Taking a Coffee Break With Antoni Porowski

by Natasha Wolff | July 18, 2019 3:00 pm

Cheese, corgis, and coffee. These are the three greatest loves in Antoni Porowski’s life. Okay, that might be too dramatic. But, he does generously gravitate towards these three topics. Porowski, food and wine guru on Netflix’s Queer Eye[1], helped revamp New York City’s The Village Den restaurant in late 2018, was featured in Taylor Swift’s music video for “You Need to Calm Down” in June 2019, is working on his own cookbook, supports organizations such as The Trevor Project[2] and NYC Commission On Human Rights[3], and successfully makes me swoon every day on Instagram[4].

So, the Polish-Canadian-turned-New Yorker is busy. Which is just one of the reasons why Porowski starts his day with two shots of espresso over ice with oat milk. After that comes a more relaxed coffee drink to sip on. Growing up with European parents and two sisters (Porowski was the first in his immediate family born in Canada), Porowski has a unique relationship with coffee that made Saeco[5] coffee the ideal brand for him to partner with. “Coffee was such an important part of our breakfast. My father would have a cappuccino and my mother would have a regular coffee with heavy cream. I would have a little vanilla gelato in a little bit of coffee and it was like, a sweet little treat,” he says of growing up. Today, Porowski still treasures a beautiful high-quality coffee drink and the relaxed experience of sipping and savoring, but his busy schedule makes those moments more difficult to find. “I use my Saeco Xelsis during the week with reusable cups so I can make my own to-go drink and I don’t even have to leave my house,” he says. “You get the waft of the bitterness throughout the house and it just gets me so excited. I’ll typically have a coffee right before I have a dinner party[6] just for the smell of it.”

The Saeco Xelsis[7] coffee machine is different from a typical coffee maker. The touchscreen offers custom control to over 15 drink options, you can adjust temperature, shot length, strength, and more. The sleek design is eye-catching and chic, seamlessly integrating itself into any home. While the technical specs and quality coffee it produces are impressive, Porowski says that he really loves the comfort of having a Saeco machine in his home. “It’s a little moment of self-care. Not only for keeping me going and making sure I’m awake, but the ritual of it; the sound of the machine warming up and the smell of the coffee grinds.”

Porowski takes another sip of his iced double espresso with oat milk as I ask him what he looks for in a brand or product that excites him. “I can only really talk about things that I’m really passionate about,” he says of choosing what brands he supports. Which is why Porowski has worked with brands such as Whole Foods, VitaCoco, and Olly gummies in the past.

On his Saeco Xelsis, Porowski says, “Like, on a very basic level, this thing saves my life because it is my best friend and I have coffee every day.” Porowski adds that the freedom to adjust the strength of your coffee, and creating specific profiles for his close friends and family makes entertaining that much easier, which is a huge part of his life. “My best friend in the world Reema[8] will come over and she loves flat white. So, I saved the profile for her. It makes people feel cute and special and shows you’re paying attention to them,” he says.

“People are smart and know when something is organic and when something is not,” he adds of how he strategically supports specific initiatives, products, and activism. With one last sip of java, Porowski envelopes me in a hug and compliments my headphones.

Porowski returns to season four of Queer Eye on July 19.

Source URL: https://dujour.com/culture/netflix-queer-eye-interview-with-antoni-porowski-saeco-coffee/