Meet Giovanni Luciano, New York’s Hottest Line Cook

SATURDAY 12:41 AM JULY 20, 2025 BUSHWICK

Last week, a little after midnight, I found Giovanni Luciano nestled in a bar patio in the hinterlands of Bushwick. His friends had no idea who I was or why I was sitting with them. It’s post-shift and Luciano was already smoking and showing off the burn on his thumb. For the laypeople, Luciano is New York’s most wanted line cook, with a TikTok that has riled up the horny masses. “Here’s what I eat as a line cook in Bushwick,” begin his videos, a pierced eyebrow glinting as he holds up Ambrosia salads sprinkled with hazelnuts, svelte jimmied nardellos, and, for dessert, two cigarettes and a plastic container of lukewarm coffee. Some say he’s playing a caricature ripped from The Bear; others argue that this is just the line cook vibe. Performative or not, the internet is nursing a crush on the man known best as @Giovannis.Kitchen, so much so that Addison Rae cast him in her music video for “Times Like These.” In this week’s installment of Smoke Break, I joined Luciano for his sixth and then seventh cigarettes of the night to find out who’s sliding into his DMs, what makes a restaurant thrum, and his favorite insights from Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential.

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ELOISE KING-CLEMENTS: We are in the heart of Bushwick with…

GIOVANNI LUCIANO: Giovanni.

KING-CLEMENTS: What is in your system right now?

LUCIANO: I’ve had about five cigarettes already at this bar.

KING-CLEMENTS: What are you smoking?

LUCIANO: It’s Pueblo I got in Amsterdam that I rolled. But actually, I didn’t have a cigarette today at work. I’m trying to be more mindful of my body. But I had two glasses of wine before coming here and now I’m on a shot of Fernet and a High Life.

KING-CLEMENTS: A High Life. Delish.

LUCIANO: It’s classic. I haven’t had one until I came to New York. When I lived in Boston, the line cook combo was McGillicuddy’s and some cheap beer.

KING-CLEMENTS: Do you have any work crushes?

LUCIANO: I don’t think I have crushes, but my best friend Shane works with me, so having him there is very nice. But the kitchen I work in now is a lot of women. It’s women-run and it’s very queer as well. It’s nice. It’s very family-style. It’s unlike any other kitchen I’ve really worked in.

KING-CLEMENTS: What was today’s family meal?

LUCIANO: Today we had a cucumber salad with heirloom tomatoes, with grilled chicken. I brought back some stroopwaffle from Amsterdam, so I heated some of those up for dessert. Some people were smoking some cigarettes outside, sometimes the whole kitchen staff will. At King, no one really smoked cigarettes, so it was me by myself, maybe with one other person, but here it’s very family-oriented. 

KING-CLEMENTS: What do your DMs look like right now?

LUCIANO: A lot of “hi’s.” A lot of, “What’s up?” “Hey, you’re hot.” I can look at it, actually.

KING-CLEMENTS: Let’s look at it.

LUCIANO: I’ve been getting some really weird ones where people are on drugs and tripping really hard and they’re DMing me paragraphs. It’s kind of concerning. It kind of scares me.

KING-CLEMENTS: Let me read this aloud. I don’t even know where to start. It says, “Me, I broke up with my camera. Pink camera from Amazon. Thrifted laptop. New pronoun. I dropped yours. Ew. Ew. I hate that up.” That’s a snippet.

LUCIANO: It’s kind of insane.

KING-CLEMENTS: Do you respond?

LUCIANO: I respond to line cooks. I really appreciate people that cook, and I tell them how much I appreciate them putting themselves on the internet. It’s very hard and it’s very personal. Those people are very wholesome. I don’t really want people hitting on me because it’s like… I’m an awkward little guy. 

KING-CLEMENTS: So you were in Addison Rae’s music video. Who’s more performative, you or Addison Rae?

LUCIANO: [Laughs] I think we’re equal. I don’t know. She’s very talented. Once a camera turns on, I think both of us are just very locked in. She’s so wholesome. I saw her grabbing popcorn and Dippin’ Dots by the Staten Island Ferry. I think she’s with her best friend, and it’s very nice to see someone who’s very popular be a human. But once a camera turns on, I think we’re equal in that part where we’re just like, we have to act.

KING-CLEMENTS: Did you eat anything on set?

LUCIANO: They gave me a little spoonful of Dippin’ Dots, but other than that, I was a little bit nervous. I’ve been a cook for five years. I’ve never really acted in my life. 

KING-CLEMENTS: Did she DM you?

LUCIANO: Her manager did, and I was playing pool at a bar, and I was like, “LOL. This is fake.” Then one of my friends who works in film DM’d me and was like, “Hey, this guy’s asking for your number.” And then I was like, “Oh, wait. This is real.” I’m a very stressful person and a little bit gullible, so I was trying to be reasonable.

KING-CLEMENTS: What bar were you at?

LUCIANO: I was at Aunt Ginny’s in Ridgewood.

KING-CLEMENTS: What’s the best restaurant in New York City?

LUCIANO: Ooh, that’s a great question. I went to The Snail the other night, which is in Williamsburg. New American, very nice. A little fancy.

KING-CLEMENTS: What’d you eat?

LUCIANO: They sent me some stuff as well, which is very kind of them.

KING-CLEMENTS: Oh, is that happening now?

LUCIANO: I guess so. They followed me two months ago and I wanted to check it out. I had their tomato salad. Some fancy basil, I forget what it’s called. I got a crudo. I got a ceviche. I had this crazy pasta, sungold, it’s very seasonal, with basic butter sauce and it seemed like, cotija with it. Really just nicely seasoned. 

KING-CLEMENTS: Okay. And which restaurant in New York has the coolest service people?

LUCIANO: Really, anyone from service is very nice as long as they’re not some line cook that thinks he’s the shit. I don’t want some dirty ass, greasy ass guy that thinks he knows what he’s doing. But service people in general are very sweet. A lot of them are artists. Really, any restaurant people are easy to get along with. We’re all looking for something, we’re all doing something else here. 

KING-CLEMENTS: What’s the best cigarette you’ve ever had?

LUCIANO: I went to Berlin for two weeks and I got Pepe, the rolling tobacco. Nice, light, smooth, German. I used to smoke yellow American Spirits. I can’t smoke them anymore. It’s too harsh.

KING-CLEMENTS: It takes so long.

LUCIANO: It takes so long. I used to smoke Reds at one point when I was 21.

KING-CLEMENTS: You’re 24 now?

LUCIANO: I’m 24, yeah. I’m reaching unc status.

KING-CLEMENTS: You’re reaching what?

LUCIANO: Unc status, as the kids like to call it.

KING-CLEMENTS: Do you have any work drama?

LUCIANO: Not here, but yeah, I’ve had some. I’ve been in a sous chef position where some older guys don’t take me seriously, which frustrates me. I’ve done it for a while, been in a lot of kitchens in a lot of states. It hasn’t been just one place. I’m not green in any sort of capacity. That really irks me. I remember being 19 and some guy being, “Oh, is this your first job?”  Also, it can be incestuous. Mr. Bourdain talked about that. People in the service industry, you see them more than you see really anyone else in your life. You’re going to hook up with people. Some people date.

KING-CLEMENTS: Have you ever dated anyone that you’ve worked with?

LUCIANO: Never.

KING-CLEMENTS: That’s good.

LUCIANO: It is. You’re with these people for 40, 50 hours a week. You’re there for most of your days. You’re doing doubles, these people see you stressed out or just going through it.

KING-CLEMENTS: Have you read Kitchen Confidential?

LUCIANO: Yes, I have.

KING-CLEMENTS: Give us some wisdom to close.

LUCIANO: Let’s see. The hardest-working individuals are immigrants. It’s literally the dishwashers. I’ve learned so much Spanish. I’ve learned so many words, cuss words, a lot of slang from them. They’re the backbone. And that’s what Bourdain talks about with these people, without them you can’t do anything. Especially nowadays, that is who we need. It’s very frustrating. I’m telling you, if you don’t have a dishwasher, you’re fucked. You’re messed up.

KING-CLEMENTS: Your kitchen cannot function.

LUCIANO: No, it can’t. They’re bussing, they’re running, they’re serving, they’re dishwashing, they’re cooking. But on top of that, they have two other jobs. 

KING-CLEMENTS: And they’re so vulnerable right now.

LUCIANO: They’re the sweetest people. They want to learn English, I want to learn Spanish. They’re willing to learn and they’re willing to teach you. It makes you connect with someone in a way that you don’t usually. Other than that, yeah, it’s hard work. I have a bunch of burns from it. It’s not for the weak.

KING-CLEMENTS: Where can people find you?

LUCIANO: You can find me biking around Bushwick. You’ll find me at any techno club. I like to go to Basement and Nowadays a lot. I’ll be at some restaurants a little bit, but not that much. It’s very expensive here. I’m just hanging out.