Dan Pelosi Transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You're listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond, coming to you from New York City.
Today's guest is Dan Pelosi, the cook, creator, host, and all-around delight, who so many of you know as Grossy Pelosi. Dan has built one of the most joyful, generous communities around. And his new cookbook, “Let's Party: Recipes and Menus for Celebrating Every Day,” hit shelves this fall. It's a great guide to the kind of entertaining he's become known for, unfussy, deeply flavorful, rooted in tradition, and engineered so the host actually gets to sit down and enjoy themselves. How radical. This is Dan's first time on the show, and I'm so excited to chat with him. I am such a big fan. Of course, we talk about entertaining and his beloved family, but we also talk about Dan's fashion and design side, which I didn't know anything about. He graduated from RISD, the famous Rhode Island School of Design, and went on to work in creative services with brands like the Gap, Ann Taylor, and Lou & Grey. Dan brings such a sharp, creative eye to everything he does, from his cookie parties to his home renovation. And this will help you understand a little bit more of how he processes everything. Speaking of cookies, we also talk about the New York Times Cooking Cookie Week. Dan contributed a recipe to that package. And then we talk dating, life, self-care, and how he's really just a homebody at heart. Stay tuned for our chat, which was recorded at Rockefeller Center in New York City. And yes, Dan and I walked over and saw the world-famous tree after the recording. I love the tree. It's such a fun tradition.
Speaking of traditions, tomorrow, Thursday, December 11th, team Cherry Bombe and I will be in Charleston, one of my favorite cities, for our final Working Lunch event. This is a great series we've been doing in partnership with the Visa Dining Collection by OpenTable and Visa. And it features lunch, networking, and a great panel conversation. It all takes place in 90 minutes, so maybe you can sneak out of work, hang with us, and return to your workplace before anyone even notices you're gone. We'll be at Brasserie la Banque, and we'll get to hear from Brasserie's Vonda Freeman, Jillian Schaffer from FIG, and Corrie Wang of Jackrabbit Filly and King BBQ. Access to all working lunch experiences is available for eligible Visa credit card holders, and tickets are on sale now. Terms and conditions apply. Visit cherrybombe.com for all the details, and I hope to see some of you in Charleston tomorrow. Feel free to slip into my DMs and tell me where I need to eat while I'm in town.
What else? The holiday issue of Cherry Bombe Magazine is finally here, and the team and I love this issue so much. It's all about cake and features three incredible self-taught cake artists on the covers: Lucie Franc de Ferriere of From Lucie, Aimee France, AKA YungKombucha420, and Amy Yip of Yip.Studio. The issue is packed with recipes and lots of great stories. Head to cherrybombe.com to subscribe or order your issue. You can pick whichever cover you want. Or check out our list of stockists around the country. We love our stockists, and you can find Cherry Bombe Magazine in great places like Mama Bread in Nashville, they also have great bread, like the name implies, Ladybird Books in Charleston, and Matriarch in Newport, Rhode Island.
Now let's check in with today's guest. Dan Pelosi.
Dan Pelosi:
Hi.
Kerry Diamond:
Welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Dan Pelosi:
It's the cutest podcast studio in the whole world. I can't believe it.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, it really is. And made even cuter because you are here.
Dan Pelosi:
Oh, thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
I have so many questions for you.
Dan Pelosi:
Okay, let's do it.
Kerry Diamond:
“Let's Party.” Your new book is out. I did not know there's a whole fashion component to your life.
Dan Pelosi:
Oh yeah. I worked with brands for years.
Kerry Diamond:
We got to talk-
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. We got to talk about it.
Kerry Diamond:
... about that. I just listened to a hilarious podcast that you did, I don't remember how long ago, but the host of the podcast basically proposed to you and asked for you to be a sperm donor. And I just want to let you know neither of those things will happen on today's-
Dan Pelosi:
Thank you. I feel safe now.
Kerry Diamond:
... show.
Dan Pelosi:
You know, I've been asked to be a sperm donor more than a few times in my life, and I take it as such an honor, but no.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk about the book first. “Let's Party” is your second book.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
I know why you called it “Let's Party,” but tell people why you called it “Let's Party.”
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, of course. Really, it's an entertaining book. It's dinner parties. It's not big elaborate parties. It's very much attainable. Six or eight people. And I actually didn't want to use the word party to talk about the book because the reason why-
Kerry Diamond:
You didn't get your way on that one.
Dan Pelosi:
Well, no. I mean, I liked it eventually. Like many things I do, I come around to the idea. I did not like the title of my first book either, “Let's Eat,” but now I love it. I'm sort of like, ah, there's no party here. I'm not throwing a party. But the response to what I share and what I do online and also in person is everyone's like, "You throw a party three nights a week. You're always having a party. That's a party, that's a party." And I'm like, "That's not a party. I'm just living my life." And I think when I look back and I'm like, okay, I'm just living my life, there's very few people who can say that about the kind of dinner party, the entertaining.
So how can I take something that comes so naturally to me based on my lived experience, break it down into really simple tips, tricks, plans, menus, and share that with everyone else. And so that's why I called it Let's Party because it's about shaking down the word a little bit and making it my kind of party, which I say in the book is one where I'm sitting down the whole time. So it's 16 menus, lots of tips and tricks, days before what you can do to get the food on the table. I love social media so much because I get asked so many questions, and I answer all those questions in the form of books, which is really fun.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that's so smart.
Dan Pelosi:
I use it as my marketing research.
Kerry Diamond:
And I love that you're so good about timing. I heard you talking about something for the holidays. You gave someone advice on how to get dishes of all different temperatures-
Dan Pelosi:
Yes. Different temperatures.
Kerry Diamond:
... out at the same time. And I was having a conversation with some of my girlfriends about Thanksgiving, a successful anything, life, party, Thanksgiving dinner, holiday dinner, whatever you're celebrating, all comes down to timing.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, timing. And variety, like cold, room temperature, warm, hot. So it's just all about the different temperatures, the different ways that you're using your oven. I had two salads on my Thanksgiving table this year, and everyone loved them. And it's like, you know what? Those didn't go near heat at all. So I think that that's a big part of reminding people, especially for this book, as I was creating menus, the strategy that I followed was the flavors had to work together, but also how I'm cooking them. Almost every single thing has a make-ahead or many make-ahead components, which is not something you can do for a sauce that you have to just get off the stove and put on the pasta. And if you don't get it off immediately, that's not going to work. That's probably not what you're going to have at your eight-person dinner party. Save that for a two-person thing. So there was a lot of strategy around the journey of it getting to the table for this book.
Kerry Diamond:
What is a good gateway recipe?
Dan Pelosi:
There's a really delicious lasagna in there. It's called Don't Tell Your Nonna About This Lasagna. My nonna would be like, “Absolutely not.” If she ate it, she would love it, but she's been gone for a while. But it's got a bechamel. It's got Brussels sprouts, leeks, chard in it. So it's just like a non-traditional lasagna, but it's so delicious. One of those things you can make ahead, you can prepare. I always tell people the gateway to any dinner party is something that you can put in the oven for an hour before your guests arrive, that you've prepared the day before. A lasagna, an eggplant parm, meatballs, sauce. All those, I mean, for me, of course, it's like the Italian American centers of the table, but that's such an easy way. A lasagna and a salad and some garlic bread, you can't go wrong.
Kerry Diamond:
I grew up in Staten Island, so I am culturally Italian American.
Dan Pelosi:
Yes, exactly.
Kerry Diamond:
Irish, Scottish, German parents.
Dan Pelosi:
Of course.
Kerry Diamond:
And my mom made sauce every week.
Dan Pelosi:
Amazing.
Kerry Diamond:
And meatballs.
Dan Pelosi:
So lucky.
Kerry Diamond:
A lasagna and chicken parm.
Dan Pelosi:
Totally. Chicken parm. All the stuff that feeds so many people, it's ready to go. Yeah. That's the kind of food that makes me the happiest.
Kerry Diamond:
How was your book tour?
Dan Pelosi:
Book tour was so interesting. It was great. No notes. Truly, it was lovely. I have the best people out there in the world who want to come and meet me. I wrote a book two years ago, and I went to 25 cities. It was 2023, and everyone was just so down to leave their house. And in 2025, people showed up, but it was like, I don't want to leave my house right now. There's been so many incredible authors who are all doing events right now. And back in 2023, there weren't a ton of events. So it was just different. It was mellower in terms of size. I only went to 10 cities, which is what I wanted, but it just felt like a totally different world. It was wild. There was a lot of repeats, which always makes me so happy. And yeah, it was nice. It was intimate, I would say, which is good. I was like, I can't do what I did the first time again.
Kerry Diamond:
That's a lot. I think the biggest I had heard of was 18 cities.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. But I'm like, I'm a Gemini. I'm down. If I'm on, I'm on. Also, my boyfriend moderated some of the events, and he has kind of a social media presence as well. So between the two of us, it was just so fun.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that's great.
Dan Pelosi:
We were just hanging in front of people.
Kerry Diamond:
I love that you were able to do it with your boyfriend.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. He's the best.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, thank you for leaving the house and coming to the belly of the beast.
Dan Pelosi:
Welcome.
Kerry Diamond:
Rockefeller Center. With the tree.
Dan Pelosi:
We will talk about how long it took me to get here because it's so embarrassing.
Kerry Diamond:
It's okay. The tree was just lit, yes. And traffic is blocked.
Dan Pelosi:
I can't blame the tree for everything.
Kerry Diamond:
It is a good excuse. It is a good excuse. But it's so pretty. I can't wait to look at it and bask in that.
Dan Pelosi:
It's a good time. I'm here for a week.
Kerry Diamond:
Glory of the tree.
Dan Pelosi:
Because I live upstate now, and I'm here for a week. And I realize being here right now is manic, but also really beautiful.
Kerry Diamond:
I love New York.
Dan Pelosi:
I'm going to gorgeous dinners every night and it's just amazing.
Kerry Diamond:
In restaurants or friends' houses?
Dan Pelosi:
Restaurants. Yeah. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Anything you want to shout out?
Dan Pelosi:
Well, I'm really excited. I'm going to go to Una Pizza Napoletana on Saturday, which is one of my favorites. I'm going to I Sodi on Tuesday.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, love that lasagna.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. And then I'm going to dinner with Helen Rosner. I don't know where she's taking me, but that's going to be good.
Kerry Diamond:
Ooh, that's fun. Yeah. I feel like that could be a show.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. I know that would be a fun show.
Kerry Diamond:
Dan and Helen-
Dan Pelosi:
That would be really good.
Kerry Diamond:
... eat at restaurants.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. So we're going-
Kerry Diamond:
I would watch that.
Dan Pelosi:
... to dinner. But I don't know where we're going. I get a lot of invites to restaurants, and the second I need to go somewhere, I'm like, I can't figure out who invited me where or when, so I never end up taking them up. But anyways, we're lucky. Good problems to have.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll be right back with today's guest. If you are looking for some excellent holiday gifts, Cherry Bombe has great options for you. Here's one that's really special. From now until the end of the year, you can get 20% off Jubilee tickets when you buy two or more. Jubilee is our annual conference, and it's happening on Saturday, April 25th, in New York City. It's a beautiful day filled with talks, panels, networking, and great food and drink. Head to cherrybombe.com to learn more.
Everybody does love you, and it made me wonder, how do you take care of... They do. Why are you laughing?
Dan Pelosi:
That's just such a nice thing to say.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, that's true, but it also is true. You're one of those people that we need to protect because it's not easy to occupy a space like that. And I was curious, how do you take care of your mental health?
Dan Pelosi:
Oh, man. Well, I have to say my boyfriend is really good at reminding me because self-care is not my natural instinct, and he is like a self-care king. He in the past four years that we've been together has really changed my mental space. Also, my therapist. I tell people all the time, it's a privilege, but also there's a sliding scale. If you can just go talk to someone, even if you don't think there's anything that you need to talk about, just go. It's just so helpful. I do think everyone's like, "You got to stop replying to every single DM you get. You got to turn your... " And I'm like, "No, I think I actually, this is what feeds me." I get the loveliest messages from people all day long, just about everything. And at the end of the day, they're just like, "You just make me happy," or, "You help me with this." And I'm like, "That's so nice." And that really keeps me going. So I think that the thing that we all think is potentially killing us, for me, it does feed me.
Kerry Diamond:
That's good to know. When you said self-care wasn't always your thing, is it because you're always thinking about other people?
Dan Pelosi:
I care for others. Yeah. I'm always worrying about everyone else, and don't do a good job of caring for myself, but I try. I was talking to my therapist. I feel like I've been having some anxiety this fall, and good things, when really good things happen in my life, it gives me a lot of anxiety. Because it just gives you more of a reason to live. And then I'm like, when is something going to fall in my head and kill me?
Kerry Diamond:
Don't say that. Oh my God.
Dan Pelosi:
No, but you know what I mean? It's hard to stand in your power and believe that you deserve everything you're getting. I've just got such a lovely, not perfect, but just a lovely life right now. And it's hard to just not imagine at all.
Kerry Diamond:
I know. Well, isn't that the lesson we all learned from those self-help things on Instagram, that sometimes you can focus on the positive outcomes. It doesn't always have to be what's the worst-case scenario.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, I know. And I try, but it's just-
Kerry Diamond:
But 2025's been tough.
Dan Pelosi:
It's been tough.
Kerry Diamond:
I mean, it has been a tough year to focus on the best-case scenario.
Dan Pelosi:
Exactly. And I think it's hard to know how to make an impact. And I tell people a lot on tour, a big reason why I wrote this book is because anyone, but especially as someone who has hundreds of thousands of followers online, there can be this pressure to be like, "I'm going to save the world today with a story on my Instagram." And it's like, sure, you can let people know what you stand for, or spread some sort of donation thing or whatever. But ultimately, the most power that you have is by the people who you see in person around you in your circle.
And I think for me, having them over for dinner, having them over for breakfast, inviting them to come stay with us, spending time with those people IRL is I think really powerful and healing. And I think that is something that I hope that this book or my life, or whatever part of me you're receiving, helps you do. Because everyone's like, "Share a link." I'm just like, just focus on what the people that are in your house. That's going to be the best thing for you.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. It is tough, though. I had this conversation with Roti Brown just about some influencers and creatives who never wade into things that are topical. I've mixed feelings about that. I understand why, especially if social media is your living. But at the same time, I do get a little aggravated at people who benefit from other people's activism and never wade into it.
Dan Pelosi:
It's such a fine line because you don't want us to be silent, right? I think that you want to make sure that your day-to-day models your beliefs. But also I think shouting into a void can feel, I don't feel powerful by shouting into the void. If I were to share the same message every single day, to me, I'm like, what am I doing? I need to preserve some part of myself to focus on my strength and the strength that that gives other people in my real life. So it's a balance.
Kerry Diamond:
I love that you and your boyfriend got to go on tour together.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
That's rare. Sometimes you're just out there by yourself and-
Dan Pelosi:
No, we really did. He was working with me for the past couple years, which was kind of lovely. We just stopped that. Because he's gotten so busy with his comedy and his performing and all that stuff. But yeah, we're extremely lucky. And he makes his little tour packet of vitamin C, and all the different medicines and potions. And he's always like, "Swallow this, drink this, rub that on your whatever, put your legs up in the air, stretch."
Kerry Diamond:
He's a keeper.
Dan Pelosi:
He's the best.
Kerry Diamond:
How'd you two meet?
Dan Pelosi:
We met in 2021. We thought that the pandemic was over because there was a vaccine. So we both signed on to Hinge and just met. We both put something in our... Hinge has you answer three questions. And so we answered one question the same, which was like, what's the best piece of art or pop culture ever created? And we both put “The Comeback,” which is a TV show. Do you know “The Comeback-”
Kerry Diamond:
I don't.
Dan Pelosi:
... with Lisa Kudrow? It's an incredible show that had one season, and then 10 years later, another season. They're actually coming out with a third season now, 10 years after the second. It's a brilliant, very specific piece of comedy. And it just allowed us to immediately understand each other. Pandemic dating, because I was like fuck or flight every first date for 10 years in New York City. It was like, we're either going to bang, or I'm out, right? Which is so insane. But the gays. But with Gus, it was like FaceTime date, FaceTime date, walk, no touching, another walk, no touching. Third date, we finally went inside, watched an episode of The Sopranos, and kissed. So I was like-
Kerry Diamond:
That's so romantic.
Dan Pelosi:
That pacing was unheard of for me.
Kerry Diamond:
But it worked.
Dan Pelosi:
It worked, and it allowed me to understand him. I don't think it's the only reason. I think we have much more of a connection than that, but it just was so nice. I was like, wow, dating. I've been doing dating in a really wrong way.
Kerry Diamond:
This is good advice. See, I wasn't, I'm not going to say the F word, because my mom might be listening.
Dan Pelosi:
Oh, sorry, mom. You can beep it.
Kerry Diamond:
But I wasn't F or flight. It was basically one date, and they move in with me.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. Oh, really?
Kerry Diamond:
I know. It's terrible. Well, no, no. I take it back. Not terrible, but just interesting. So I'm trying to stop.
Dan Pelosi:
That's kind of lesbian behavior by straight men.
Kerry Diamond:
But with boys. Oh my God.
Dan Pelosi:
It's amazing. I love that.
Kerry Diamond:
So I'm trying to stop that now.
Dan Pelosi:
Oh, wow.
Kerry Diamond:
I did just go back on one of the apps. I haven't been on in a long time, since 2010. I just went back on one of them. And you know what's funny? There was a really famous chef who came up, who I thought was married.
Dan Pelosi:
And he wasn't?
Kerry Diamond:
I don't know.
Dan Pelosi:
Or was he? Maybe he is.
Kerry Diamond:
I don't know.
Dan Pelosi:
What kind of app were you on?
Kerry Diamond:
I don't want to get kicked off because I've already gotten in trouble twice for screenshotting.
Dan Pelosi:
Don't.
Kerry Diamond:
And I got warnings, and then you get kicked off.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, that's not good.
Kerry Diamond:
But it's the one that rhymes with playa.
Dan Pelosi:
Okay, cool.
Kerry Diamond:
Because I was curious, I hit the heart. I was like, I want to know if he's single.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. Did you go on a date?
Kerry Diamond:
No, I haven't heard. This was yesterday. This is very fresh.
Dan Pelosi:
Wow, late breaking. Wow. Yeah. I miss the dating thing, but I'm just really happy with Gus. And we give each other grace with having some fun here and there. So that's fine.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, we'll see how my adventures go. It's interesting to be back on there.
Dan Pelosi:
Are you recently single?
Kerry Diamond:
No.
Dan Pelosi:
Oh, okay.
Kerry Diamond:
No. I feel like Cherry Bombe is in such a good place now because we have an amazing CEO who started a few years ago. I think it was one of the first times I felt like I had some free space in my brain.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. Isn't that nice?
Kerry Diamond:
Put it that way.
Dan Pelosi:
I just made a hire two months ago after I said goodbye to Gus from a professional standpoint, and she has given me some space in my brain and it's just been lovely. I could be here and not worry about everything else that's happening.
Kerry Diamond:
So I'm going to try to not date like I used to date and just date to have fun.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. I'm into it.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll see how that goes. If someone's living with me in two months, you could be like, fail.
Dan Pelosi:
I just can't imagine that. It's such an interesting thing. My space is so precious to me. I'm sure yours is too, but still to let someone in. Wow.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Wait, what else do we have? Oh, your fashion life. That's what we have-
Dan Pelosi:
Oh yeah, my fashion life.
Kerry Diamond:
... to talk about. I'm so intrigued.
Dan Pelosi:
My fashion...
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. I didn't know you went to RISD.
Dan Pelosi:
I went to RISD. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
You're a RISD kid.
Dan Pelosi:
I'm a RISD kid.
Kerry Diamond:
You're not a, what do you call yourself, a meatball-
Dan Pelosi:
Making meatballs.
Kerry Diamond:
Making meatballs. You're a RISD grad.
Dan Pelosi:
I'm a RISD grad. Yeah. I went to architecture, the interior architecture program at RISD. I went for graphic design and then I quickly realized I wanted to do physical space. Although I do love marketing and branding and graphic design. I mean, I think the most important thing RISD taught me or anyone is problem solving. Creative problem-solving is just where I thrive. And so I feel like I love taking on all kinds of creative projects.
Right after college, I moved to San Francisco, and I got a job at Gap Corporate. And I was just like, wow, this is an incredible... I mean, I'm wearing Gap. I love Gap and I love retail, and I love malls and I was a mall kid. But to be in the headquarters of Gap, and I just burst into every single meeting, invited myself into rooms I didn't belong in, and just was like spewing ideas out. And I ended up being there for six years. And it was like grad school. It was incredible.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you ever meet Michelle Hernandez who has Le Dix-Sept out in San Francisco?
Dan Pelosi:
No.
Kerry Diamond:
She worked at the Gap and became a baker and has the most amazing bakery out in San Francisco.
Dan Pelosi:
It's such an incredible community. I mean, I know so many people from there, people who now work at Alex Mill or J. Crew or other retailers.
Kerry Diamond:
So you were doing store design?
Dan Pelosi:
I was doing store design. I was doing windows. I was doing some marketing stuff. A lot of people there were like, "You're so annoying because you just get invited to all these meetings." The CEO knew my name. Do you remember when they did the 1969 denim for the-
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah.
Dan Pelosi:
... first time? The first time. They've done it 300 times. But we did pop-ups all over L.A. In New York, we had a store in Soho where Aritzia is now. And I designed all those stores. I was like 24, and they were just giving me insane projects. It was so fun.
Kerry Diamond:
Are you following the whole Gap resurgence now?
Dan Pelosi:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you know Richard Dickson? Have you ever met him, who's the CEO now?
Dan Pelosi:
I don't know Richard, but I know Erika. She just moved to Athleta, but she was the running marketing. And Calvin, who's the creative director. So some of the people below him, we all grew up at Gap together. So it's just been so cool.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. Was Mickey Drexler there?
Dan Pelosi:
Mickey had just left.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, wait. You met Mickey at our party.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, I know Mickey. Mickey.
Kerry Diamond:
Remember that?
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, yeah. I met him at the party.
Kerry Diamond:
He walked into the party, and he was like, "I want to meet that guy."
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Through some people like Ali Dillon who used to work at Alex, and we've just stayed connected. But yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
I've learned so much from Mickey, but he wasn't there when you were there.
Dan Pelosi:
He had left.
Kerry Diamond:
He went to J. Crew.
Dan Pelosi:
But he was still in the halls, as they said.
Kerry Diamond:
Yes. Well, once Mickey gets in your brain, there's no getting Mickey out of your brain. And for folks who are like, who are you talking about? Mickey-
Dan Pelosi:
Mickey Drexler.
Kerry Diamond:
Mickey Drexler is one of the most famous-
Dan Pelosi:
Retail.
Kerry Diamond:
... fashion merchants and retailers. And we've done a few things with Mickey, and he's got the best advice. You should follow him on his Instagram or LinkedIn. Okay. So you're there. So interesting that you're such a visual guy. So much makes sense now.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. It's all about branding and visuals and all that.
Kerry Diamond:
And then you went to Ann Taylor.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. So I moved to Portland for three years, and I worked at an agency and I did-
Kerry Diamond:
Oregon?
Dan Pelosi:
... stuff with Nike. Portland, Oregon. Yeah. So with Nike-
Kerry Diamond:
Great food city.
Dan Pelosi:
... I was a creative director. It was an incredible food city. The only thing I really liked about it was the people and the food. And then I got a call from someone who I worked with at Gap, and she was like, "I'm launching this new brand at Ann Taylor. It's called Lou & Grey and it's basically the pajama athleisure." She was like, "We need stores. We're opening 12 stores and we need help with marketing." So I moved there, and it was again, it was like, okay, I walk into a retail brand, within a month, they were like, "We want you to do windows at Loft, do visuals for Ann Taylor. We want you to launch all these stores." I just immediately was just pulling everything that was on anyone's side of the desk and it was just so fun. And inside of these retail brands, it's pregnant women and gays. Those are my people. It's really fun. And so there's another version of me that's still working at a retail brand and having so much fun and leading teams and doing all these things.
Kerry Diamond:
It gets in your blood. Because I was at Lancome for six years and then I was a Coach-
Dan Pelosi:
Oh, no way.
Kerry Diamond:
... for several years.
Dan Pelosi:
Oh my gosh. Yeah, yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Reed Krakoff. I mean, learned so much.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, yeah. It's just so fun. We always say it's like the revolving door. You just kind of go from one retail brand to another, but great people and people that are all like, with my new success, everyone's so supportive. And they're all just lovely, and there was never any competition. It was just such a great feeling.
Kerry Diamond:
I always loved all the visual merchandise people.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, it's fun. You have a good time. And we would do overnights at stores and crazy installs and-
Kerry Diamond:
And especially this time of year with all the stores-
Dan Pelosi:
Oh, with the holiday. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
... transforming for the holidays.
Dan Pelosi:
Gus always makes fun of me because every city we go to, even yesterday, I was like, we were actually this morning, Gus is working with J. Crew. He's doing videos with them. I was like, "Oh, that North Face used to be at Bonobos. When did that change?" And he's like, "You're so everywhere." I'm obsessed with retail landscape and what store closed, what store's opening, what part of the visuals. I love it.
Kerry Diamond:
Downtown in Soho, the Madewell moved uptown a little bit. And I'm like, why is the Madewell here? The original Madewell was down the street. And we used to have a Lancôme shop on the Upper West Side. It was the most random space that I think the parent company had signed a long-term lease on.
Dan Pelosi:
Totally.
Kerry Diamond:
And everyone's like, "Why is there a Lancôme store?"
Dan Pelosi:
And there are no more long-term leases, which is why Madewell can hop and skip and jump across because-
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I didn't know that.
Dan Pelosi:
That's where pop-ups started because landlords were like rent my empty storefronts for a month. They don't care.
Kerry Diamond:
So they don't force you to sign a 10-year lease anymore?
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. I mean, I think at least in my experience, this is going back six years now, but the real estate team would be like, wow, the landscape is totally different. You can rent a space for a short term. There's all these temp spaces. It's just such a different, there's no longer the 20 or 15 years. Also, because I think it gives everyone a chance to either pull out or increase the rent.
Kerry Diamond:
True.
Dan Pelosi:
My dream is to work with a food brand and have them let me design an experience. Because I used to design all these experiences for brands, like a pop-up or whatever. So we'll see. I talked about it with Tillamook a couple years ago, but it didn't happen.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you want to have your own shop one day?
Dan Pelosi:
I don't want to have a restaurant. I do think there is part of me that wants to open a little Joan's on Third or some sort of little cafe, whatever. But right now it's not the cards. That's what I dream about opening a soft serve place just because we love soft serve.
Kerry Diamond:
And I'm thinking more kind of a Big Night or-
Dan Pelosi:
No, no, I love-
Kerry Diamond:
Where you don't have to deal with food service.
Dan Pelosi:
I don't think so. Big Night is the best.
Kerry Diamond:
Big Night's great.
Dan Pelosi:
They're so great. For 2026, should they all work out, I might have quite a few brand product collabs, which is really fun. So they do all the fulfilling, but I get to help them market and design. And so I have some cool stuff coming up because-
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, I was going to say, what's on your bingo card, your 2026? We love to talk about didn't see that coming on my bingo card. What do you see coming on your bingo card?
Dan Pelosi:
Well, definitely brand collabs I think is really fun. I think a lot of people in the internet could ask for links and they all want to buy whatever I have or whatever. And it forever blows my mind. There's enough brands that know that I've sold a lot of their product that now I'm getting asked to do a collab. I've done small, cutie little ones, but now this is some big companies who are like, "Let's-
Kerry Diamond:
Fun.
Dan Pelosi:
... do this." Which is kind of cool because I do think my audience, compared to many other people on Instagram, is a good size, but not huge, but they're really lovely and engaged, and I feel like they're all my friends, which is the Gemini in me. So it's fun. So it's nice to be able to delight people with these things.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm excited and intrigued.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you do a cookie for cookie week?
Dan Pelosi:
I did.
Kerry Diamond:
Did I see that?
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Which one was yours?
Dan Pelosi:
Oh gosh. It's the Dark and Stormy.
Kerry Diamond:
Ooh.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. It's funny. We were just saying the other day, someone was like, "What was the concept for cookie week?" And I was like, "Oh, are they going to," I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm like, "Are they going to say what the concept was? I don't know." But the concept was basically some other food that exists as a cookie. So movie popcorn, mint-chip ice cream. Dark and Stormy.
Kerry Diamond:
Vaughn did the popcorn one.
Dan Pelosi:
Yes. I love ginger cookies and I don't drink, but I do love a Dark and Stormy. I love ginger beer. I love lime. Once in a while, I'll have it with the rum. And I was like, "Oh, that sounds really good." And I pitched, I was trying to remember what my other pitches were. But yeah, it got kind of wild. There's a lot of wild cookies in there, but they were all really yummy. I got to taste all of them.
Kerry Diamond:
I do love a ginger cookie. Is it chewy?
Dan Pelosi:
It's chewy.
Kerry Diamond:
Ooh, love a chewy-
Dan Pelosi:
I don't like thin and crispy.
Kerry Diamond:
I love a-
Dan Pelosi:
It's chewy.
Kerry Diamond:
... chewy ginger cookie.
Dan Pelosi:
And I took chopped ginger, chopped dried ginger, and I chopped it up, and I put rum and then I microwaved it or heated it up so it all absorbs the rum. And then I throw that in the batter. The batter has cayenne pepper in it, so it's a little spicy. And then the icing is lime and bourbon. And it's iced like old school. And then I had done it with the lime zest in the frosting, but then we went around and we were like, “How should we do it?” And then we decided to do the lime zest as a natural sprinkle on top. I go back and forth. I might make them with the lime zest in the frosting, but whatever. That's the fun part about recipes.
Kerry Diamond:
Try it either way. Do you enjoy recipe testing?
Dan Pelosi:
I do. I'm really slow at it. A lot of people, their whole career was food. My whole career was not food. It's been five or six years. So I'm just really slow, and I take it really seriously. My New York Times recipes, I'm just like, oh my God, millions of people are going to see this, which is not true.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, it's not not true.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. I have books, I have my website, but the Times really gets in my head. It really does. But to brag, this is an explicit brag, the top 25 recipes of 2025, they just announced it, and I have three on the list, which is so cool.
Kerry Diamond:
Good for you.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. And I had three last year, which is wild. That blows my mind. That makes me really proud.
Kerry Diamond:
New York Times, baby.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. It's so cool. I never thought they would've called me out.
Kerry Diamond:
And your book was a bestselling-
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, the book hit the Times list.
Kerry Diamond:
... New York Times-
Dan Pelosi:
I feel like I'm living in a weird fantasy world. I'm still working at Ann Taylor somewhere.
Kerry Diamond:
Folding sweaters.
Dan Pelosi:
And by the way, that girl's also happy. You know what I mean? Which is nice. That person was also really happy.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, I want to ask, well, first I want to ask, you must be able to fold a sweater like nobody's business.
Dan Pelosi:
Oh, hell yeah. I was at J. Crew this morning and I was talking to them. We were just talking about holiday, and I miss doing windows and designing the windows. And I was looking at how they had this wreath made of old catalogs, and I was obsessing over the production of it. Because that was so fun. Engineering, we would meet with all these different vendors. I mean, you do events and stuff. How are you going to make this happen? It's just so fun.
Kerry Diamond:
I miss having that team at my disposal when I was at Coach. It was just so wonderful. We had people who just worked on our events and they were so talented.
Dan Pelosi:
So fun.
Kerry Diamond:
And they were on staff, full-timers.
Dan Pelosi:
It all goes back to-
Kerry Diamond:
Great people.
Dan Pelosi:
... creative problem solving. Whether you're designing a cookie and obsessing over if the zest goes in the frosting or on top of the frosting or whatever, or designing-
Kerry Diamond:
Life.
Dan Pelosi:
... a stack of sweaters or whatever. Yeah. Or my house, I just redid my house, which is a whole other design problem. It's so fun.
Kerry Diamond:
How did you transition from the fashion and the visuals into food?
Dan Pelosi:
Well, I think I was one of very few people before the pandemic who didn't really leave my apartment in Brooklyn very much. On the weekends, I would go to the market on Saturday mornings. I would invite friends over on Sunday for dinner. And I would spend Saturday and Sunday cooking. And I was so happy and I would listen to music and I was single, and I would just kind of zone out. I didn't go out. I'm such a homebody. And I was a homebody in New York City, which is rare.
So when the pandemic hit, and we were asked to live at home, I went from sharing food on the weekends, I had like 3,000 followers, but people would watch and they would ask questions, to sharing every single thing I did every day, stocking my pantry. Ever since I was a kid, I was really good at staying home. It's just what I love to do. So in a time when people who are not good at that were asked to do that, I was quickly seen as a resource that could help them.
And I just gained all these followers. And so from March of 2020 to March of 2021, I had gained, I don't know, a couple, like 100,000 followers or something. And it was great. And I was getting all this attention from blah, blah, blah, people sending me stuff, or asking me to work with them. And then I actually put my notice in at Ann Taylor. And my boss at the time, I think there's enough time has passed that I can say this, she was like, "Don't. Don't quit." Because she knew layoffs were coming. And so obviously it's better to be laid off than to quit. So she was very kind. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Good to have people watching out for you.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, it's good. I mean, it was helpful. It was a tough time for retail, and sad. So I was glad that at my level I had somewhere to go because there was a lot of people who worked for me who I was like, they need to keep their jobs right now. I have this budding food thing happening. So it all worked out.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you have mentors?
Dan Pelosi:
I feel like I do. I don't have an official mentor. But there's a guy who, when I walked into Gap Corp when I was 23 in San Francisco, there was just many elder gays working there. And one of them really took me under his wing and taught me so much, and still texts me all the time, like, "I'm making your New York Times whatever. I'm so proud of you." And then I also have my uncle who was sort of queer, or queer adjacent, perhaps never said it, but he was a huge mentor for me. And he passed away actually in 2019.
Kerry Diamond:
I read about him on your family tree.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. He's the best. There is a very woo-woo spiritual part of me that's small, but does believe that him passing and from whatever the other side is, he is the sort of guiding light of what I'm doing right now.
Kerry Diamond:
That's so beautiful. Was he out?
Dan Pelosi:
No.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. I had a gay uncle who wasn't, my grandmother's brother actually, who wasn't out, but he was such a great guy. And when I think back to how he couldn't fully express who he was, it breaks my heart.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. There's so much of my uncle's life that I feel I'm, and this is something else I was talking to my therapist and I'm probably going to start crying, but I do feel a bit responsible for living both my life and in a way, living his life.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, I understand that.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. I mean, I'm grateful to do it. It's not a bad responsibility. But I just do feel like a lot of the things that I'm able to do right now, he was not, but wanted to.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, I understand that. Well, hopefully folks have your cookbooks, and are cooking your New York Times recipes, but they do need to go onto your website and look at your family tree because I mean, I see everything in the food world basically, and that is one of the nicest, most charming things of anything I've seen-
Dan Pelosi:
That's so sweet. Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
... in food. It's really lovely.
Dan Pelosi:
Thank you. There's such a world beyond just me and my, and what I share. People call it the Grossy cinematic universe. There's my grandfather, who's 103. There's my mom, my boyfriend's mom.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I was going to ask because you have to update his age. It says 101-
Dan Pelosi:
101.
Kerry Diamond:
... on there. And I was like, I hope he's still here. He's 103 now. Oh my God.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, he was just at my house for Thanksgiving.
Kerry Diamond:
I love that.
Dan Pelosi:
I built this kitchen in the past year, and I literally, he's in his wheelchair and he walks in his wheelchair. So he just uses his feet. It's the cutest thing. I opened every single drawer in my kitchen and my pantry and walked him through it. And he just was like, it was beautiful. And what was really nice was, I love a tablescape. You'll see it in the book. You'll see it in my regular... I have a million napkins and he's just like, oh,.like I showed him my napkin drawer, which is three drawers that are just chock full. And he was like, "So you do like the food, but you also love all the colors on the table, and it's so beautiful." He was filling in the sort of coloring book and it was just really special to me for him to see that because it's hard for him to understand the fuck I do. Sorry to your mom.
Kerry Diamond:
That's okay. That's okay.
Dan Pelosi:
But you know what I mean? It's hard to explain.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll just put one of those explicit labels on. So when you see-
Dan Pelosi:
Please do.
Kerry Diamond:
... the E next to the Grossy Pelosi episode, and you're like, wait, how'd that happen?
Dan Pelosi:
But yes, it was really special.
Kerry Diamond:
Aw. It's December. We're in the middle of the holidays. What is the Pelosi family doing? Oh, and first, we do need to establish, I'm sure people ask you all the time, you are not the love child of Nancy Pelosi, or anyone in that family.
Dan Pelosi:
No relation. No relation to Nancy Pelosi. I get asked constantly.
Kerry Diamond:
Because it's not a common last name.
Dan Pelosi:
It's not common. No. When I lived in San Francisco, I used to lie to people because it would get me into a restaurant or whatever because she was loved there. But yeah, no, no relation. And what are we doing? Well, it's cookie season. So this is my big season.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that's right. You are a cookie king.
Dan Pelosi:
I love the cookies. I love the cookie party. My little cookie party that started 12 years ago in my apartment in the West Village has gone all the way up to three big cities and Crate & Barrel and all these amazing things over the past two or three years. It's gotten huge. And now this book, the heart of the book is the cookie party. So it has six recipes. It has a guide to throwing the party, hot chocolate recipe, which is really exciting.
But this year I was like, I have to find a space to throw my party in New York City because I'm not doing a Crate & Barrel, we're going to do some other stuff. And my boyfriend was like, "Babe, this is mental health." He's like, "You just built a beautiful kitchen in your house upstate. You put double ovens in. You love it. We have so much room. You don't have to throw a big cookie party in New York City. Do it at our house upstate. We have an amazing community there. And just make it small again. That's how it started." And I was like, "Everything you just said, I should have known because it's so right."
And so that's what I'm doing. We're sort of bringing it back home again, but to our new house. And so many new people are going to be able to experience my party now by doing it there. Some people are going to come up from the city, but I knew I would lose a lot of those people, but it's like, that's not the point. So that has been really lovely, sort of simplifying. And that's how I'm doing my cookie party. For the holiday, we're going to go out to Marin, where my boyfriend's family is from.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, nice.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. Yeah. They came to our house last year. I think we're going to be an every other situation, but who knows?
Kerry Diamond:
Do you do a feast of seven fishes, that whole thing?
Dan Pelosi:
I do. I try to. It depends on the audience. If Bimpy's there, I do. If my dad's there. California, we'll do some, but Gus's parents are vegan, so I can't really do seven. But I always make my linguini with clams. To me, that's-
Kerry Diamond:
The feast of seven beans. Seven tofus.
Dan Pelosi:
Exactly. I know. I'm trying to-
Kerry Diamond:
Seven veg.
Dan Pelosi:
... dress it up. But yeah, exactly.
Kerry Diamond:
It'd be fun.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. So we'll see. But so much of what I talk about in the book, too, is traditions are amazing, but you can respect your old traditions while embracing new traditions. And I think that we need to get comfortable with that. Because either you are like, "Oh, I miss the way everything was when I was a kid," and then you're just stifled, or you're like, "The way that it was was amazing. How can I do that but different, but still embrace..." So it's kind of like that happy place. So I really like that. That's how I'm sort of tackling things these days, which is nice.
Kerry Diamond:
That's great. Let's do a speed round. What beverage do you start the morning with?
Dan Pelosi:
Coffee.
Kerry Diamond:
How do you take it?
Dan Pelosi:
Almond milk, unsweetened. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
What's always in your fridge?
Dan Pelosi:
Almond milk. I'm just kidding. Almond milk, but really good Kerrygold butter, not kidding. Greek yogurt. A lot of cheese. A lot of cheese. Parm, pecorino, cheddar. I love those little sliced squares of cheese that come-
Kerry Diamond:
You do.
Dan Pelosi:
... like the little tray. They're just like-
Kerry Diamond:
I feel like that's cheating for some reason, but I don't know why.
Dan Pelosi:
I buy peeled garlic. I'm good. The amount of food I'm processing in my house, I'm like, if my cheese can come sliced so I can have a snack in the middle of the day, sign me up. If that garlic's already peeled, thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
What is your most used kitchen implement?
Dan Pelosi:
Besides the basics, I just love a food processor. Everyone needs to have one. Shredding cheese, everything, you're just like, oh yeah, a food processor can do that. So I always encourage people if they want to spend, that's a good one.
Kerry Diamond:
Is there a cookbook you love?
Dan Pelosi:
Oh my God, there's so many cookbooks I love. Any River Cafe cookbook, but the “River Cafe 30,” I just think is one of the most beautiful cookbooks in the whole entire world. I love the River Cafe.
Kerry Diamond:
And Ruthie Rogers, I just adore her.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. I mean, it's just beyond. So those books are incredible. Yeah. And I always tell people 30 because it's kind of like the amalgamation of all their books. But yeah, that pink, the edging, and the paper.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, the pink.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, it's just great.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my gosh. I can see that right now. I love it. I love little touches like that on a cookbook. What was your favorite food as a child?
Dan Pelosi:
My favorite food as a child. Bimpy's meatballs, so good with raisins. And they're like my meatballs now. I would take down a bag of potato chips, just take it down. My mom's carrot cake, three days old in the fridge. My mom's carrot cake, it's on my website. It uses baby food instead of fresh carrots, which you're probably also considering a cheat, but it kind of is a cheat. You use two jars of carrot baby food.
Kerry Diamond:
I love this.
Dan Pelosi:
And it makes it, because carrot food, there's like a more intense flavor and it's so moist. I love, again, Italian American. I think everything gets better in the fridge after a few days. Marinara sauce, this carrot cake. The flavors develop. I remember sitting in front of the fridge just taking bites of a carrot cake.
Kerry Diamond:
Any frosting on it?
Dan Pelosi:
Cream cheese.
Kerry Diamond:
Ooh. Okay. I got to make this. You just gave me a crazy flashback because we don't really eat carrot puree here in America. But when I was studying in Paris, I went to some family's house one night, and they made carrot puree, but it was frozen. They love frozen food over there. The mom didn't make it from scratch. She just made it from this frozen-
Dan Pelosi:
Oh, amazing. I love that.
Kerry Diamond:
... carrot puree.
Dan Pelosi:
I love that.
Kerry Diamond:
And I just remember thinking like, this is so good.
Dan Pelosi:
I mean, not having to chew is a dream, but that sounds delicious. Bimpy cooks his pasta-
Kerry Diamond:
But I'm wondering-
Dan Pelosi:
... for 30 minutes now because he has no teeth. So he just like-
Kerry Diamond:
But I'm wondering, there's probably not much of a distance between the pureed carrot baby food and the French pureed carrots.
Dan Pelosi:
None at all. People always like, baby food? And I'm like, it's pureed carrots. If you feel better boiling some carrots and mashing them, go for it.
Kerry Diamond:
Knock yourself out. Okay. Interesting.
Dan Pelosi:
Make sure babies are fed first. Ask around.
Kerry Diamond:
Amen. What is your favorite snack food today?
Dan Pelosi:
Oh my gosh. My favorite snack food today, besides the sliced cheese, I love and I crave, whether I start my day with it or in the afternoon between recipe testing, a bowl of oatmeal with a giant scoop of peanut butter. And the peanut butter melts and you stir it up.
Kerry Diamond:
I love oatmeal and peanut butter.
Dan Pelosi:
That's a really good-
Kerry Diamond:
But you need something liquidy in there or else it gets like paste. No?
Dan Pelosi:
Really?
Kerry Diamond:
What am I doing wrong? What kind of peanut butter are you using?
Dan Pelosi:
I usually use the Peanut Butter & Co Smooth Operator, or they have a sugar free one.
Kerry Diamond:
Maybe mine's too health food store.
Dan Pelosi:
It's too... You have like the...
Kerry Diamond:
Yes.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. No. That's what my boyfriend eats. I can't do it. I need a creamy, as close to Jif or Skippy as we can get without it being that.
Kerry Diamond:
I loved Jif and Skippy growing up.
Dan Pelosi:
I mean, when I bake, I'll use that.
Kerry Diamond:
Sure.
Dan Pelosi:
And then I do microwave oats, another cheat, two minutes, done.
Kerry Diamond:
I do love using my microwave, and people always laugh when they come over, and they're like, "You use your microwave?"
Dan Pelosi:
Well, in my New York Times cooking recipe thing, I was like, microwave the dry ginger with the rum, and people are like, "I don't have a microwave." And I'm like, "Boil it, whatever. You can figure it out. But get a microwave."
Kerry Diamond:
What are you streaming right now? Music, movies, TV show.
Dan Pelosi:
We are streaming, okay, that new gay hockey show just came out.
Kerry Diamond:
I don't know about this.
Dan Pelosi:
It's called “Heated Rivalry.”
Kerry Diamond:
“Heated Rivalry.”
Dan Pelosi:
It's mostly just a few shots of hockey games, and then there's a Canadian hockey player and a Russian hockey player, and they just have sex. It's really good.
Kerry Diamond:
What network is this on?
Dan Pelosi:
It's on HBO. Everyone's talking about it except for you.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my God. Okay. I've got to get with it.
Dan Pelosi:
I don't know if it's good, but we're into it. There's a lot of good TV coming. But right now we're trying to watch Oscar movies. That's a big... Or predicted Oscar movies. I'm a big awards season person.
Kerry Diamond:
What music are you listening to? There's so much good music right now.
Dan Pelosi:
I don't listen to music.
Kerry Diamond:
Really?
Dan Pelosi:
My boyfriend does that for me. He just puts stuff on and I'm always like, who's this? I listen to podcasts.
Kerry Diamond:
I was just going to say.
Dan Pelosi:
Las Culturistas is huge.
Kerry Diamond:
Love them.
Dan Pelosi:
I listen to every award show podcast, pop culture, predictions, a lot of that stuff. Good Hang has been huge.
Kerry Diamond:
Good Hang is such a good show.
Dan Pelosi:
It's so good.
Kerry Diamond:
We just got our Spotify Wrapped yesterday for the podcast. A lot of people who listen to our show also listen to-
Dan Pelosi:
That's great.
Kerry Diamond:
... Amy Poehler's Good Hang. I was like, “Good.” But they also listen to Dax Shepard and Joe Rogan.
Dan Pelosi:
Interesting.
Kerry Diamond:
I was like, “What? What?”
Dan Pelosi:
So weird.
Kerry Diamond:
Right?
Dan Pelosi:
That's a strange mix. My number one was Pop Culture Happy Hour on NPR, which I love.
Kerry Diamond:
It's a good one.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. I listen to horrible music theater, if anything. Horrible. Screaming in my kitchen alone, because I can't sing, but I will scream a lot.
Kerry Diamond:
Broadway soundtracks?
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Such as?
Dan Pelosi:
Shitty like Dear Evan Hansen songs where I'm like, what are you even saying? And I love it so much.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Come from big Broadway family, so we love our Broadway soundtracks.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. And again, I do respect. I respect all theater. Every soundtrack has the hits on the... But I'm deep in the songs that don't stick in most people's heads.
Kerry Diamond:
We've learned so much about you. I love this. Okay. Last two questions. Dream travel destination.
Dan Pelosi:
Oh my gosh. Well, we just went to Tokyo, which I've been to twice, that I probably say is another one that I would want to go back to again. There's two places I haven't been. I want to go to Greece. It just feels sexy. I want to go there, and also the food. Less sexy, but I do want to go at some point, I want to do Australia, New Zealand. But I'm like, is it like going to Canada?
Kerry Diamond:
No.
Dan Pelosi:
No. Okay.
Kerry Diamond:
No. I've been to Sydney once. It was not like going to Canada. First off, you can drive to Canada.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, I know.
Kerry Diamond:
You cannot drive to Australia.
Dan Pelosi:
I do really want to go to Australia.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. It was just so much fun. I remember going to the park by the opera house. It was lunchtime. Everybody was out jogging, and everybody was in good shape. And I was like, "How do they have time to go out and jog at lunchtime?" And they were like, "It's just the culture."
Dan Pelosi:
San Francisco was-
Kerry Diamond:
And the food.
Dan Pelosi:
... like that when I moved there. When I was in my 20s, everyone was like, "It's lunch. See you." And I was like, "In the cafeteria? What do you mean?" And they're like, "No, I'm going to fucking do something physical." And I'm like, "Ugh."
Kerry Diamond:
New York, that doesn't happen in New York.
Dan Pelosi:
No.
Kerry Diamond:
Definitely not.
Dan Pelosi:
You mostly just cry on your lunch break.
Kerry Diamond:
Or if you take a lunch break.
Dan Pelosi:
I remember I was never happier-
Kerry Diamond:
If you're lucky enough to take a lunch break.
Dan Pelosi:
... in my years working in Times Square than when they opened a Chipotle Express. I was like I can get Chipotle in 15 minutes. Thank God.
Kerry Diamond:
It's the little things.
Dan Pelosi:
Different happiness.
Kerry Diamond:
Exactly. Last question. Yeah. I have absolutely no idea how you're going to answer this.
Dan Pelosi:
Okay, great.
Kerry Diamond:
And I usually can guess. If you had to be trapped on a desert island with one food celebrity, who would it be and why?
Dan Pelosi:
Oh my gosh. Trapped on a desert island with one food celebrity. Okay. What do I want to do most? It's like we're not going to have food. I don't need to be like, oh, they would make good food. It's like either we're going to survive or we're going to have sex. What is a food celebrity anymore?
Kerry Diamond:
I love your reasoning though, because a lot of people come on this and they immediately go for the food.
Dan Pelosi:
There's not going to be like a Whole Foods. There's no kitchen.
Kerry Diamond:
And I'm like, really?
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
I hate to admit this, but I sometimes think the way you do. I'm like, don't you want to be trapped with Anthony Bourdain or something?
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, like a hot... Who's hot in the food space? There's this guy that I follow. He's so nice. We're like friends. He's so handsome. Do you know Gabe Bertaccini? Do you know who he is?
Kerry Diamond:
I don't, but now-
Dan Pelosi:
He's on this show-
Kerry Diamond:
... we all will because we're all going to look him up.
Dan Pelosi:
He's on the show called “Ciao House. “But anyways, he's so handsome. He would be really fun, although I don't... Who knows? He might just be like, "Hey, sis." And we're like friends and then I'm like, fuck. Made the wrong choice.
Kerry Diamond:
Or he might want to cook with you.
Dan Pelosi:
He might want to cook. And then I'm like, sand? Can you make pasta with sand? It's not quite the same. It's flour. Who would it be?
Kerry Diamond:
Ina's the number one answer.
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah. But Ina and I, it's like putting the two of the same... We're both just kind of like, "I like to sit on my couch and drink." You know what I mean? We're just going to die.
Kerry Diamond:
This is the most optimistic ending to the 2025 season.
Dan Pelosi:
I died.
Kerry Diamond:
You and Ina are going to die on a desert island.
Dan Pelosi:
Okay. Let's just leave it at that.
Kerry Diamond:
You wouldn't die because Jeffrey would-
Dan Pelosi:
Jeffrey's not there.
Kerry Diamond:
... Jeffrey and Gus would find a way to rescue you both.
Dan Pelosi:
Oh yeah, that's true. Oh my God.
Kerry Diamond:
You wouldn't be on that island for more than a day.
Dan Pelosi:
Is it like they're coming on a boat, and it's Jeffrey and Gus are waving, and they have baguettes and like brie.
Kerry Diamond:
That's the turnaround we need. You're not going to die-
Dan Pelosi:
Yeah, we saved us.
Kerry Diamond:
... on the desert island.
Dan Pelosi:
You saved us. Kerry saved us. That's so cute. I don't care if those baguettes are stale. Ina might. I'd eat it.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my God.
Dan Pelosi:
Ina's like, "If you can't get a fresh baguette, store-bought is fine." Okay. Sorry.
Kerry Diamond:
This was so much fun.
Dan Pelosi:
So cute. You're the best. This is so fun.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, you're delightful.
Dan Pelosi:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
Take care of yourself because we all love you. And I hope you have the happiest holiday ever.
Dan Pelosi:
You too.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Thank you so much to Dan Pelosi for joining me. Don't forget, tickets for Jubilee 2026 are on sale right now, and we have that great deal happening if you buy multiple Jubilee tickets. Our Cake Issue just dropped, and we'll be at Brasserie La Banque in Charleston tomorrow, Thursday, December 11th, with Visa and OpenTable. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Joseph Hazan is the studio engineer for Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center. Special thanks to Good Studio in Brooklyn. Our producers are Catherine Baker and Jenna Sadhu. Our executive assistant is Brigid Pittman, and our head of partnerships is Rachel Close. Thanks for listening, everybody. You're the Bombe.