‘Queer Eye’ Food Guy’s New NYC Restaurant Sounds Like a Crossfitter’s Dream

Healthier comfort food will be the focus at Queer Eye Antoni Porowski’s upcoming fast-casual restaurant in the West Village. The Netflix show’s food expert is jumping off the screen to prove to the world that he can actually cook, at his reboot of 36-year-old diner Village Den.

Dishes like turkey-stuffed cabbage rolls with cauliflower rice or macadamia-crusted fish sticks with maple parsnip mash are on the menu here, the Times reports, food that will appeal to the “30s health and fitness” crowd by largely following the low-carb ketosis diet that Porowski occasionally is on. What won’t be a big part of the menu is avocado, the trendy fruit that got Porowski a reputation where people questioned if he could actually cook.

When he isn’t filming the show — the third season is shooting now in Kansas City, Missouri — Porowski will solely focus on the food, while his partners Lisle Richards and Eric Marx (Monarch Room, the Wayfarer) handle the operations side of the restaurant. Porowski has worked in restaurants before as a busboy, server, manager, and sommelier, but not on the kitchen side of things.

Village Den will open in September. Stay tuned for more.

• All Coverage of Village Den [ENY]
• A ‘Queer Eye’ Makeover for a Vintage Diner [NYT]