15 Things You Didn't Know About Giada De Laurentiis
She keeps the weirdest thing in the fridge.
No one's ever called Giada De Laurentiis soft-spoken. Food Network's resident Italian expert is pretty vocal on and off her show — so much so that it sort of feels like we know everything about her. But if you're unfamiliar, consider this your first official meeting.
Giada was born in Italy.
Her reputation as a legit Italian chef comes honestly. De Laurentiis was born on August 22, 1970 in Rome. She didn't move to America until she was 7-years-old.
Her family was in show business.
The most famed member of her family was Academy Award-nominated Dino De Laurentiis, her maternal grandfather. Her mother, Veronica De Laurentiis was an actress, and her father, Alex De Benedetti, was an actor and a producer.
Giada didn't study cooking in college.
De Laurentiis's degree from the University of Los Angeles is in anthropology, but she later decided to pursue her passion. She enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and specialized in both cuisine and pastry.
She worked in famous restaurants before starting her own.
After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, De Laurentiis scored jobs as a chef in Southern California at the Ritz-Carlton and at Wolfgang Puck's Spago. Eventually, she opened her own catering company called GDL Foods.
She was discovered in Food & Wine.
According to From Scratch, a tell-all book about Food Network, the head of the network spotted De Laurentiis's photo in an article about her grandfather. He called her up and asked if she wanted to host a cooking show.
Giada's famous mega-watt smile didn't come naturally.
Rumor has it, while training to be on television, De Laurentiis's producer Irene Wong instructed her to grin and bear it throughout the entire show — while talking, while lifting a super-heavy pan, while testing a bite of food. Now, she works to take care of it: De Laurentiis even keeps teeth whitener in the fridge because it lasts longer in there.
Her first TV show premiered in 2003.
It was called Everyday Italian and went on for five years and 12 seasons. The first cookbook she ever wrote shared the same name and featured some of the most popular recipes on the show.
She's been on so many shows since.
In addition to being a regular Today Show food correspondent, De Laurentiis has been the host of eight regular series on Food Network, including Food Network Star and Giada In Italy.
You could fill an entire shelf with her cookbooks.
De Laurentiis has written nine different cookbooks focused on all things Italian: pasta, weeknight meals, family dinners. She also created a picture book meets cookbook series for kids. There are eight books, each of which highlight one of De Laurentiis's favorite places, including Paris, Naples, and New Orleans.
She's obsessed with traveling.
Italy is obviously a favorite, but the travel section on De Laurentiis's site reveals so many other places she's been. She's got guides to fifty spots all over the world, with restaurant and store recommendations.
Giada opened her first restaurant in 2014.
It's located in The Cromwell Hotel in Las Vegas, and it's named after her: Giada. Her second one, Pronto, just opened at Caesars Palace in Vegas, and a third spot, GDL Italian by Giada, will open in Baltimore soon.
Her love life has been a little tumultuous.
De Laurentiis married Todd Thompson in 2003, and the couple had a daughter, Jade, in 2008. But in 2015, De Laurentiis and Thompson got divorced. After, she was linked to Bobby Flay, but she and her producer boyfriend Shane Farley are now pretty open about their nearly three-year relationship.
She has a really weird food obsession.
She told Bon Appetit that spaghetti with melted chocolate was her favorite meal growing up. "Once in a blue moon, I'll still have it," she told the magazine.
If you don't pronounce spaghetti right, she'll be extremely upset.
She's stressed the point in a ton of interviews, but her appearance on Conan went totally viral. Apparently, we're all saying the name of the noodle incorrectly. It's spah-gih-tee, not spuh-geh-tee.
She has a secret to staying so slim.
De Laurentiis has said that she only takes one bite of the things she cooks on her show — for the camera, of course. But a couple years ago, a "source" alleged that she doesn't even do that — she makes a crew member take a close-up bite.
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