Getting back from Greece, I had major Mykonos withdrawal. Being pampered with the great food, beaches (Jackie O Beach is paradise), and riding around on my ATV and spending an unforgettable week with Patricia Field and all of her friends, including Debi Mazar — I was literally living the dream. So when I landed in New York and saw that Debi Mazar and her husband, Gabriele Corcos, who have the cooking show, Extra Virgin on the Cooking Channel, were hosting the launch of the Good Housekeeping Kitchen, I was so there! I’m launching a new venture soon, so being in the presence of strong, ambitious woman, who continue to push boundaries and aren’t boxed in is really important to me. Debi Mazar who in addition to being a mom, author, and having a cooking show (and literally 1,000 other accolades), she also stars on the hit show Younger, which probably the only perk of coming home from Greece was getting to binge the 4th season. Head to the bottom of this post for the Q&A with Debi and her husband talking cooking, tech and the new season of Younger.
What I LOVE about Good Housekeeping, is they aren’t your average magazine. In addition to curating helpful home and lifestyle content, they also have labs as well. That Good Housekeeping Seal comes with a lot of merit and testing. Walking through their offices over the years I’ve seen everything from bras to toilet paper just piled in the lab from a variety of brands to test the best of the best across all categories — including beauty, although I’m still waiting for the day I get to visit that lab!
For their latest venture, the Good Housekeeping Kitchen of the Future, is the publications newest lab, powered by Miele—a tricked-out, teched-out powerhouse workspace. The next-level kitchen encapsulates the latest innovations in smart-home technology, top-tested Seal-holders and beautiful design. It was filled with so many cool electronics I wouldn’t begin to know how to use. My kitchen consists of a coffee maker, Vitamix, cheese grader and strainer– don’t underestimate my ninja skills with just these, both my parents are top level cooks. But walking around this immaculate space, all I could think about was my dad who has been a chef and restaurant owner for 40 years, this kitchen would blow his mind!
The 728-square-foot facility features: an ultra-tough GH Seal star Caesarstone countertops, with interchangeable surfaces that are nearly indestructible, resist heat, spills, most stains, dings, nicks and scratches; a Grohe faucet and soda water maker, complete with a hidden filter; Miele induction cooktop, intelligent temperature fridge, auto-dry dishwasher, convection/steam oven and built in coffee maker; among other items not on the market currently being tested and vetted through the technology lab incubator program. 
The Kitchen of the Future is located in the Good Housekeeping Institute, directly next door to the famed Test Kitchen, allowing for efficient testing experiences. In addition to an incubator for testing, the Lab is used for photo shoots across multiple Hearst brands, a web + video shooting space, and a stylish expanse for the GH Connectors Series events—hosting celebs, chefs, influencers, advertisers and more.
For the launch guests enjoyed the unveiling of the room and a Q&A conversation between, Good Housekeeping Editor in Chief Jane Francisco with Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos. The duo are about to release their second cookbook, Super Tuscan in October (it’s available for pre-order HERE). If you caught my instastories you saw a lot of it but here are some of the highlights:
ON HOW THEY DECIDED TO WORK TOGETHER:
Debi: “ I met him in Tuscany and he made me this amazing meal. It was very simple. It was like fried zucchini flowers with ricotta and lemon zest. Later on, we had Havana Club Rum. He started cooking for me, and I had never had a guy cook for me before. I always tried to impress the guy and wear the lingerie and cook, and it was too much work. This one could care less wheat I was wearing and he cooked for me.”
Gabriele: “It’s funny because it all happened with cooking as a medium, with food as a medium. To us, food is juts part of our relationship.”
ON TECH + FOOD:
Gabriele: “For me, technology helps me keep a lot of things that I wanted to preserve and save for my kids. I have filmed my first film in Virtual Reality. You can see me in my test kitchen. I approach this business more as an entrepreneur than a chef. Cooking is something that I just grew up with, so it’s just a way of being a romantic. But I do like the way that you can use that as an item to tell stories, work on the future, and pass on heritage and sentiments to your kids that don’t give a **** about heritage.”
ON THEIR START:
Debi: “What was great was that we started out with a blog. I was like you’re really cute and I’m pregnant so I’m gonna be your entourage today. I put the camera on him and I was like ‘say it slowly, no one is going to understand you.’ I would make fun of him, and this was before YouTube actually launched. So, we did all of these episodes and he’s really good at cutting stuff together, so he cut it and then YouTube launched and then ‘boom,’ it went into the stratosphere. We had 100 episodes and then the Cooking Channel was going to launch and found us. So, it went from blog format where I didn’t have a publicist to Bon Appetit, Good Housekeeping, all of these people that wanted to do an interview about us. It was great and it was so organic because it wasn’t about wanting to be cool. We were cooking and it was about our life.
Gabriele: “The power of the kitchen is to bring people together and make sure that certain stories don’t get lost. I appreciate the way that technology is helping us keep certain. Food and technology is the future”
ABOUT THE NEW BOOK, SUPER TUSCAN:
Debi: It’s really an evolution of the first one. The first one was about how we met, our love, what the basics were in our Tuscan kitchen. It kind of took you on a vacation in a very simple way. It’s an evolution, it’s super Tuscan. Super Tuscan is a blend of different grapes so I felt like I’m the American who married the Tuscan, so that why we called it Super Tuscan—a blend. It’s super rustic still. There’s great recipes that Gabriele brought from his grandmother.
Gabriele: And then reality hit and I realized that I have been living here for 16 years and culinary-wise, I haven’t forgotten the way I grew up. When I was in Italy, I cooked the same way that every other person cooked who grew up with a mom.
ON WORKING WITH YOUR SPOUSE:
Gabriele: I have this app on my phone called iPeriod. It really helps.
Debi: Yes, periods help (laughs). He knows when I’m cycling. Alcohol, marijuana, sex…lots of sex. He has 4 motorcycles and I have lots of lipsticks and gay friends. We don’t spend all that much time together if we don’t need to. We try to do our own things. And we laugh. We fought a lot during the 6 years that we produced Extra Virgin because we cared. We were fighting for the same purpose and I think we both recognized that. We were fighting for the family, we were fighting for our voice, our vision, not to be mediocre, not to be a reality show. We wanted it to be a reflection of our reality. We call each other out. He reads me on my shit, I read him on my shit. And, its working. We like to hold hands. He doesn’t mind when my ass gets too fat and I don’t mind when he gets too skinny. We have opposite issues. We laugh and we have fun with it.
ON DIFFERENECES IN FOOD SHOPPING IN US vs ITALY:
Debi: When he came here, we lived in LA first and we went to the grocery store and it was like Ralph’s. This huge grocery store with strawberries year round, they don’t taste like anything because they’re not seasonal. It was 24-hour and we walked in at like midnight and he was like wow. It was so cute.
Gabriele: In Italy, if you run out of milk by 7pm you’re F*&#ed unless you have a friend who has a bar and you can be like, “can I have pint for tomorrowmorning?” That’s the way I grew up. By the time that the chickens go to bed and the sun goes down, your fridge better not be empty otherwise you’re gonna starve.
ON YOUNGER NEW SEASON:
Debi: New season. New girls. He’s happy that I’m not making out with guys. New girlfriend. Great writing this season, I haven’t had a lot to do. I get to get out of the apartment, I get to not cook. They think because they know that I cook, they have to make my character cook. I’m always in the kitchen and there’s no running water, no gas, there’s no nothing. So, I have to do my best to make it look like it’s happening. But, it’s great. It deals with ageism and I think it’s a really relevant show for the times we live in. And it’s refreshing. No one’s blowing up, no one’s dying. Well, someone actually did die but, it was one of those tragedy comedy moments.