Antoni Porowski entered Lab Sciences 300 Friday night to the sound of hundreds of screaming Washington University students quite literally bursting with excitement at the sight of the star of Netflix’s “Queer Eye.”  

And can you blame them?

Nathalie Austin | Student Life

Porowski donned a decorated leather jacket and chic black-frame glasses, immediately energizing the crowd with his infectious smile and genuine charm. The audience’s engagement only grew as the hour and a half talk progressed, during which Porowski answered questions from Congress of the South 40 Director of Services Mackenzie Hines-Wilson as well as Wash. U. students who tweeted their questions with the hashtag #CS40FallSpeaker2018.

Porowski revealed details about his experiences on “Queer Eye,” which stars five men with queer identities, called the Fab Five, who help transform lives through each of their main focuses: interior design, hair and grooming, fashion, culture and, Antoni’s specialty, food and wine.

The talk covered topics ranging from his friendships with the other members of the Fab Five to the fact that he was granted free Chipotle for life. Porowski gave insight into his experiences as a Canadian immigrant, his battle with depression and the unique path that led him to where he is today.

And, of course, he talked about food. Lots and lots of food.

Nathalie Austin | Student Life

Student Life had the chance to sit down with Antoni before his talk to learn more about his upcoming projects, such as the third season of “Queer Eye,” which will take place in Kansas City.

“I’m so excited,” Porowski said. “I’m not allowed to talk about any of it, but I will say producers had a talk with us and they were like, ‘Who would you—what type of person would you want to make better? What would be your goal?’ And we all had open discussions about the type of people who we want to help, and people who have voices or stories that are unheard who represent a certain section of the population—I’m trying to be as general as possible—and they listened to us, which is amazing.”

Porowski expressed the importance of using the show’s platform to share the stories of immigrants, as improving the treatment of immigrants in the United States is an issue he holds dear.

“Immigration is something that’s very important to me, being the son of immigrants, identifying very strongly with my Polish roots, which is something that I neglected growing up; and now I know, at this age, and especially in this day and age, the way that immigrants are being viewed in this country by a certain section of the population,” Porowski said. “We’re not going to get political because I’m Canadian and I don’t do that, but we have a responsibility to tell those stories, and it’s more important than ever. And it’s something that I can’t just be passive about anymore now that I have this platform, now that the show has become what it’s become, that it’s so much bigger than us, and whatever our hopes and dreams were that we have to tell these people’s stories.”

Porowski also touched on the impact of casting the Fab Five as men who fall under the LGBTQIA* spectrum.

“The fact that some of us identify, or the others identify as gay and I … haven’t figured that out yet, the fact that we are those other things, that doesn’t come up in most of the episodes,” Porowski said. “We don’t talk about the fact that we identify as gay or whatever it is in any given episode unless the opportunity arises where we can be helpful to somebody, where we can educate somebody, or just relate to somebody and make them feel a little less lonely.”

Through creating more visibility for many people with various identities, Porowski believes that “Queer Eye” can help increase acceptance of members of the LGBTQIA* community.

“Just by showing up and being ourselves, we can normalize being LGBTQIA* without having to be an activist. Not to discount activism because it’s incredibly important, but there are other ways, there are soft, gentle ways to go about it as well,” said Porowski. “Yes, we must march in the streets, but at the same time, if we do it in our daily lives, and it’s not just in these extreme circumstances, we can be. Because at the end of the day, I think we just want to be part of the mix. We’re special, and we’re different and unique, but we’re all part of the mix.”

In addition to filming “Queer Eye” and writing a cookbook, which he told audience members would include a Gooey Butter Cake recipe, Porowski recently opened The Village Den, a trendy, diet-friendly restaurant in the West Village of New York City.

“It’s a fun, sort-of-all-over-the-place menu that’s not too much of one thing. I naturally subscribe to a more ketosis-style diet where I eat a lot of fat and a lot of fiber,” Porowski said. “But there’s something for vegan people, pescatarians, vegetarians.”

And, of course, the restaurant will offer what has become Porowski’s staple food item: avocados.

“My first rendition of the menu had zero avocados because I was really tired of them, but we added them to two recipes,” Porowski said. “But it works!”

Porowski tapped into his Polish heritage when creating the menu, highly recommending the cabbage rolls.

“I think the thing you should be most excited for is the cabbage roll because it’s an homage to my grandmother, and it’s a Polish-Jewish-style cabbage roll,” Porowski said. “Instead of having pork and white rice, it’s cauliflower rice and ground turkey with pine nuts and a little paprika, Hungarian-style sauce.”

Referring to himself as a home-cook rather than a chef, as he was never professionally trained, Porowski stressed the importance of using home-cooked meals to create a semblance of community and family for college students.

“Let’s say you have a study group for one of your electives or something and you want to get together with friends, do a potluck,” Porowski said. “Set up a stew on a Sunday night. Get a crockpot. You can make a chili. You literally just dump a bunch of stuff into it, and then just have friends over, and it doesn’t have to be amazing, but just the fact that you took a bit of time to make something for them means a lot.”

Porowski’s genuine interest in the lives of college students forged an immediate connection between him and audience members, as his energy and interest in his fans was apparent throughout the entire talk.

“I’ll come back if you’ll have me. We’ll try toasted rav,” Porowski said to audience members. “And we’ll have a vegan option.”