Giada De Laurentiis Transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond, coming to you from Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center. I'm the founder and editor of Cherry Bombe magazine.
Today is the last episode of our Sexy Italian Summer miniseries. But hey, it's still summer, right? And besides, you cannot do something called Sexy Italian Summer and not interview Giada De Laurentiis. Giada is such a superstar and one of my favorite people to talk to, and she has a lot going on right now. She just celebrated a big birthday, and she opened a brand-new restaurant outside of Chicago. In addition to being a restaurateur, Giada is the author of so many great cookbooks, including her latest, “Super Italian,” and she's the founder of Giadzy. Giadzy is so many things. It's a line of Italian food, including some really amazing pastas that I love, plus it's recipes, travel advice, lots of stuff. If you love Giada, check it all out at giadzy.com. Giada and I talk summertime eats, her wildly popular sheet pan lasagna, I would like some of that right now, the wisdom that comes with getting older, her thoughts on food television today, her restaurants, and lots more. Stay tuned for my chat with Giada De Laurentiis.
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Today's episode is also presented by Square. What if your favorite sports bar only showed women's sports? That's the big idea our friend Jenny Nguyen turned into reality in 2022 with The Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon. Thousands of fans showed up on opening day, and within eight months, The Sports Bra had served fans from all over the country and brought in nearly $1 million in revenue. But behind the scenes, the tech couldn't keep up. Their point of sale system kept crashing during game days, right when the bar was packed with so many excited fans. That's where Square came in. Square is the restaurant point of sale that helps you manage it all from one place: payments, staff, customers, insights, and more. Now, The Sports Bra runs on Square. From faster service to better reporting, the team finally has a system that works as hard as they do, and with Square's help, Jenny is planning to bring The Sports Bra cities across the country. When your business is growing, you need a point of sale tool that's on your team, like Square. Go to square.com/big to see how Square can help you.
You are going to love the next issue of Cherry Bombe's print magazine because it's all about Italy. Our cover stars are Chef Missy Robbins of Lilia and Misi and MISIPASTA right here in New York City, and Chef Nancy Silverton of Osteria Mozza, Pizzeria Mozza, and Chi Spacca in Los Angeles. Choose which cover you want or pick up both. Every single page is inspired by Italy and features so many gorgeous stories, photos, and recipes. We have features on lots of your Cherry Bombe faves, including Hailee Catalano, Mimi Thorisson, and Tamu McPherson, who I also interviewed for our Sexy Italian Summer miniseries. Head to cherrybombe.com or click the link in our show notes to subscribe. You can also pick up an issue at your favorite culinary bookstore or culinary shop.
Now, let's check in with today's guest. Giada De Laurentiis, welcome back to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Thanks for having me. How fun.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm so thrilled because you had a big birthday recently.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yes, it's a double-nickels year.
Kerry Diamond:
Double nickels. We're going to talk all about that. You just opened a restaurant.
Giada De Laurentiis:
I did. I opened a restaurant outside of Chicago, as they call it, Chicagoland. I didn't realize how vast Chicago is, I mean, how vast it is in the sense of the suburbs outside the city until I started spending time there. So we're about 50 minutes, I would say, outside the city, in the suburbs. It's been a really fun ride. I got to build the space, which is amazing, and I started to realize that I have a trend going where I open restaurants that I can build from scratch, which is a gift, as you probably well know.
Kerry Diamond:
As someone who has built restaurants in spaces that we had to force a restaurant into, yes, building from scratch is way preferable.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yes, and in the end really gives you a fabulous, unique feel. And I think this one is... It's very, very warm, very warm. And the interesting part is it's in a casino, right? So casinos can be loud, very colorful. You kind of want a respite. When you enter this space, it is like a respite. It feels like you're walking into my living room is really what it feels like. And we have a giant wall of Giadzy stuff where you can actually purchase. A lot of people live around there, so it's really easy for them to purchase and take home, unlike a place like Vegas where it's mostly tourists and no one wants to throw a bunch of olive oil and pasta or anything into their suitcase and take it home.
So it's a little bit of a different concept where you can shop and eat all in one, and we have a pizza bar and it's basically pizza and pasta. And the name is Sorellina, little sister in Italian, because I will also, in the midst, I'm building the big sister in a different town, a little bit closer to the city.
Kerry Diamond:
Wait, what's the word for big sister?
Giada De Laurentiis:
Sorella.
Kerry Diamond:
Ah.
Giada De Laurentiis:
It's Sorella and Sorellina because the big sister is more adult-like. It's a steakhouse, so it's got a different vibe. It's a little more glamorous, a little bit older feel. So that's why I decided to name them that way.
Kerry Diamond:
You know we have a lot of restaurateurs and would-be restaurateurs who listen to the show. What advice do you have for someone who is looking to open their own restaurant who's either going to put it in an existing space or build their own space? Because it could be painful. I mean, I remember-
Giada De Laurentiis:
Don't pay for it yourself. I mean-
Kerry Diamond:
Where were you?
Giada De Laurentiis:
... I don't know. Do it with somebody else-
Kerry Diamond:
Where were you 20 years ago?
Giada De Laurentiis:
... who's footing the bill because otherwise, it could be worse.
Kerry Diamond:
I needed you in my life a long time ago, Giada, to tell me that advice.
Giada De Laurentiis:
I've always said it's really fun as long as it's not my own money. I mean, yes, the home was my own money and that was more painful than any restaurant I've ever built. So I would say that would be number one.
Number two, I think that a lot of people... I don't know. I've been told many times, "Oh, you should just build the same thing you have in Vegas. It should be the same layout, the same look, the same feel, the same everything." And I always say to people, "Wouldn't that be boring if they were always all a replica of each other and sort of a cop-out?" So I feel like it's okay to evolve. It's okay to use color. It's okay to be bright and be warm and not be so sterile.
I think to me, I used a lot of wallpaper in this restaurant, which I don't know that people do that often. I've used materials that I felt like I would use at home and I don't know that a lot of people, restaurateurs, would agree with me a hundred percent just because of wear and tear, but I feel like the materials warm a space in a way that you do at home as well. So I used a lot of the same principles.
I don't know, I'm trying to think of the perfect answer, but I don't know that I have one. It's sort of a journey and we just kind of figure it out, Kerry, as we go along.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll be right back with today's guest. Today's episode of Radio Cherry Bombe is brought to you by Davines, a family-owned hair care brand from Parma, Italy. If you've been following our Sexy Italian Summer series, you know we can't resist a great Italian story, and Davines is one we adore. Founded in 1983 by the Bollati family, today Davines has seven branches around the world and can be found in 90 countries, but their heart is still in Parma. They've never strayed from their Italian roots or their belief that real beauty starts with responsible choices to both people and the planet. They're a certified B Corp, their headquarters, where they produce all of their products, runs entirely on renewable energy, and they're guided by their Carta Etica, a set of shared values created by everyone at Davines. All the Davines product design and formulas are approached with sustainable choices, whether using heirloom ingredients from Slow Food Presidia farms in Italy, or regenerative organic-certified ingredients. And the scents? Pure magic, fresh, light, and floral, like strolling through a sunlit Italian garden. Right now, I've been using the Love Curl Mask made with almond extract from almonds grown in Noto, Sicily. And in true Italian style, the Love Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner are infused with Italian olive extract, rich and fatty acids and vitamins to leave your hair bellissima. I have curly hair with a mind of its own, I know some of you can relate, and I have been loving these products, especially the conditioner and the mask. Thank you to Davines for sending me products to try. Whether you're brightening blonde locks, taming frizz, or adding volume to fine hair, Davines has a collection designed just for you, and you can even take their online hair quiz to find your perfect match. For sexy Italian hair to go along with your Sexy Italian Summer, look for Davines products at planet-conscious salons nationwide, sephora.com, and at their website, davines.com. Use code CBFreeShip for free shipping through December 31st. That's C-B-F-R-E-E-S-H-I-P, CBFreeShip. The link to shop is in our show notes, and I'll link to the products I've been loving the most.
Today's episode is also presented by S.Pellegrino. We're keeping the Sexy Italian Summer vibes going with something truly inspiring from S.Pellegrino. Sure you know them for their delicious Italian Premium Sparkling Mineral Water, but did you know they're also uplifting the next generation of culinary stars? For a whole decade, S.Pellegrino’s Young Chef Academy Competition has been spotlighting passionate and creative chefs under the age of 30 from around the world. This October, finalists will gather in Milan to cook for some of the biggest names in gastronomy. The grand jury will include seven respected culinary legends, including Antonia Klugmann of Italy's L'Argine a Vencò, Niki Nakayama of n/naka in Los Angeles, and Elena Reygadas of Rosetta in Mexico City. Not only does the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy host a competition, but year-round, it's also a launch pad for up-and-coming culinary talent, offering mentorship from top chefs and career-boosting resources. S.Pellegrino is upholding their motto that great taste and creativity can literally transform lives. Follow along on Instagram @Sanpellegrino_US and @Sanpellegrino_YoungChef for updates. We'll put those links in our show notes. Here's to the chefs shaping the future, one delicious dish at a time.
You have your very popular sheet pan Lasagna on the menu at the new place.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us about this. What is it? Why is it so popular?
Giada De Laurentiis:
The menu evolves, Kerry, that's the other thing. I feel like Vegas is a more elevated experience than any of my other restaurants. It just is. It's by virtue, it's by location, it's by the city. It's what I wanted. I wanted something chic. I wanted something that felt really elevated.
This space, Sorellina, is not that elevated of an experience. Lots of different pizzas on the menu. There's pasta dishes, but they're all Giadzy Pasta, meaning dried pasta, not fresh pasta. You won't find any fresh pasta on this menu at Sorellina. In Vegas, it's all fresh pasta. It's all made in-house, so way more casual, so the sauces can be more casual, and in turn, I can do a sheet pan lasagna that I have found is incredibly popular. In fact, we just relaunched it on Giadzy and it sold out this weekend, so now we're scrambling for more tomatoes.
Kerry Diamond:
Walk us through what a sheet pan lasagna is for folks who are only familiar with a classic lasagna.
Giada De Laurentiis:
The sheet pan lasagna is basically that you cook all of the pieces of a lasagna. You have the pasta cooked, you cook the sauce, and then you toss it all together in a bowl, lay it on a sheet pan flat, a sheet pan being the same thing that you use to make cookies but has sides. And you lay that flat and then you top it with a little bit of ricotta cheese and spinach and dollop it on top and bake it.
It's kind of a reverse and you don't have to layer it. It's an unlayered lasagna, and it is fabulous and it has become one of our signature kits. And I will say that it's great to have a dish on the menu at Sorellina that you later can go on Giadzy and buy the kit and make it at home. It's bringing those worlds together, shopping what you've eaten.
Kerry Diamond:
And how are you selling it at the restaurant? Is it like family style, you get a whole sheet pan?
Giada De Laurentiis:
No, so we make individual portions of it.
Kerry Diamond:
Got it. Okay.
Giada De Laurentiis:
We have individual little ramekins that we cook in.
Kerry Diamond:
Why do you think it's so popular?
Giada De Laurentiis:
I think it's because it's something that is, for most people, transports them to their childhood. For a lot of people it was one of their favorite dishes. It was something that their moms could make or made on a weekend, and so it resonates with people because of that childhood feeling, and also because everybody knows what lasagna is now. And this is lasagna flipped on its head, and so I think that is also one of the reasons that people love it.
And also, it's fricking great and it's cheesy and it has these crispy edges on the pasta, which happens to be my favorite, which is one of the reasons I love it so much and why I came up with it. Anything that you take that people know well and are familiar with and flip it, it always creates curiosity, and I think that's one of the biggest things.
Kerry Diamond:
I don't know if it's still open. Did you ever pass that restaurant in Manhattan called House of Lasagna?
Giada De Laurentiis:
No.
Kerry Diamond:
It's literally an entire lasagna restaurant and I think it's on the east side. I walked past it a bunch of times, and every time I do, I'm like, "I am going to go have dinner at House of Lasagna," so I'm putting that on my fall to-do list.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Put it on your list and let me know if they have sheet pan lasagna now.
Kerry Diamond:
I will. I will.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Now I'm curious, I'm super curious and one day I should check it out. I know there's a gnocchi place where they serve all different gnocchi in a to-go container, like a Chinese to-go container, but...
Kerry Diamond:
You know, I saw that on the Lower East Side and I think in the East Village, and I meant to stop at that too because I love, I'm not going to say it as nice as you do, but I love gnocchi. I actually bought some potatoes at the farmer's market because I've never made gnocchi from scratch.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Oh, it's so easy!
Kerry Diamond:
And I was like, "I love it so much, I'm going to try my hand at it this week." What are some tips for making gnocchi at home?
Giada De Laurentiis:
Well, russet potatoes, super dry. I bake them. I don't do the potato any other way. I don't boil them. I don't put them in the microwave. You don't want any moisture because they'll become heavy if you do that.
And so gnocchi are also very temperamental, so try to make them on a day when it's dry outside and not wet and not too much flour. They need to be light like little pillows, not a lot of flour and not too much... Don't overwork them is basically it. A lot of people tend to overwork them so they get a little bit tough.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I love the baking instead of... Because the recipe I have calls for boiling.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Bake only. No, do not boil them.
Kerry Diamond:
Got it.
Giada De Laurentiis:
If you boil them, too much water gets sucked into the potato and you won't get it out. If someone were to boil them, what I would do is I would put it on a sheet pan and throw it in a 250 degree oven and let it sit there for a while while it dries it out. You really want dry potatoes. My family, we always bake them. It takes longer though, which is why people don't want to do that.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Do you have a recipe in one of your cookbooks? I have a bunch of your cookbooks at home.
Giada De Laurentiis:
I don't think I have a gnocchi recipe in my cookbooks. I have it on Giadzy, but I don't believe I've ever done one for a cookbook, to be honest. I think because, in my head, my cookbooks are supposed to be a little bit simpler and nobody wants to bake a potato for an hour. I definitely have one on Giadzy.
Kerry Diamond:
And do you still use the ricer?
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yes, absolutely.
Kerry Diamond:
Once you bake the potato, you put it through a ricer. Okay.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yes. Yes, please. Yes. It makes a world of difference. It's kind of like mashed potatoes. The ricer will make it super light. If you use a fork or if you use a potato masher, it just tends to not create airiness. That's what the ricer does. It creates airiness in the potato, which is really lovely for gnocchi.
Kerry Diamond:
You mentioned your Vegas place. I think I read it somewhere that The Cromwell, where your restaurant is in Vegas, is going to become a Vanderpump hotel. Is that true?
Giada De Laurentiis:
It sure is, yep, Lisa Vanderpump.
Kerry Diamond:
Wow. All right, talk to me. I feel like I'm the last person in the world who has not seen “Love Island” and I'm the last person in the world who doesn't know anything about the Vanderpump universe. Are you fully up to date on the Vanderpump universe?
Giada De Laurentiis:
I'm not an expert, but I do know, gosh, I mean, there have been so many scandals on that show, so it's become so popular and she's got quite a franchise going.
Kerry Diamond:
She really does.
Giada De Laurentiis:
She's got “Vanderpump Villa,” she's got a lot of stuff. I think she's a really brilliant marketer. She really, really is. And I've known her a long time because we were one of the two first females at Caesars Palace, and so we spent some time together, did some photo shoots together. And her bars are awesome. I mean, people love them, especially young women. It's so nice to have a woman creating a bar for other women. And so it's taken off and it's become really popular.
I think for us at The Cromwell, The Cromwell itself, I don't think anybody even knew that name. It's been 10 years and I don't think, if you say, "The Cromwell," everybody used to say to me, "Where's that?" And I'd have to tell them the location. And so I think that maybe this is an opportunity for people to really get to know the hotel and that has some kind of prestige associated with it.
Kerry Diamond:
You mentioned something, Giada, that you and Lisa were two of the first women to do projects like you're doing. People really forget Vegas was such a bro-y place before you opened your restaurant, before Martha got there with hers, before Lisa. You had Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken who had their place and they were really it for a long time.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yeah. In the Caesars family, there really wasn't anybody. That's the thing. So when I came, it was like a shock to the system because it was very bro-y. It still is quite bro-y, but it's gotten a lot better. But in the beginning stages, oh, yeah, there was nobody around.
So it was so nice when Lisa came in because I felt like, "Oh, now I have another woman that is in this family that can help these guys that are running this casino understand that it's a different clientele." I think they knew because they were trying to draw women in, but at the same time, they didn't. You know what I mean?
Kerry Diamond:
Mm-hmm.
Giada De Laurentiis:
I always say it's fun to be the first, but it's not fun to be the first. So teaching the guys how you want to be treated, it's tricky. So it was really great to have her join, and now we've got Martha as well, so I feel like they have a good idea how it goes.
Kerry Diamond:
How do you inspire your teams? When you've got these destination restaurants that aren't where you live, what do you do to keep everybody just excited and inspired to do what they do every day?
Giada De Laurentiis:
Well, I have a head of hospitality who's my COO, and I have my executive chef who worked with me in Vegas for eight years who go out to these places often, and I mean often, every eight weeks. And then when it comes to Vegas and Scottsdale, I go once every eight weeks as well. And then we like to do different types of dinners, special dinners when I'm there, change the menu, and then I sometimes take people out and inspire them by taking them to the newest, hottest place that's just opened so we can create just a vibe and a feeling of a family.
And I really work in very much a collaborative way. When the GM or the executive chef or the team feels like, "Oh, this restaurant needs this," or, "this is what the feedback is," I'm very open to the data and I'm very open to creating a certain special vibe in that specific location and not cookie-cutting everything and making sure that every place feels like they have their own identity.
And so that's sort of the way I do it, but visiting them, honestly, Kerry, is one of the best ways, to show your face and get in there and really meet the people that are coming to dinner and really spend time with your team. And so that's what we try to do. We divide and conquer the spaces, but that's also why I don't have that many restaurants because it's too hard to do that if you have 20 restaurants.
Kerry Diamond:
Right. You probably have had the opportunity to open lots of them, I would imagine.
Giada De Laurentiis:
I have. But this is the furthest I've done from home, Chicago. But I will tell you that for me personally, I like to have two in each city. That, to me, makes it worth my time so that I feel like I can go there and spend time in two locations, then I feel like I've accomplished something. So in Vegas, I have two, in Scottsdale, I have two, Chicago, soon I'll have two.
Kerry Diamond:
That makes sense. I always wonder how somebody like Jean-Georges does it. What does he have, like 43 restaurants around the world?
Giada De Laurentiis:
A ton, a ton. Well, he is always on the road too, but you know, Kerry, what we said, it's a little different for the men, right? It's just a little different. For us ladies, I mean, my daughter will be a senior this year, so next year my world opens up a lot more, which is why I said yes to Chicago. I can be in more places than I have been in the last 15 years because with restaurants, you got to go to them and I wanted to be home to be with my daughter.
I think that when you're a man, you have a wife or somebody else looking after your kids a little bit more. But for me, I'm the mom, so I wanted to be here, which is why I said no to a lot of projects over the years. And that's why I said yes to Chicago because I knew that we were at the tail end of me having to be home as much.
Kerry Diamond:
I don't know if you want to talk about this, but you stepped away from doing things on the Food Network and to focus on Giadzy, your membership program-
Giada De Laurentiis:
My star.
Kerry Diamond:
... your product, your whole world, which is really wonderful. It's been so amazing to see it grow. The team and I love your products. I mean, I love the pasta, I love the canned tomatoes. You're really doing a great job with all of that. But was that part of it, the demands of filming and just being on call for another entity? What was that all about?
Giada De Laurentiis:
I think it was a combination of many things. I really wanted to spend more time building Giadzy, and at the beginning of it, I thought I could do it all as we all think we can. And I had to really think about my future and what did I really want to spend my time doing anymore?
Cooking shows were sort of going out anyway. They weren't really looking for any cooking shows. It was mostly competition, and I felt like I had done the pinnacle of competition when I did Food Network Star. It was the competition show on that network, and I just felt like I didn't want to spend the rest of my time just doing competition. I just didn't. It's not where I feel like I do my best work. And the hours for those shows are quite intense. Not that my cooking show wasn't, but my cooking show was different. It felt more branded. It was me growing. And also, I think that as I got older and I hit my 50s, I was like, "Wait a second."
I think life puts a mirror up to you and has you realize, "Okay, what have I done? Where am I going and what do I want to do?" And I realized, "I really want to try to grow this business and I really want to own this business," so I couldn't do it all anymore. And yes, when you're on Food Network, you're on call to go anywhere and do whatever. I didn't want to do that anymore. It wasn't feeding me anymore, and so I made that decision.
It was not an easy decision, Kerry. It was very difficult. And I don't know, I think TV's changing anyway. I don't know where it's going, but it's definitely changing. And so I thought, "You know what? I'm going to go and spend my time doing Giadzy." And listen, without Food Network, I would not have been able to make that choice. So I thank every day that I've had this longevity and that Food Network gave me that opportunity. But there's time to leave, right, Kerry? There's a time to make a change.
Kerry Diamond:
Right, you have to know when to leave before you're asked to leave, right?
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yes. Before you're terminated, yes. Yes, yes.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell me though. Food TV today just seems to be in such an interesting place. I know you had a lovely relationship with Food Network, and like you said, they really helped your career in so many ways.
Giada De Laurentiis:
No, they made my career. I mean-
Kerry Diamond:
They made your career. Right, right. But I feel like food TV is a little stuck right now.
Giada De Laurentiis:
It's having an identity crisis. Agreed. It doesn't know where it's going, but some of it just has to do with social media. Social media has blown up and there's so much food content on social media, so it's really hard to get advertisers to give you money for something that people can get on social media for free.
So we think, yes, there's an identity crisis. There's a lot of people in the space. I mean, you must interview a lot of them. There's just a lot of voices and I think they're trying to figure out where are we in this conversation? Where are we going to land? And I don't know that that's been decided yet. I think they're still trying to figure it out.
Kerry Diamond:
Where does food TV go from here?
Giada De Laurentiis:
I believe that everything is cyclical. They go out and they're not so popular as much and then they come back. I think that there's a nostalgia with a lot of demo-style shows that people miss, like long-form. Where exactly it's going, I don't know. I think you can't just do a dump-and-stir show anymore. You have to give the audience more personal, more organic, and they want to see what the daily life is like.
So I'm not sure where it's going, but I would say that probably AI has a lot to do with it, with where it is going, but I don't think food will ever go out of favor. It'll never go away. We all need to eat. And so I think it has to be reinvented somehow. I'm not sure that I know the answer to the question yet.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, the answer is definitely not obvious at the moment, but people keep trying.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Not yet.
Kerry Diamond:
I mean, there's a big food competition show coming to Netflix. I think I saw Thomas Keller's on it, and Padma Lakshmi's working on an exciting show for CBS. So there's still stuff coming down the pike.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yeah, and we'll see how that goes. I think there's a lot of competition out there. It's been saturated. Some people are really good at doing those type of shows. I just would say probably not me.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you miss food TV?
Giada De Laurentiis:
No, I don't. I don't. I don't miss being on set. I really don't. I think for me, I'll probably start doing something myself on YouTube that'll be a little bit, I mean, it'll definitely be cooking-based, but it'll have a lot more lifestyle in it, like all the other things that I do, building these restaurants and doing Giadzy and all of those other businesses that I'm in. It'll also have a lot of that focus on it, but I'll probably just do a few episodes and I'll do them on YouTube.
Kerry Diamond:
That's exciting. Something to look forward to. You seem to be having a lot of fun with social media, especially the stuff you and Jade do together.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Well, she's at that age where she's so much fun to hang out with and she has such an opinion. It's just a really fun age, and I'm trying to enjoy this last year because I feel like I'm losing her after that. So this year is really fun, and I think that's also part of the reason of wanting to do a few episodes on YouTube is to really capture that so I can go back and look at it the way I can go back and look at Jade growing up over the years on my shows. I don't want to forget it. So that's also, I think, part of it, that journey. I think that'll be fun too.
But yeah, we have a lot of fun together and she's game to do it, and she's authentically herself in a way that I was never at that age. I was always so afraid of what others may have thought, and she's just not. And that's just so refreshing and helps me forge a new path, and in a way see myself differently and see myself in the world differently.
Kerry Diamond:
Is that the confidence you instilled in her?
Giada De Laurentiis:
No, I think she just had it.
Kerry Diamond:
She was born that way?
Giada De Laurentiis:
I, honestly, Kerry, I think she was born that way. No, maybe because I was a working mom, so maybe that may have had a little bit of it, but I really think Jade was born that way. I really do.
Kerry Diamond:
I loved the video of Jade critiquing your fashion looks over the years.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Oh, God!
Kerry Diamond:
You must have died. That was so funny.
Giada De Laurentiis:
It was painful. I'm not going to lie. It was freaking painful, but-
Kerry Diamond:
She was tough. I was like, "Oh my gosh. Joan Rivers is reincarnated in Jade's body."
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yeah. Well, imagine. And they also, she picked the worst looks possible. It's just so embarrassing. But it was a time and a vibe at that time. So I keep telling her like, "Hey, you'll look back," and I think she critiqued herself in one of those photos also.
Kerry Diamond:
She did.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yeah, so I mean, and she fought hard for that outfit, so it's just... Ah.
Kerry Diamond:
That was a cute one.
Giada, let's talk about your big birthday, like you said, double nickels. For people who are like, "What does that mean?" You know what? When I turned double nickels, I had literally never heard that term before.
Giada De Laurentiis:
I never heard it either until last week. That's when everybody started saying, "Oh, you're double nickels." I'm like, "What?" And then I thought about it. I'm like, "Oh, yeah, two fives. Okay."
Kerry Diamond:
It means 55.
Giada De Laurentiis:
I mean, it's interesting. It's interesting. Aging is an interesting thing. It's wonderful in some ways and not so wonderful in other ways. But I say to Jade like, "Hey, I'm lucky to be here at 55." I made it this far, and I'm healthy. I mean, I don't know that there's any other gift to be given, so I'm thankful for that.
Kerry Diamond:
Exactly. I always think that first too. But now that you've hit 55, what do you wish young Giada knew?
Giada De Laurentiis:
I think that what I wish young Giada would've known is that it was going to be okay, that she was going to do what she wanted to do, and it was going to be okay.
I think I didn't have the confidence when I started that I could voice my own opinions or that I could stand up for myself and still make a career out of what I wanted to do. I think I felt like I had to follow whatever structure or whatever path was in front of me in order to be successful. And I think I learned that I could play the game or play the chess game, which is the chess game of life, or for any woman in this world that is working or even not working, that we have to forge our own path, but delicately. That's what I had to do, and I think I was able to do that well. Jade, I don't think, the new generation doesn't have to do that anymore. They have so many more opportunities than I ever did.
And I also think I would've said to young Giada that having children would be okay because I was terrified of having Jade. Even when I got pregnant, terrified that I would lose my career and that no one would take me seriously and that they wouldn't hire me anymore, or that I wouldn't have any more fans. I don't know, Kerry, why I thought all these things, but I did.
And part of it is because a lot of women, the career went by the wayside, and I really wanted to be independent. That was my whole thing. I didn't see a lot of independent women in my family. I saw the men really running the show, and I really wanted that for myself. I think I thought a child would somehow take that away from me.
So I would tell myself, "Enjoy it," because I will say that when Jade was really young, the first two years, I didn't enjoy it. I didn't enjoy all of it because it was too much. Taking care of a kid that little and dragging her to book signings and to set, although now I look back and I think, "Well, thank goodness I did that" because it created a very independent kid, but at the time, it was a lot. My body and my mind took a big beating because of it.
Kerry Diamond:
How old were you when you had Jade?
Giada De Laurentiis:
I was 36, but remember that I really only started my career-career on Food Network when I was 33, 32. So it wasn't that long, Kerry. And I was terrified.
I was also terrified because it was like, "Oh, but you didn't talk to us about getting pregnant and having a child." I'm like, "Well, because I didn't plan it, but I'll be at work in six weeks, so don't worry. I'll be there. The contract says I'll be there and I'll be there." So it was a different mindset than women these days, you know?
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah.
Giada De Laurentiis:
And you couldn't be a working mom and do it from home. Everybody works... I have young aunts and they're in their thirties, they have children, and they're doing podcasts from their house, and they're working from home and taking care of the kids. I couldn't do that. That was not an option for women my age. We had to get our booty out, go to set, travel here, do that. You know what I mean? So life is different for them, and I think it's wonderful.
Kerry Diamond:
You didn't have a lot of, I don't know if role models is the right word, but you didn't really have a lot of examples because yes, there were tons of women in television who had come before you, but the whole food TV thing was still very new.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Was brand new. Yeah, there weren't, and a lot of us, Ina, Rachel, we all started at exactly the same time. So yeah, we had Sara Moulton, we had a few people, but nothing could have prepared you for the explosion that was about to happen. It just wasn't. And there were mostly men everywhere, and they were the only ones really rating. That's the other thing. They're the only ones that were really getting the deals or getting restaurants. Those were the people whose businesses and personalities were growing. The women really weren't moving.
And so a whole new genre started with us ladies, Rachel, myself, Ina, Paula Deen at the time. We really opened, kicked the doors open for a whole new group of people to come through. It was really fascinating to watch it happen, but it was terrifying at the same time because it was the Wild West. So it's like influencers or podcasters five years ago where it was all starting. It's exciting to be on that end. It's also terrifying.
Kerry Diamond:
Giada, you used the word delicately, that it was something you had to do delicately. Why did you use that word? Some people just go in and they're kicking down doors and not doing it delicately.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Well, first of all, it's not my personality. Well, maybe it is now, but it wasn't then. I was a very shy girl. I'm an immigrant. I came with my family when I was five years old. I didn't speak English and I got bullied for a long time for being different. I think that that taught me to move in the world in a way that I felt had to be more cautious and more methodical. And that's how I am. I'm more methodical and I don't just kick down doors and I'm not that vocal. I try to get my point across or do what I want to do and navigate it in a very careful way.
I think too that at the beginning of my Food Network career, most people would write in and say, "Why'd you put this model-like girl to cook? What are you trying to do? Clearly she has no idea what she's doing." And people commented on my breasts all the time. It was a constant thing. So being taken seriously was hard, and I think that I felt that if I was more delicate and more careful, that over time, if I continued to do what I love to do and be good at it, that eventually people would accept me. But I was careful about how I did that.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my God, they commented on your breasts all the time? That's terrible.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Oh, yes. Oh, yes. All the time. All the time. And there's always so much you can hide, right? I mean, other than wearing turtlenecks, I don't know what to do. It was the world of button-ups. When I started, they all said to me, Food Network would say to me, "Could you wear a button-down shirt kind of like Martha Stewart does?" And I said, "No, because I have short arms," unlike Martha Stewart who has long arms, "I have a big chest, so that doesn't go well in a shirt and I can't move and cook. I feel constricted in an outfit like that because my body, it isn't prone to wearing button-down shirts very well. It just isn't. And I'm not that thin. It just doesn't work."
So they would say, "Well, we have a lot of complaints about your chest, so how could we keep that away from people?" I don't know. It's on my body. How am I supposed to do that? So I think I had a lot of turmoil within myself of figuring out how could I present myself to the world where I could be accepted, and I didn't have to hide everything all the time? So it was tricky.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my gosh, I cannot see you in a button-down. That made me laugh when you said that.
Giada De Laurentiis:
I know, but interestingly, they said that. But on the flip side, probably that's one of the reasons that I had such a high male viewership. So it was confusing. It was confusing. And it made me not like my body. It made me crave wanting to have a different body. It did all these things. So I would also tell my younger self, "Accept yourself. They will eventually accept you. Don't worry, it'll get there." But I didn't know that at the time, as none of us ever do. That's the beauty of age.
Kerry Diamond:
All right, let's talk about now. Since you are turning 55, did you say to yourself, "You know what? I'm going to sit down and write a manifesto for the next 55 years?" Did you put down some goals? Where's your head at right now?
Giada De Laurentiis:
I think my head is in a transition. I'm trying to figure out what it is that I want to spend my time doing. I think that I want to spend more time with my family. I have much younger cousins and they have children, and I just want to spend time with them, and I want to be here this year for Jade and really stay put more than I have been. Other than that, Kerry, I don't know. I'm in a time of transition, so I'm trying to figure that out. I think that it's been happening for a few years and I have not finished that transition yet.
So I think by next year, I'll be a little more settled into what's my next step? Do I kind of shrink my life a little bit more, give more power to other people to run my businesses? Do I sell my businesses? I don't know. I'm not sure. And also what I have the energy for anymore, to be honest, I don't have the energy I used to have. And when I'm gone and working a ton, it takes me a lot longer to bounce back. I have to figure out how much do I want to do?
I love doing Giadzy. I enjoy these restaurants, but I don't know how much more. I already put a cookbook out. Will I do another one soon? I don't know. I feel like I really want to be picking very carefully because whatever I decide is going to be for the next probably five years at least.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my gosh. You know what? I didn't even ask you about Sexy Italian Summer. We were supposed to be talking-
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yeah, which I thought was the theme!
Kerry Diamond:
We were supposed to be talking about that. Oh my God.
Giada De Laurentiis:
That's the subject!
Kerry Diamond:
I love talking to you so much, I got totally lost in that. Tell me, what does Sexy Italian Summer mean to you?
Giada De Laurentiis:
Well, I think it means lots of tomatoes because to me, the summer is frigging tomatoes galore in every possible way. The jewel of the tomato season is Italian summer, and I was going to tell you all about tomatoes and dry farming and all that stuff.
Kerry Diamond:
Wait, what's dry farming?
Giada De Laurentiis:
Dry farming is the same idea as when they grow grapes. Our tomatoes from Italy are all dry-farmed. It's basically just restricting irrigation after you plant them and making the roots sink further down into the soil to catch the moisture and allowing the rainfall to also irrigate all of these tomatoes, which creates this intensely sweet, nutrient-dense tomato because they also grow on the base of the volcanoes in Southern Italy. So they're incredibly rich in nutrients, they're super sweet, and that's what they can, and that's what we sell on Giadzy. And they're little ones with the skin on because again, more nutrients. And at the end of the day, they're super sustainable because the irrigation is minimal at best, and it's mostly rainfall. So I was going to tell you all about that, but we got lost in chatting.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you go to Italy this summer?
Giada De Laurentiis:
I didn't go this summer, no.
Kerry Diamond:
You didn't go this summer? Okay.
Giada De Laurentiis:
I didn't go this summer. I'm going actually in two weeks with Jade. I'm going to Rome to be knighted.
Kerry Diamond:
What?
Giada De Laurentiis:
Isn't that funny? Yeah, I'll tell you about that on another podcast, but yes, I guess Andrea Bocelli's also being knighted. It's a way for the government, I think, or Italy to thank us for spreading the Italian culture.
Kerry Diamond:
You say that so casually. So what do we have to call you?
Giada De Laurentiis:
Well, because I feel like I should talk about it after I've experienced it instead of beforehand, but I am bringing Jade and there's a ball and we're going to get all dressed up, and I think it'll be super fun and a fun experience, at least for the two of us.
Kerry Diamond:
You're having a Sexy Italian September as opposed to a Sexy Italian Summer? Okay.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Correct. Exactly, exactly.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you have a good summer? Were you super busy?
Giada De Laurentiis:
I was really busy, but it was super fun and I was able to go watch Jade and all her performances, both in upstate New York and theater camp and then at NYU. So that was really fun to be around and be able to do that. I spent some time in the Hamptons, which I really adore those beaches, and so I got to do that, which was really fun, and spend time with all of my little nieces and nephews.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that's really sweet.
Giada De Laurentiis:
It was really lovely. It was really a lovely work but also vacation. I kind of lumped them together. And I opened Chicago, so I did a lot this summer, I guess.
Kerry Diamond:
You had a busy summer. What is the perfect Giada aperitivo hour?
Giada De Laurentiis:
Probably a chilled Negroni. I'm loving my Negronis this summer. And then I love to do these baked little caprese toasts and a whipped ricotta with red peppercorn right on top of it. And then I probably say a really simple little arrangement of the fresh whipped ricotta and a little bit of Red Cow Parmigiano Reggiano in chunks with a little balsamic over the top. Summertime, I feel like I don't get that hungry, so little nibbles is really all I ever want, and a nice drink.
Kerry Diamond:
I love a little nibble. You said baked caprese toast? Tell us what that is.
Giada De Laurentiis:
I just cut little crostini and then I usually brush with a little basil oil, put them in the oven, get them crispy, and then I just do some tomato and mozzarella and just throw it in the oven for 30 seconds to a minute, just to warm through mozzarella and the tomato because to me it's a better bite than the chilled or even room temp. Slightly, slightly melted. And that's what I like.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that sounds so good. I have some beautiful tomatoes and some mozzarelle. Do you say mozzarella or mozzarelle? I grew up in Staten Island so they say mozzarelle.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Mozzarella.
Kerry Diamond:
Mozzarella.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Mozzarella being a bite because that's how they make it, in little chunks, like bites from a bigger piece.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, right.
Giada De Laurentiis:
So it's mozzarella.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, I have some mozzarella, some beautiful tomatoes, some gorgeous-
Giada De Laurentiis:
You still have the accent.
Kerry Diamond:
You can't take the girl out of Staten Island for too long. And some really beautiful basil that I got at the farmer's market, so I'm-
Giada De Laurentiis:
This is it. This is the time. Enjoy it. It's the best. It really is.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, you know what else I bought the ingredients for? Pasta Norma. But you know what? We don't have to talk about Pasta Norma. I'm sure you're all talked out.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Oh, I love making Pasta Norma with some eggplant?
Kerry Diamond:
Mm-hmm.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Right now is eggplant season too. I always tell people zucchini, squash, a summer squash, eggplant, tomatoes. It's all about that. It's awesome.
You know what else is awesome? We did this beer slushie this summer that I did, and I never thought I'd like it so much. It's a lemon sorbetto floating in beer, which is fabulous also for the summer, which I enjoyed this summer that I'd never done before.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, that's a lot of fun. I do like a citrusy beer.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Yeah, yeah. So anyway, that's another idea.
Kerry Diamond:
Very cool. All right. Well, Giada, I love talking to you. Thank you so much. First off, happy birthday. You know we love you here at Cherry Bombe. We just love hearing about all your projects and all your advice.
Giada De Laurentiis:
Thanks, Kerry. I think you and I could chat forever. Honestly, it would take hours and hours. Anyway, it was awesome. Thanks for inviting me. I always enjoy it.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show, and that is it for our Sexy Italian Summer miniseries. Thank you to Giada for joining me, and thank you to our other guests, J.J. Martin of the fashion and lifestyle brand La DoubleJ, Chef Angie Rito of Don Angie and San Sabino restaurants in New York City, and Tamu McPherson of All The Pretty Birds and Tamu Rosé. Be sure to go back and listen to any of the episodes you missed. I would love for you to follow Radio Cherry Bombe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and leave a rating and a review. If you're already a follower, thank you. Check out the links in our show notes for our magazine, the Jubilee ticket waiting list, and Cherry Bombe membership info. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Special thanks to Joseph Hazan at Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center. Our producers are Catherine Baker and Jenna Sadhu, and our talent guru is Londyn Crenshaw. Thanks for listening, everybody. Ciao Bella.