The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - Giada De Laurentiis On Eating Healthy, Exposing Food Myths, Ingredients To Add & Avoid, & Cooking Like A Pro
Episode Date: February 27, 2025#812: Join us as we sit down with Giada De Laurentiis – an Italian-American chef, television personality, & bestselling cookbook author. Rising to fame as the host of Everyday Italian on the Food Ne...twork, Giada has become a culinary icon, starring in multiple TV shows, opening celebrated restaurants, & launching Giadzy, her Italian food product line. In this episode, Giada takes us behind the scenes of her early days at Food Network, reveals insider secrets to signature dishes, shares her approach to creating nutritious yet indulgent pasta recipes with high-quality ingredients, & reflects on her journey in the competitive culinary industry! To Watch the Show click HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To connect with Giada De Laurentiis click HERE To connect with Lauryn Bosstick click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE Get your burning questions featured on the show! Leave the Him & Her Show a voicemail at +1 (512) 537-7194. This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential Head to the HIM & HER Show ShopMy page HERE and LTK page HERE to find all of Michael and Lauryn’s favorite products mentioned on their latest episodes. Discover the Italian approach to healthy eating with Giada De Laurentiis’ latest cookbook, Super Italian! Visit giadzy.com to learn more about Giada, purchase her Italian food products, & get access to all of her favorite recipes! This episode is sponsored by YNAB TSC Him & Her Show listeners can claim an exclusive three-month free trial, with no credit card required at YNAB.com/skinny. This episode is sponsored by Nutrafol For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code SKINNYHAIR. This episode is sponsored by ShipSkis Go to Shipskis.com and use the code SKINNY to get 20% off your first shipment and save yourself the hassle this ski season. This episode is sponsored by Hiya Health Receive 50% off your first order. To claim this deal you must go to hiyahealth.com/SKINNY. This episode is sponsored by Dr. Diamonds Metacine Visit DrDiamondsMetacine.com to learn more about the InstaFacial(R) Collection and use code SKINNY at checkout for a free sample of award-winningInstaFacial(R) Plasma with any purchase of $200 or more. This episode is sponsored by The Skinny Confidential Optimize your daily beauty routine. Shop Mouth Tape at ShopSkinnyConfidential.com. Produced by Dear Media
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The following podcast is a Dear Media production.
She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur.
A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you along for the ride.
Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to The Skinny Confidential, him and her.
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of The Skinny Confidential Him and Her show today.
Buckle in, buckle up because we have an absolute legend on the show, especially if you're a
fan of the food world.
She's an Emmy award winning chef, New York Times bestselling author and Food Network
superstar who made Italian food sexy on American TV.
But what you might also not know is that Giada De La Renta is a total
bad-ass entrepreneur, business woman, and wellness advocate.
On this episode, we're talking about all things food, wellness,
ingredients, how to decipher what to eat, what to put in your body,
how to make healthy choices, how to build a career in food, and much more.
With that, Giada, welcome to the Skinny Confidential, him and her show.
This is the Skinny Confidential, him and her.
I did this post earlier earlier and sometimes I post things that I guess are considered controversial
but for me, not so much.
And I was saying when I go to places in Europe and I eat pasta and gelato and all these things,
I'm fine and I don't feel guilty and I don't feel like I have to work out a million times
to work it off. And I was saying here in the U.S., like, I have to be really careful. And I wonder
with your background doing what you do, how people can figure out, you know, what is healthy and
clean and what is not, because it feels like a real exercise for a normal person like myself to
try to figure it out. Yes. And I get that all the time. Why is it that when I go to Italy, I eat all the pasta,
all the pizza, all the bread, and I don't gain weight, and a lot of times I lose weight.
How is this possible? And then I come home and things are a little different. And yes,
things are different, and it's a multitude of reasons. I would say that when you are
on vacation, your mind thinks differently. Okay, that's number one
I think number two you move more you're walking around more, you know, we live in Los Angeles
We spend most of our time in cars. Let's be honest. We don't walk really very far at all
Even if we could we still don't it's a mentality. So movement is another
Lastly and probably most importantly, it's the
quality of the ingredients. Right? In Italy, we don't mass produce food the way
that we do here. Our crops aren't genetically modified like they are here.
So there's a lot of differentiators. There's a lot of family-run businesses
that have been running it on their land for X amount of years that
are not have not sold to big conglomerates, right?
So they're still doing it the old way in quotations.
And I think that has a lot to do with the quality of the food.
In this country, sadly, for many reasons, our food is, a lot of it is poisoned in a
way to be direct and clear.
I think that we're working on it.
I think that it was done for good reasons, not bad reasons.
We were trying to feed a population that feed everybody equally.
And to do that, you had to make a couple sacrifices, right?
And kick the can down the road a bit and say, we'll deal with this problem 40 years from now.
We're there and we have to deal with the problem because, you know, people are getting sick and,
look, women can't get pregnant. Congratulations to you. But a lot of women cannot. There are
multiple reasons why this is happening. This isn't just like all of a sudden, what's happening? This has been,
you know, creeping up on us and now we have finally exploded. And I think people are interested
in understanding how to buy products.
I think they're very interested, but I also think, you know, sometimes I'll talk to my
parents older generation and it's, they're skeptical. They don't believe that this is
in many cases, maybe they do now, but in many cases, they don't believe that maybe some of our cleaning supplies or our food supply
should be looked at and we should pay more attention to the ingredients and where it comes from
and all that. And I think it's because people learn to live with some of these symptoms that
just become normal, right? I always say like it's strange to run around with this much inflammation
as a young person. A lot of young people complain about inflammation. That's strange to run around with this much inflammation as a young person.
A lot of young people complain about inflammation.
That's strange, right?
Yes.
People don't like to change, number one, right?
And secondly, I have a lot of, you know, the older generation that says, I'm fine.
Look at me.
And I've been doing this or I've been eating McDonald's or whatever.
Yes.
But if you think about how you grew up, you probably grew up a lot cleaner than your
kids are growing up and your grandkids are growing up.
And I think what people don't realize is that it's generational.
So the toxicity level, the bucket, as I call it, overflows generation after generation.
We are, right now, your baby is absorbing whatever you grew up on and whatever your
mom grew up on and whatever your mom grew up on. And I think we don't realize that that is how interconnected we actually are to our ancestors.
So when you go shopping yourself for the past 10 years, what are you looking for? What are your
requirements? Well, I grew up being a little differently because I immigrated here from Italy
when I was seven and my parents brought a lot of ingredients over and were always importing stuff.
Yeah, so pastas and tomatoes and olive oils, all of these foods, they would
bring them in because they weren't, I grew up in the 70s and I moved here in
1975. There was, you couldn't find olive oil, you couldn't find, pardon me,
Giano di Giano, you couldn't even find decent pasta, nothing. And we were used to
eating a certain way. So my family would bring it in. Family members would go and
literally fill their suitcases and bring it in for everybody. And that is how I
ate. So I didn't eat fast food, I didn't grow up on TV dinners. That's what most
of my friends grew up on. And I think that over time, I
started to realize that some of the treats that all my friends had that I really liked,
like I was a huge lover of Oreo cookies, Milano cookies, lemonade, all the things that I didn't
get because that just wasn't part of who we are and our culture. And I started to realize
over time that I did not feel good as I grew older. And I started to realize over time that I did not feel good as I grew older.
And I started to realize that a lot of the packaged products as I was a cook and started
educate myself in ingredients were filled with preservatives and fillers and gums and all sorts
of things. Sugars, you know, remember the big, well, you guys are younger than me, but when I
was a kid, well, teenager, snack walls was the thing, was the
dessert, right?
Cause had no sugar.
Oh, snack balls again.
The green box.
Yeah.
They had, it was a non-sugar dessert, right?
Cause we were on this no sugar craze in that
generation.
And so what they replaced it with was all sorts of
ingredients that were, you know, synthetics,
basically we were eating plastic is basically what we were doing, flavored. Great. And that's what was
happening. And so generation after generation as you continue to eat those
kind of foods, people get sick and babies get sick. And when babies start to get
sick, that's when people wake up because that can't be happening. Yeah, I think
there's a real moment going on right now where that awakening is starting to
happen and people are just kind of sick and tired of being sick and tired. When in your life did you
figure out that you wanted to pursue a career in food?
Well, I grew up in a family of movie producers. My family's big in the movie business.
But my grandfather, who was a big movie producer, grew up in Naples selling his mom and dad's pasta from door to door
until World War II and he was one of seven kids. And so during World War II
Naples was bombed. He was a young, I don't know, maybe he was 17. He went into the
war as they all did but his parents lost their pasta factory outside of Naples. So
at that point he moved to Rome. He wanted to be an actor but he was too
petite as I am as you can see. He's to be an actor, but he was too petite as I am, as you can see.
Little guy.
Little guys don't make it as actors,
especially in those days.
So he became a movie producer.
And he became a very successful one.
Any films we would know?
Oh, yeah.
I mean, my grandfather made over 600 movies.
So La Strada, it's an Italian movie with Fellini.
Conan the Barbarian, he started on Schwarzenegger's
career, King Kong with Jessica
Lang, like huge, huge movies.
He produced the original Dune with David Lin.
Yes, who just died sadly.
Yes.
I know a lot about Dino De Laurentiis.
Okay, there you go.
I'm a huge fan, yeah.
I did not know this, Kaila.
There you go guys.
So.
Taylor's a big movie buff back there.
There you go.
So anybody who's a big movie buff knows my grandfather.
He started in Italy, then he moved to the States.
I was seven at that time.
And in Italy, when the patriarch of the family moves,
I'll move, right?
You're like little ducklings, you all kind of follow.
So my parents followed and all us kids followed.
And I was seven when we moved here.
And my grandfather's goal was,
although he was making all these movies,
he wanted to start these, like in Italy is really what it was.
It was called DDL Food Show. It was in the 80s.
He did one in New York in Trump Tower and one in Los Angeles in Beverly Hills.
It's crazy. I know. Looked much like Italy with little restaurants
mixed into the grocery.
And he had all his buddies he grew up with, the pizzaiolos, the pasta makers, everybody, the butchers,
he brought them all over to run these two stores.
And I was, at the time I was 12,
so in Beverly Hills I would go after school
and I would just run around there
and just be amazed at what I saw.
And the look on people's faces when they walked in,
because you have to remember in the 80s,
it was the heyday, right?
There was a lot of money in this country, but people didn't know this kind of food.
They just didn't, unless you traveled a lot, which most people didn't.
It just wasn't part of the culture to travel outside the US.
And so people were just amazed with the aromas coming out of that place and what they could
buy and the sounds of people talking.
So I realized, oh, I want to do this.
Whatever the hell this is, this is the reaction I want.
And so as I grew up, I ended up going to college and I was the first in my family to go to
college and then I realized, I want to study food.
I would like to be some kind of French pastry chef.
I love sugar.
I love desserts.
Sadly for myself, that is my biggest vice.
And so I went to culinary school in Paris.
Not just any culinary school, being modest, but go on.
Yes.
Well, because in my book, Italian food wasn't that special
because I'd grown up on it.
So I felt like it was very pedestrian in a way,
but I wanted to be a famous pastry chef
because I love desserts.
Is French culinary school, like, is that what everyone aspires to,
or at least at the time, is that where you... Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Like the major leagues.
It is the major leagues.
Having said that, the difference between American culinary schools,
which are very popular now, and French culinary schools,
is at the time they didn't teach you business
at the French culinary schools.
They just taught you technique.
And I did both savory and pastry, but the pastries was like these giant sugar sculptures,
like really amazing things that you're never going to use in your real life unless you
work for, you know, Alain Ducasse in Paris, where in the U.S. they do teach you business.
So you could run a restaurant.
I didn't get that part.
So anyhow, I did that for a few years and then I moved back home to Los Angeles
and I worked for Wolfgang Puck. I worked for different chefs and that is how the
love of wanting to cook happened. But in my family cooking was what grounded us.
My grandfather left a lot to make movies so when he was home we would all be
together and cook and he loved to cook. so when he was home, we would all be together and cook.
And he loved to cook.
And when I was little, my first memory of cooking basically is making pizza dough, and
then we had an outdoor pizza oven, and my grandfather would give us a bunch of toppings,
and us little kids would sit on the counter, and we'd all make our own pizzas, and we'd
eat it as we made it.
And I think for me, that tactile experience just, I don't know, it
just transcended for me. And also I think coming from a very large Italian family,
women, we don't get a lot of attention other than having babies. And I felt very
empowered in that space because I happened to be good at it. So I got a lot
of attention for doing it in my family. So how did you start to mix the business in with it?
The business kind of just came.
I was private chefing and working for Wolfgang Puck
at Spago.
And on the side, I started doing a little bit of food styling
just because I'd been to Paris.
So I loved how to, I just loved creating art, right?
And I wasn't really doing that in the restaurant business or private chefing because you're
making fried chicken every day.
So basically, I ended up working on a magazine, Food and Wine magazine, and having some food
styling friends.
And I ended up doing an issue of Food and Wine magazine right after 9-11.
9-11 changed the food game for everybody.
Basically, when 9-11 happened,
people started to realize,
okay, I want to... They got scared of going out.
That's basically what happened.
So people wanted to stay home and cook.
And that's how Food Network exploded.
And I did that issue,
and I got a call from Food Network
to put myself on tape
because they loved the recipes in this issue.
But they wanted to see whether or not I had any personality.
And you'd never done television before this?
No.
OK.
No, and my family's in the movie business.
And also, because my family's in the movie business,
at that time, TV isn't what it is today.
At the time, TV was seen as...
Not so great.
Correct.
Especially cable TV.
Really?
Yes. It's kind of like, think of podcasting
at the very beginning or social media
at the very beginning stages, right?
People are like, what the hell is that?
That's lame. We're not going to do that.
That's below us.
Now, podcasting, social media, it runs everything.
I remember my mom watching you, me being little,
watching you on TV being like, wow.
I probably was about...
So we had to be- 15?
Yeah.
Yeah, probably.
I mean, I've been doing it for over 25 years.
So yeah.
So it had to be around like 2001, 2002?
Very beginning of my career.
The reason I, you know, everybody remembers
where they were during 9-11.
And I remember we were walking,
we were freshmen in high school,
and I was walking on the campus,
because we were in California, so the time was different,
and then that was going, I mean, everyone like,
everything shut down.
But that's how I can, it's like one of those things where you...
No, I remember watching her on TV.
No, but I'm saying the reason I can recall the date is because...
Oh, how old we were.
Yeah.
Yeah, I remember watching you and thinking, wow,
so that's crazy that people didn't take that seriously.
Yeah, but, you know, it takes time.
It takes time.
Yeah. So I think, so yeah, back in 2001
is really when it started to explode.
And that is one of the reasons that it shifted.
Like all these big things that happened to us,
like COVID, like, oh, they shift the mentality
of how people think and work.
I mean, podcasting, I think, really blew up
because of COVID.
Yeah, we've been doing this a long time.
You're right.
I never thought about that.
But if you think about what happened there,
people got locked in and they were like, oh, I found you guys
because I didn't have anything else to do.
And now I love you and I'm going to follow you
and listen to you forever.
It killed the community.
You know, it's funny because I do this show,
but then we run this business.
And in the early days prior to COVID, you'd have to get on with people and explain to them
why they would listen to a podcast, why they would invest,
why they would guess.
Yes.
You don't really argue for the medium.
And now, especially after the election,
regardless of how people feel about it,
these are mainstream channels now.
But COVID, in particular, people lost the commute,
and they're all at home.
And unlike other mediums, you could just
sit in your house with a microphone.
Correct.
So a lot of people came in.
And yeah, I hate to say it was good,
because I was such a bad time.
But it was beneficial to the medium.
No, but there's always great things
that come out of these horrible moments in life.
And it's about harnessing those, right?
When did you notice the momentum with The Food Network?
After my first season, I did 18 episodes that were terrible.
I must have lost, and I'm already little.
I must have lost like 10 pounds.
I was so, but you also have-
Off your big toe?
Where did you lose eight?
Well, the thing is, is that I was, I was super shy.
And so this medium was really hard for me The thing is, is that I was, I was super shy.
And so this medium was really hard for me because unlike this, where you can just talk and not worry that one, there were people firing questions at me all
the time.
Why are you shooting that way?
Open up.
No, don't close.
Don't chop like that.
I have to see the note.
Use your other hand.
I'm like, how the hell am I supposed to get through a recipe?
Teach it to you.
Make it taste good. Have fun while you're yelling at me to open up.
Hold the knife with your left hand. I don't know I can't I don't use my left
hand to chop like this doesn't work so there was a lot of stress associated
with this process. They took me a long time and I wasn't an extrovert so to me
this was terrible. I hated it. That's a lot of people like looking for like, I feel like, um, trying to solidify their job.
Meaning like, yes, but I didn't know that at the time because I was young and I was like,
have value. And so they add value by like giving you something to do.
It's right. Cause we do this and it feels like sometimes you forget that there's going to be
people that later tune in and listen or watch but we did a commercial one time
Oh, this is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It was like a two-minute thing. By the way, he slept in the commercial
They put all these blankets it was hot as hell I was like all the acting he was
So hard I'm like you slept
Out of control because these, they like get another blanket
and it was 18 blankets for, it was just ridiculous.
So how did you start to get into it
if you had all these people trying to micromanage you?
Season two, they said, well, pick you up for season two,
but you need to loosen up.
So figure out how you're gonna do that.
My brother was an editor and a cameraman at the time.
And so he followed me around, much like, you know,
reality shows today.
Like a vlog?
Basically, yeah, it didn't exist at the time.
But we would go places and he'd follow me with his camera
and he'd be like, you have to talk to me.
You have to look at me.
You have to engage with me.
Like, look at me.
So he basically prepped me.
And we spent a whole summer, three months,
following me everywhere.
The grocery store, the clean, anybody that would let us film. But remember it's a
camera because at the time our phones were not what they are today, right? So you
couldn't use those. It wasn't giant but it was it was not a phone. Let's just
leave it at that. So anyway and he had to mic me. It's all fine. Anyhow three
months of that with him on me every day and I loosened up and he had to mic me, it's all fine. Anyhow, three months of that with him on me every day,
and I loosened up and I started to realize,
okay, I can do this.
I can talk to you, I can feel comfortable
because there's a lot of, you feel uncomfortable.
Do I food my teeth?
Am I smiling weird?
You forget.
So anyway, that's really, he helped me a ton, a ton.
So that was really the turning point.
And at that period of time, what was the business that you could build around that medium?
Because now there's so many different ways.
I mean, you've got books and restaurants and there's all these social...
At the time, it was the Wild West, so nobody knew what the business was around it, right?
So I started with a show, which is different than most people in my business because most
chefs start with restaurants.
And then from restaurants, they go to books.
And then from books, they go to shows. And then from books, they go to shows.
And that's how I started with a show first.
So from there, I went to books.
And then from books, I went to restaurants.
And from restaurants, I went into everything else.
Any other possible thing.
I think the way you did it is so smart though,
because you sort of content market into it.
Yes, but not knowing.
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When did you start to have a nose?
Oh my God, there's a business here.
After my first cookbook and they,
I think they printed 20,000 books
and I sold 150,000 books before the book dropped.
Wow.
And I did not have books on book tour for the first six weeks.
And they had to take them from China and produce them in the US because we could not get them fast enough.
Did you even have social media then?
No. No.
Wow.
So that is when I realized, oh shit.
Yeah.
Something is happening here
that I couldn't have imagined.
It was crazy to think about.
What were people recognizing you in?
Oh yeah, everywhere.
Yeah.
Everywhere you went.
Everywhere.
Everywhere you could possibly.
Cause they felt like you were in their home.
Correct.
And so unlike actors where they're not sure
how are you going to be,
because they've only seen you act in shows or movies
and you're pretending to be somebody
else.
With me, they felt like they knew who I was.
I was in their home and they knew my family, everything around me.
And especially when I had my daughter on top of that, then they really felt comfortable.
So I would, they would come and wait for me outside the toilet in like an airport, like
everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.
Well, I'm sure that was exciting for you.
It's really fun, let me tell you.
So anyhow, yes, yeah, and that's when I started to realize I was on a treadmill and I was
like, oh my God, am I going to get off?
Like how is this going to work?
And I think me being from the family that I'm from, I've seen a lot of actors come and
go because my family is behind the scenes right so I watched all
of that and I thought okay this is a limited time only kind of thing right
the window is short so I just was like okay let's do this let's see what let's
see what comes out of it without ever having any plan I didn't have a plan how
did you know how to build the team around you? That took some time.
And still to this day, I have a much smaller team than people think.
I don't have a giant entourage of people.
What's your team?
My immediate team is probably five people, and then the restaurants are bigger,
but they're not my immediate team.
And then I have a lifestyle platform, Jodzy, and that is a bigger team, again, that
is managed.
But my internal team is small.
Is small.
So how did you learn how to conceptualize that?
I never wanted an entourage.
I don't like entourages.
I also don't like to have to ask 10 different people who's handling what.
I want people to manage.
I want just a few people that I have to manage.
I don't want to, I just, I've never been good
at that kind of thing.
I think that for me, I like a core team and I like,
believe it or not, I have a lot of women.
I have a lot of young women around me.
That's really the team that I have.
I have a couple of guys as well to help me with my
restaurants, cause I feel like I need some men around me.
Nice to keep one or two of us around.
I do, and I have a couple.
And my agent's a man, and my lawyer's a man.
So I do have them, but my immediate core team
are all young ladies.
And how are you doing all of this with children?
Because I sometimes get overwhelmed doing
what I do with my two kids.
It's not easy.
Is this your third kid?
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
I keep telling him, three's a lot, right?
Yeah, it's a lot.
See?
I never said it was, don't start.
I haven't, I never said it wasn't.
It's a lot to have three.
It's a lot to have three.
Okay.
You are an active participant.
Yeah.
But the thing is, the thing is, is that for a woman,
it's always different than a man, right?
Like women, it's all falls on us.
Like regardless of whether you work or you don't,
you're still in charge of the kids.
And you're still always gonna have that responsibility
where guys just don't sadly, but.
You do have a lot.
But you guys might be different,
but that's what happens.
He does have a lot.
I'm not gonna say he doesn't help.
I'm gonna use this moment to be like a no comment moment.
Listen, I think it's beautiful.
I think when all things, other things go away,
that will be your biggest joy in life.
But it isn't without its hardships,
I guess that's what it is.
So for me, it was learning that I could not do all of it.
So as much as I
wanted to take care of my daughter and I wanted to be the primary person to do all of it,
I just couldn't. I did drag her to a lot of places. She traveled starting at like five
months.
And that's good for her.
Yeah. And she's a great traveler now.
I'm sure.
But I had to realize when I cannot be there, I have to find the right people who love her
as much as I love her to take care of her. And I have to find the right people who love her as much as I love her
To take care of her and I have to be okay that she might run to them from time to time
Yeah, I mean doing what I was hard. That was heartbreaking
There were moments where I was like
We were the reason we're a little late today is we were walking out the door and our son was crying and screaming
How old is your son? He's two and a half. Oh, he's five
Yeah girls tend to be a little better at that. They don't want you to go to work He's screaming. How old is your son? He's two and a half. Oh, he's little. My daughter's five.
Yeah.
Girls tend to be a little better at that.
They don't want you to go to work.
Yeah.
So you just had to kind of learn that this is what it is and it's a moment and go with
it.
Yeah.
And then you would bring her whenever you could.
Yeah.
That's just the way I did.
She didn't want me to go to work either.
She hated it when I would leave.
Hated it.
And I would pay for it when I came home.
Yeah, they make you pay.
Yeah, they make you pay.
What does our friends say?
They say a little measured adversity, like a little.
Yeah, it's a little measured adversity is good for them.
Well, I think it's good for them to be able to love
many different people in their lives.
I think that's a gift.
It is not, they shouldn't,
it shouldn't just be you and the kid all the time.
I think it really helps them grow up and socialize if they can love a lot of people.
Plus, you learn like in life, it takes a lot of different people to feel, to feed you.
One person isn't going to feed everything that you need, right?
So it's good for them to learn that at a young age.
Even if it's a little hard, the younger they are, the better.
I mean, I grew up with a mother who worked all the time, still does, and I remember her leaving when I was a kid.
But I'm grateful for it now because it kind of set
an example of work ethic.
And also, like, in my marriage now,
I'm used to a woman that works and has her own thing.
And it's like, you know, so I look back,
and maybe at the time it was challenging,
but I'm grateful for it now.
Yeah.
Because you get to see it. I think that's what happens, right?
We grow up and we start to realize, oh, okay, that makes sense.
I get it now in a way you can't when you're young.
So as you continued to grow your career, what were challenges that came with it?
There are a lot of challenges.
I'm in a, you know, I'm in a business that is a male dominated business.
And I came about it in a different way than a
lot of people that had done it before me. Even though a lot of people, there
weren't many people that had done it before me, it still was a little unique
and I think that comes with, you know, some criticisms along the way. I also, I
think people felt I didn't look the part of a cook or a chef, that I was too
little, I was too thin, I may be too pretty.
So I had to battle a lot of those stereotypes.
You were like on that network.
Like you stood out.
Correct.
Yes.
I get it.
You were young, beautiful, vivacious, like warm.
Who were the other people that-
It's different.
Wasn't it like Emerald?
Who was the competitor, Emerald?
Emerald.
Emerald, Emerald.
Emerald. Emerald. Emerald. Emerald.
It was Mario Batali who was doing the Italian, right? So they really were looking for someone
who could do Italian but not the same way he was doing it, which was
very chef-y. And do you guys know who Mario Batali is? Okay, good. And I think with Emerald, he wore a chef's hat. They were all wearing chef's outfits, right?
Like they were very professional.
And it was, and Food Network had a lot of women
watching housewives who didn't, couldn't relate
to these guys or felt intimidated by their,
the way that they were teaching, right?
And so they were looking for people like myself,
like Rachel Ray, eventually Ina Garten, the three of us,
that could really speak
to a different group of people that these male chefs could not speak to. But
the top three were probably Emeril, they were Amari Batali and Bobby Flay.
They were sort of the, those were the three pinnacles of what was happening
on the network at the time.
No, Martha Stewart, she wasn't on there?
Martha Stewart was separate. She was not on Food Network, no.
Okay, she wasn't really like really like considered a chef, right?
Correct, she was more of a homemaker.
She was more of, she did a lot of gardening,
she did a lot of catering, but she didn't actually,
she wasn't known as a chef per se.
So if you were like the new girl on the show
and like everyone was like...
They were skeptical.
Right, what did you do?
What did I do? Yeah, how did you handle it?
I tried to make friends with everybody. That's a good strategy. Yes, and I try and I also, I think
what I also hopefully made them feel is that I was just beginning and I was, I was a beginner at
all this and they were and they were sort of the pinnacles.
And so almost like I'm your sous chef in that kind of term.
I am not here to take your job.
I'm not here to go beyond you.
I am here to learn.
To learn.
You're not a sous chef right now.
No, but at the time I felt like that would disarm the situation.
I was looking to defuse and disarm. I was looking to diffuse and disarm.
I was not looking to go up against them
and be in their faces and be like, I'm better than you.
I actually didn't think I was better than them anyway.
So at the time I was like, I'm just lucky to be here.
I know I don't fit the mold.
I felt very insecure about that.
And so I think I was battling my own insecurities.
And so the best way for me to diffuse the situation is to make them feel above me.
And did it work?
It did.
So are you friends with all of them now?
Yeah.
To this day?
Yeah.
So when I opened Vegas, which was my very first restaurant that I'd never had a restaurant
before, and it was a giant restaurant for a girl who's never had one, okay, I leaned
on Bobby Flay to help me
because he had a deal already at Caesar's Palace,
and he helped me navigate all of the pitfalls.
He's smart, huh?
Yeah, so it helped.
It helped to sort of have these people on your side
and not, they didn't feel intimidated by me.
That was my whole goal,
because I had to do that for my audience,
because I was getting fan mail all the time about how,
oh, you put an actor on or you put some
kind of young model on to pretend like she can cook this girl can't cook look
at her she can't look like that and know what she's doing it's not possible so I
think anytime that happens you have to find a way to disarm them so what do you
do you either go up against them or you try to like, hey, this is just my version of things.
Try it.
You like it.
Great.
You don't.
That's okay too.
And it's a we conversation rather than an I conversation.
Of all the things you've done, going on TV, writing books, chefing, opening restaurants,
what has been the most challenging?
The restaurant business.
I knew you were gonna say that.
My dad was a restaurant owner for 25 years.
My whole childhood.
It's rough.
It's terribly difficult.
It's just a lot of ups and downs.
And there are highs and lows and highs.
And there are high highs and low lows.
Yeah. And it's so much of managing people
and like when you're not there,
you don't know what's going on
and there's alcohol and employees are drinking the alcohol.
It's a lot.
It's a lot and it's managing people, you know,
the world of food and cooking used to be mostly,
hey, a lot of people who didn't go to college,
people who couldn't find their way in life, right? This wasn't, this
was sort of, it's like artists, right? A lot of them were not mainstream. And so
you're dealing with a lot of people who, you know, battle a lot of demons. And
managing people that battle a lot of demons is really, really hard. I'm sure
your dad could vouch for that. Oh yeah.
Yeah.
So the restaurant business by far is the hardest
and it only has only gotten harder.
And so I guess then why do it?
Good question.
With everything else.
Cause I ask myself that every day.
No, no, no, because I think about these things
and I imagine that obviously it's a great source of pleasure
when it's working and maybe that's the reason.
But it seems like with the other things you're doing, you would maybe do better as well as like maybe have an easier time.
Totally.
So I was just wondering.
By the way, that's exactly right.
My friends will go, like some friends, they'll go and they'll build a big company and it takes so, it's so hard and then they'll sell the company and they're like,
now I'm going to take all this and open a restaurant.
I'm like, oh, that seems, that seems right.
Why would you do that?
I think for me it was because it was an extension of my brand.
Right.
So when they watched the shows and when they went and they bought the books, they
didn't actually go to a place to feel and touch.
Right.
Do you know what I mean?
Yeah.
So I think for me, opening Vegas was a way to have an extension of my brand
where people could touch and feel.
And because I realized that on a lot of my book tours,
people wanted to just get a hug or just touch me and be like,
are you actually real?
And do you really look like you look on TV?
Like that was the first, that's what everybody wanted.
They came up and they were like, looking at me.
Oh.
I can confirm you do.
You look, oh.
You do.
You're littler than you look on TV and you're this.
I don't know how you eat all this pasta and you look like this.
But that's what everybody wanted to see.
So I thought I'm going to open something where people can come
and they can feel me even if I'm not there.
Experience.
And I think I realized I'm in the experience game.
Yep.
I, yes, I'm a teacher and yes, I'm a cook and I'm all these things, but I'm
truly just in the experience game.
So that's what people want.
That's why I do it.
But will you keep doing it?
So I opened one in Scottsdale.
I'm going to keep doing it.
It's just, if you ask me the toughest part of my job, that's it.
You know what? I think you should open it in Austin. We need some more Italian there because that's where we live.
Wait, you don't live here?
No, no, no. We open this office, so about half the company's over there and we live there now.
But where do you live?
In Austin.
Oh, you guys live in Austin, Texas? I'm not here. So you just fly here, do some podcasts and fly?
Well, we grew up here and we opened this here and then, you know, I come here, we come here regularly.
We come here for work.
Well, why not just do it there?
We do do it there too.
We do it there.
Oh, because that was important.
I was like, why didn't she make the trip?
He's actually not wrong about that.
But you guys have some good food in Austin.
No, we have great food. But I try to think,
there's like a few good Italian places, but...
I keep hearing Dallas.
Everybody's always like, go to Dallas.
Go to Dallas. Go to Dallas. That's always like
You know like the Dallas people
People but I felt like I was already here and kind of like ran around here and Dallas felt like
You know like another city. I wanted we wanted something a little different but Austin people love Austin. I've been awesome many times
I have some friends that live there. They love it there. But there's like Sammy's.
What else is there, Italian?
Oh yeah. Because there's not an Italian restaurant I can think of and be like, that's the Italian restaurant.
Huh. It's interesting.
That's actually a really good... You should look at Austin.
Okay.
Yeah.
There's a lot of stuff opening over there now. I think it like... We kind of... I mean, we weren't the earliest, but we moved in 2020.
And I feel like now there's a lot more people there.
And the infrastructure is getting more and more built out.
Some people are excited about that, some people aren't.
I'm excited.
But there's a ton of like kind of restaurants
that you'd expect in Texas, but not a ton of Italian.
I'm trying to think of there's Sammies and where else?
Sammies is the big one.
Red Ash.
Yeah.
The Red Ash is like wood fire Italian steak.
That's really, it's not a lot of Italian.
Well, is there a market for it's not a lot of Italian.
Well, is there a market for it?
That's, I'll do some research.
I think the restaurant-
If people would like it, you know?
Do you know how long it takes me to make a reservation?
I will just be there.
I will do it just for you then.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Just for the two of you.
When we have people come into town, I have to call a month and a half.
Yeah, I heard about that.
I had a time for reservations because you can't get a reservation in Austin.
Huh. You cannot. And I'm not joking, even a place that. I had a time for reservations because you can't get a reservation in Austin.
You cannot.
And I'm not joking, even a place that doesn't have good food.
There were so many companies and people that moved there.
And like I said, now the infrastructure is kind of catching up.
But...
Well, Austin used to be a small town.
It is no longer a small town.
You cannot.
Denver is the same thing.
Like there's a lot of these towns, people complaining like, hey guys, come on.
There's so many of us.
There's not enough, you know, businesses.
Crush it. Crush it. Okay. complaining like, hey guys, come on. There's so many of us, there's not enough, you know, businesses.
Crush it.
Crush it.
Okay.
I need to know how you look like this
and eat all this Italian food.
Are you like, do you work out a lot?
Is this just genetics?
What?
Well, partly genetics.
My mother's little.
Okay.
I'd say partly, I also do a lot of yoga.
I do a lot of, like I try to get between like 10,000 steps a day.
Wow. How do you do that with everything?
You just walk while you talk on the phone?
Sometimes.
Take Zooms on the treadmill or whatever.
Yeah.
I walk my dogs a lot.
Not right now, but usually.
I think movement is a big part of what I need to keep going.
I also, I mean, I eat, but I eat four small meals a day. I don't eat giant meals.
I wouldn't have the energy to do what I do if I ate big meals all the time.
So I eat small, four to five sometimes, small meals all day.
And it seems based on your book that you're specific about what you're eating
with the ingredients. Yeah so you know I grew up on pasta clearly um and so for me with this book
the biggest chapter is the pasta chapter. Yeah. The idea though being that we infuse nutrient
dense ingredients in these foods that we love and you'll see some of the recipes in my book, in the pasta chapter,
don't use a whole box, a whole pound of pasta.
They use half, half a pound of pasta.
And then there's greens, there's protein,
there's all other things that are nutrient-dense and enhance the flavor of it,
but you still get your pasta.
And so it's getting, it's just being smarter about how you're eating
and what you're eating and what kind of pasta are you eating.
Are you eating a pasta that's high in protein?
Are you eating a pasta that uses clean ingredients?
You know what I mean?
Where does it come from?
Is it extruded by a bronze dye or is it cut by bronze dyes?
Is it slow dried?
Because those are the things that matter in the type of pasta that you're eating.
On a reverse question, sorry.
The audience is not going to like if I don't ask this question.
I know you can ask the brands.
Because they're going to want to know which brands to go by.
I think more than brands to go by, look at the ingredient list and look at the pasta.
Does it say slow dried on it?
Does it say bronze cut?
What should it not say?
Yeah, what do you want it to say?
Is it super yellow?
Is it super smooth with no ridges?
These are the things you gotta look for.
Is that good or bad if there's ridges?
The ridges are good.
You want a porous,
you want a pasta that has like a texture to it, not a smooth pasta.
So if you think about the Teflon pans that we use, things slide off of it, right?
Those are the type of extruders that when you're mass producing pasta, that's what they're using.
What does that do? It puts a lot of heat on the semolina flour and it dries it really fast.
So they can make lots of
pasta and sell tons of it, right? When you do that, it changes the chemical
reaction of the actual wheat of the semolina, durum wheat that they're using,
so it spikes your glucose when you're eating it, right? So you want a pasta
that has texture, look for something that has texture, ridges. You want to look for
something that is a darker color.
I mean, yes, a lighter color, not a darker color.
And not smooth, not a smooth pasta.
You don't have any brand that you like?
I hate to say brands,
cause then like I'm gonna get killed in the marketplace,
but I will tell you that I,
Jodzy makes a pasta that we import.
Yes, we do.
But there are others that are good too,
that don't have a ton of fillers, that don't.
But your pasta has all the points that you like.
Correct. That is why I started doing this. But that's why I started doing this. I started doing it
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Well, I'm overwhelmed when you tell me
all these different things.
I know.
But then, and that's why I keep asking for a brand,
to know that you created it is helpful.
But you don't want some smooth, super-
Because I don't know.
Yes, look Made in Italy, too.
Look for that, too. It needs to be made in Italy. So is your pasta made in Italy? Yes. So you get all the points that you were it is helpful. But you don't want some smooth super. Because I don't know. And look, Made in Italy too. Look for that too.
It needs to be made in Italy.
So is your pasta made in Italy?
Yes.
So you get all the points that you were talking about.
You don't have to worry about it.
Yes.
That takes it right.
Yes.
You solved the problem.
But I just, I don't want it to just be like,
oh, go get, yes, go get Jodzy pasta
because it is the best one.
They sell it at, well, you guys don't have
Arowan in Texas, right?
No, but I'll order it in Post-Made.
But there's other stores in Texas.
I'll have to tell you which ones they are.
Okay. But anyway, until we get into Whole Foods, then everybody will have it in post-baked. But there's other stores in Texas. I'll have to tell you which ones they are. Okay.
But anyway, until we get into Whole Foods, then everybody will have it.
You can buy it on Amazon.
But once you have the pasta, my pasta, you'll start to understand what you're looking for.
Okay.
Because there's a texture difference.
It cooks longer as well.
Right?
So you cook, how do you cook your pasta?
Well, I cook it al dente.
Because if you cook it.
What does that mean?
Do you know what it means?
No, I don't.
No, I don't know I know the tiny bit al dente just means in it true Italian is at the bite
So if you bite into it, there's just ever so slightly. It's it still has its tooth some right
so you bite into it has a little bit of of
Push back. It's not like super soft
So how long are you remember a pasta that cooks really fast within like four or five minutes, unless it's fresh, unless it's fresh pasta.
That's different.
But if it's dried pasta and it cooks super fast...
They're good.
It's a no-no. It's a no-no.
Yeah. Because it's loaded with emulsifiers
and fillers and gums.
I'm just gonna use your pasta to give to them.
So just so you know. Yeah, we have really fun shapes,
which is also another reason I did it,
because I grew up on really fun shapes that I couldn't find.
And when my daughter was growing up, I was like, there's no fun shapes. which is also another reason I did it because I grew up on really fun shapes that I couldn't find. Okay.
And when my daughter was growing up, I was like, there's no fun shapes. I have to bring them in from Italy.
So I started this company just to do that. So I do olive oil, I do pasta, I do seasoning salts.
It hits all your things that you like.
Correct.
The olive oil has high polyphenols, it's all monocultural. One olive from northern Italy.
Not olives brought from all over the world.
No, no, no.
One olive from one area, first pressing, all of that kind of stuff.
In a dark bottle.
Like really hands on with that.
Yes, as I go to those places, some of them are family friends that we've had forever,
and some of them are producers that I've found in my travels.
And I want people to know that like these things are not your enemies,
it's just being smart
about the purchases that you make, right?
Like there's a big conversation about seed oils these days.
Right?
How do you feel about that?
I mean, in restaurants, you use seed oils.
You do.
You can't fry with olive oil.
You got to use something.
So we do use them.
I just think like, listen, these things aren't
poisonous unless you use them every single day for every single meal.
Then yes, it becomes a poison.
It also depends on the heat that you use it for,
all of that kind of stuff, right?
So if you use seed oils every once in a while,
you're fine, like everything.
It's a balance.
If you wanna go to McDonald's once in a while, go.
It's fine.
It's when you start doing these things day in and day out.
Every day, multiple times a day. That's when it becomes, that's when your bucket's gonna be overflowing
and your inflammation's gonna go up and all these diseases happen. And for your children.
When you cook your pasta, how do you cook it? What's your way? Is there a way to cook it?
I boil the water. I can do that. Bring it to a high boil.
Okay.
I add a ton of salt, a fistful of salt.
A fistful.
Wow, okay.
A fistful.
Yes, you want it to taste like the Mediterranean Sea.
Pasta has no flavor otherwise.
You know what happens otherwise?
You finish cooking the pasta and you're dumping a lot of fat and a lot of sauce to try to
season that thing.
That is not what you want to do.
It doesn't taste good, no. No. You want to season it thing. That is not what you want to do.
No, you want to season it in advance.
Fistful, go in there.
Boom, like emerald.
Go, just throw it.
Is it your salt?
Kosher salt.
But is it, do you have a brand?
Yes, Jodzy has its own salt, but I wouldn't use that.
That one's a finishing salt to season stuff.
For pasta water.
Just kosher.
Just kosher.
Big handful, don't be afraid.
It should taste like the Mediterranean sea.
It should taste salty.
You throw the pasta in, okay?
Just give it a good stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom.
Didn't know that.
Yes.
And then, and then.
I'm starving to death over here.
Yeah, he's starving.
Eight, nine, 10 minutes, you're done.
The box will say 11 to 12, but that's to really cook it.
And it takes time because the pasta,
because it's slow dried,
it's gonna dried, it's
going to absorb a lot of water when it cooks. Pastas that are dried quickly
through like a Teflon cutter, like a plastic extruder, those cook really
fast, right? Because they're dried really fast, so there's nothing left for it to
suck. So then what do you put on it afterwards? You can put anything you want.
You can put veggies on it, you can put sauce on it.
I make sometimes a really easy lemon spaghetti with just olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest,
parm.
I mix that all together and dump it on hot pasta.
It's not.
That's the thing.
It's not.
Like it just depends.
When Jade was a kid, which till to this day, butter and parm. That's it.
That's it. Or olive oil and parm. But because you put the salt. If the pasta has a lot of salt, it has a lot of
flavor. You don't have to add a lot. But when you don't, then you got a lot of fat. I'm basically a chef after this episode.
Well, there's so many few little changes. Sure, it would be nice to get a home-cooked meal once in a while. People can change.
I'm basically, I didn't know you put salt in the thing before you put pasta.
Tons. Tons. Trust. Trust. It will change your pasta game. Okay. It'll change your pasta. Your kids will love it.
Kids will just love it. My kids have never. We're gonna send you some pasta shapes for your kids. You'll love it.
I will literally do exactly what you said. She's gonna go home now and be like, I'm a full chef. Like this is what she does.
Why did you decide?
Hey, it's not a bad thing.
You win.
I, I hope so.
You win.
Let's go.
Let's do it.
You're a winner.
I can do it all.
You will win if that happens.
I can do it all.
That's true.
You can.
Your new book, it's coming out super Italian.
What inspired this?
Why do a book?
You've got so much going on.
Well, this is book number 11, so it's a good question.
So I feel like my books are basically a snapshot in time, right?
Each book is a different time in my life.
And at this point in my life, I am feeling like people really need to know
how to create nutrient-dense meals with the foods that they love.
And to me, condiments are everything.
So the beginning of the book is all condiments that you can make in advance to just add to
your food.
So let's say you make a pasta and I have a condiment for a garlicy breadcrumb topping.
Okay.
So I make that.
It makes about two cups worth, right?
So I sprinkle it on everything because it adds so much flavor and what does it
have it has breadcrumbs it has olive oil lemon zest anchovies okay so I take
angel fillets and melt them in there and I toast them all up in a pan and
garlic and then I use it to toss on everything so pasta if you season it
right with a lot of salt just add olive oil or butter and these bread crumbs on top and
you're done. You're making it really digestible. Crunchy, flavorful. Yeah, so these condiments are
everything. So I make all of this stuff and then I just use them in all the meals
and they create so much nutrient food to your regular food and that is the whole
trick of the book.
And I think that is, if there's any takeaway with any of the recipes,
it would be the condiments. And to have them in ready to go in your pantry,
and you can make unbelievably flavored meals, but not just
great flavor, but actually good for you. Things that your kids,
like, things that will give you the vitamins that you need, the minerals
that you need, the omegas that you need,
that we don't get in our regular food, sadly.
How are you getting all this stuff done?
You've got 11 books, everything you have.
Well, that's over a long period of time.
But still, how do you get all that?
I didn't just do 11 books overnight.
What's the day in the life?
Like, are you up super early?
Like, what's...
Yes, I am up super early.
Yeah, what's your day?
Well, 5.30 a.30 AM with the dogs,
cause I have four animals
and I have a daughter to get off to school.
And you know, you make breakfast and you do all of that.
And then I work out and then I start my day.
What's your way of making breakfast for your daughter?
Cause my way might be different than your way.
Your way is me.
Oh, you make breakfast?
Yeah, he does. He does make breakfast all the time. Yeah, that's the only thing I way. Your way is me. Oh, you make breakfast? I make the breakfast.
Oh, that's amazing.
That's the only thing I do.
Breakfast, I told you breakfast, French toast,
and I can grill.
But now I'm going to make pasta.
He makes eggs too.
By the way, we have, in Italy, we eat pasta for breakfast
because we put pasta with all the leftovers
or we take the leftover pasta, throw an egg in it,
mix it together and put it in a frying pan.
So I do that for my daughter a lot.
She loves dinner for breakfast.
She's not a huge breakfast, breakfast,
American breakfast person.
She's more like, give me leftovers for dinner.
So if it's pasta, I beat the egg,
I throw it on a little bit of pasta
and I throw in a skillet and I get it nice and warm
and crispy.
She likes it crispy, so she eats it that way.
That sounds actually pretty easy.
It doesn't sound super over.
No, and you have your protein and your carbs and whatever else was in there, and that's it.
You're good for the day for lunchtime. There's nothing, she's great.
That sounds good.
There's no sugar. That's the tough part.
I love how your pasta too has all the checking points.
Yeah.
Easy.
Yeah.
So what are things that you avoid in your ingredients? Or is it like all of it's on the table, you just make sure it's nutrient dense?
I try not to use a lot of prepackaged foods.
That's really what I try.
Like, I really try.
Like, I don't not buy them because I have a daughter who loves chips and loves popcorn
and loves it.
So I buy things, but I do it smartly and I don't buy a lot of
it. And I try to really even with her teach her not to eat out of bags all the
time because I think we've really gotten used to everything out of a bag all the
time. Like we as a society just stop with all the plastic putting all our food in
plastic all the time because we literally are gonna turn into plastic
because that's what's happening. And I see that you guys have glass bottles of
water which is great. It's a great first start. Out of all of the chefs that because we literally are gonna turn into plastic because that's what's happening. And I see that you guys have glass bottles of water,
which is great, it's a great first start.
Out of all of the chefs that you've worked with
that are these famous chefs, who's the coolest?
Oh, they're gonna put you on the spot.
Who's the worst? Who's your favorite?
Well, I have a lot of favorites though,
they're all different.
Okay, well I'll ask you this,
who's the most talented and who's your favorite?
Oh gosh, that's
I know they're all talented but like who do you just really like who resonates I talked to Bobby Flay probably the most okay Yeah, I would I would say that I in fact we just had these fires in LA
You guys don't live here anymore, but we just had these terrible fires. I was evacuated
I went to my family's for like one night and realized I can't do this
He called me he was like hey my house in LA you can go stay there if you need to a
God sent the man is a godsend because I have four animals and a kid and you know
I love my family, but it can be hard to hang out with your family like that when you know
You're not used to it
So anyhow I talked to him the most and then I would say Martha Stewart's pretty rad. Like I definitely would say
to you, well I the way I treat our relationship is I am your sous chef
forever. Doesn't matter what levels I ever get to in this life I will always
and forever be your sous chef and that way she's okay. I think that she
appreciates that probably. Correct.
Because she is the master.
Yes, and she deserves it.
She deserves it.
That woman has worked her tail off.
I mean.
In a way that is, you know,
and has paved the way for women
in many, many different businesses.
Not just food, not just whatever lifestyle.
So her, I would say Ina Garten is lovely.
I just finished her book.
She's a sweetheart.
She's a sweetheart. And's a sweetheart and has been
through a lot. Yeah. And I think Rachel Ray is the hardest worker I have ever met. Wow. Truly.
And comes from, you know, doesn't come from much and has really worked her tail off to get to where
she is. It's pretty spectacular. And then I would just say talent-wise, oh god, I mean
there's Jean-Georges who I just love. What about Wolfgang? I like Wolfgang. He's
tough though. Yeah, but he's tough. I was gonna say when you were telling me... But I learned a
lot from him in the sense of like, we would, he would be in the kitchen and he
would just stick his finger in every pot. And you would watch the people in the
restaurant at Spago's just go, oh did you just do that? He finger in every pot. And you would watch the people in the restaurant, and Spago's just go,
Oh, did you just do that?
And he would go around and say to people,
when they would say to him,
you stuck your bare finger in my food.
He'd be like, yeah, and that's why it tastes so good.
My spit is everything.
And in my mind, I'm like,
every time somebody would say to me on the network, whatever,
you can't do that. You can't stick your fingers in the food. I'm like, every time somebody would say to me on the network, whatever, you can't take, you can't do that, you can't stick your fingers in the food.
I'm like, why not?
That's what gives it flavor, is my spit.
So I learned a lot from Wolfgang of like, don't take people's shit.
Just you know, they love your food.
That is why.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I get it.
It's just, it's really fascinating.
So I feel like you can pull little things from a lot of different people.
You've had a lot of amazing people around you
and they've had you, so it's cool.
The ecosystem that you guys have is amazing.
What's next for you?
What are you working on?
What can we expect to see?
Restaurant in Austin.
A restaurant in Austin.
Please.
My next cookbook, Super Italian,
that comes out March 4th.
I have an Amazon show and potentially another one,
oh, with Evan Funky.
Do you guys know who Evan Funky is?
Who's that?
Okay.
He's a big LA chef.
You'll know who he is.
So it's in the back of your mind right now.
In about a year from now, you'll be like,
oh, Evan Funky.
Would we know a restaurant that he's done?
There's Funky in Beverly Hills.
There's Felix on Abbot Kinney.
Oh yeah, that's a pasta restaurant.
And there's Mother Wolf, which I don't think he's open one in Texas yet,
but I bet you it's close.
My buddy, John Carly used to work at Mother Wolf.
Okay, yeah, and Mother Wolf.
Felix is the pasta restaurant that Joe Rogan loves.
Yeah, exactly.
He talked all about that on his Instagram.
We know his space is-
So you're gonna do a show with him?
Yeah, he's pretty spectacular.
Yeah. That's really cool.
Yeah, he's great.
I love him. He's fabulous.
Where can everyone find you on Instagram pimp yourself out? I
Don't know
Ladies, where what is my handle? I don't know
It's my name. It's your name
No spaces. Okay. See like some people have underscore and whatever. I don't I mean I
Post on it, but I don't memorize what it is. What is it? Jada De Laurentiis? It's your name.
Oh, but is there an underscore or anything else?
No, it's just a note.
Okay, so it's Jada De Laurentiis.
I know, I mean, okay.
Come back on the show when you and Evan's show launches.
Yes, that's a great idea.
Yeah, together, come together.
Yeah, we'd love it.
That would be so fun.
We could do him and her.
Yeah, maybe you could like travel out to Austin
and not make me have to come all out.
I might be a chef next time you come back. Invite me out to Austin and not make me have to come all out. I might be a chef next time.
Invite me out to Austin.
You didn't invite me here.
No, I'm just kidding.
To Austin.
No, no, we're here.
I'm happy to do this here.
I'm happy.
But maybe next time, maybe you'll come out.
You know what, I'm gonna send you some pasta shapes
for your kids and then maybe we can do something in Austin.
How about that?
You'll come out and you'll explore
and you'll be inspired.
You'll be like, oh man, like we need to get something
out here right away.
Okay.
Kind of around sixth in Colorado.
That's where the office is.
Would that work for you?
Yeah, like right around that area.
Thank you for coming on the show.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me.