably like a stir fry like simple like i'm not i don't get complicated but i would probably do like a chicken stir fry with like a tahini sort of dressing top like a bit of a yeah that would probably be my simple offering we like to make soup a lot too yeah i love soup. Fresh soups, carrot, ginger, mushroom, in the winter especially.

That's like a nice way to do that when people come over because it's like a simple way to kind of gather around and share something. Get some crusted bread or whatever. Yeah, exactly. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. You've been busy. My pleasure. We do appreciate it.

Absolutely my pleasure. Thank you for a delicious meal pleasure for really like I feel like you set me up to not like that and then I loved it oh god

it's all part of the recipe totally yeah I would make that that would be a good that's easy it seems yeah I would totally

will you send me the recipe just chopped up chicken and with olive oil and vinegar and you can leave the wine out you don't even need it but yeah totally I mean you didn't taste it at all

and leave it in the fridge the night before. Bish bash broth. Love it. Well, Mum, He was a delight. A delight. I don't know why you undersell everything that we eat. It's like your approach to life is always undersell. Yeah, that's what I've been taught.

No, I don't think so. It was such a good dish and he loved it. And actually, you're right, it wasn't too heavy for lunch. You've denied me of that dish for four seasons okay and it is an absolute winner the fact Zachary Quinto wants the recipe and he doesn't cook and he doesn't cook because I think he saw the potential those guests are going to be so happy when they don't get a pumpkin soup yeah and they get Marbella chicken in their life. Yeah. Well, someone needs to book him for the West End. He's got a pretty good CV.

And oh my goodness, when you see him in this TV show and you see how he looks as an old man. Oh, wow. It's horrific. Horrific. But yeah, such a pleasure. Always the most wonderful person to speak to. And just so glad that we got to spend a couple of hours with him in New York. Brilliant.

Thank you, Zachary. And thank you for listening to our first New York special. The Table Manners music you have been enjoying is by Pete Fraser and Peter Duffy. And our dear editor and producer is Alice Williams.