When I first met Antoni Porowski during my week with Queer Eye’s Fab Five, I could feel his deep passion for food.

It was an immediate connection because I’m just as passionate about food. I mean, I get excited when I even talk about food let alone cooking. I know what nutrition can do for someone. Learning about nutrition got me out of my depression years ago. Antoni and I discovered our shared mindset that food is medicine.

Bobby and I rode the streetcar to my first official Antoni meet up. Antoni, Bobby, and I spent time in Cosentino’s getting groceries for the cooking session. Different things about my food choices spoke to Antoni. Bonding over food can be strong. As Antoni and I got to know each other, Antoni became more comfortable and excited about selecting the perfect dish for us to prepare.

Antoni spent time breaking down the different areas of the grocery store for me. We had honest discussion about some of the challenges I have when shopping. Sometimes my food choices are limited based on what I can reach at the store. I think that surprised Antoni and Bobby. Even though those limitations affect what I can make, I still love cooking.

Being as generous and passionate as he is, Antoni shared lots of cooking wisdom—how to figure out what’s ripe, differences between salts, ways to cook sweet potatoes, you name it. Our shopping trip was simple but informative. And there was so much positive energy. I mean, when you bond over food, that energy just flows.

The next big segment with Antoni was our cooking scene at an apartment in Two Light. And man, cooking with Antoni was dope. To be around someone with the same level of food interest—it was just inspiring. I was willing to listen because of the love I have for food and for conversation about it. The Vermont maple syrup we used for one recipe came from Antoni’s father. And I might have been distracted by that syrup. I only got in trouble once when I was eating a few spoonfuls…

Antoni Porowski, I loved connecting with you over our shared passion for food. I rarely find someone with the same level of enthusiasm for food as we have, so thank you for sharing that. We really are the ultimate foodies. In fact, we should have our cooking show on Netflix. That’s how lit our experience was. We absolutely could come up with the best meal the world has ever seen. Netflix, can we make that happen?

P.S. All the KC Queer Eye crew got back together when Antoni came through KC for his cookbook tour. It was so great to reconnect with everyone (check out the pics below). Antoni, your cookbook is lit—can’t wait to try all of your recipes. I’m sure they’re amazing.

Edited by Writing Help KC

Event photos courtesy of Kate Childs