Interview: Antoni Porowski Explores What Makes a Destination Truly "Best of the World"

Antoni Porowski is no stranger to guiding. As the food expert on Queer Eye, he spent years helping people transform their relationship with cooking and, by extension, themselves. Now, with Best of the World, his second series for National Geographic, he's channeling that same instinct for human connection into something bigger, a globe-trotting exploration of the people, places, and meals that make a destination truly worth visiting. Ahead of the series premiere, I spoke with Porowski about the challenge of defining "best," why pronunciation matters more than people think, and why Taylor Swift keeps coming up in conversation.

Alex: This is your second National Geographic series, this one inspired by the format of Nat Geo's "Best of the World" lists. Can you talk about your vision for the show and how each episode gets structured — a tourist destination, a unique restaurant, a quick-service spot, a unique experience, some local color, a city cultural moment?

Antoni Porowski: When Nat Geo first came to me with the idea — "We have this list, we've been doing it since 2010, 2012, we want to make a show about it" — my immediate reaction was, how the hell are we going to tackle the subjectivity that comes with naming something 'best'? National Geographic has gravitas. I don't. I just have my opinions.

What we tried to really lean into — and where we were all aligned — was focusing on the human stories, because that's the through line when I travel. Yes, food is really important, but the stuff I keep coming back to is like, there was a grandma on the edge of that mountainside who was selling smoked cheese, who had me buy ten of them when I meant to buy one, and she's been doing this for 70 years. And that's actually a true story from when I went to Poland with my dad.

It's always the people. That's the stuff that inspires me, that keeps drawing me back, that allows me to feel connection and a little less lonely in the world. Whether you're tackling an institution like Big Ben that millions of people have experienced, or a tiny little taquería in Roma Norte in Mexico City, there's always a person keeping that thing going. When you take something that's a concept and get curious and personalize it, people watching either as a travel guide or just to understand a culture they've never had access to will always find humanity shining through.

Alex: I'd actually disagree that you don't have gravitas, and one of the ways you deliver it is through pronunciation. Throughout the show, you're speaking Spanish in Mexico City, pronouncing indigenous place names in New York, and showing off your French in Paris. How important is it to you to get those pronunciations right?

Antoni Porowski: Thank you for saying that. It's something I learned from my parents whenever we traveled. They instilled in me the idea that this isn't your turf — this is not your home. It is an honor and a privilege to travel wherever you are, whether it's a camping village 20 minutes outside of Montreal or flying you to Europe. And so you show respect. They would make us learn at least five to ten words so we could show we were making the effort. You're probably not going to learn an entire language before you go somewhere, but showing someone you're actually trying to understand — approaching with curiosity as opposed to assumptions — I think is the way to do it.

The biggest lesson I ever had with that was in Japan, where I probably felt the biggest culture shock of any travel I've done. Very limited English-speaking, and even the writing was something I had no access to or understanding of. It humbles you. It forces you to get a little curious, a little more sensitive, and to just read the room. My intention is always to be respectful, because this isn't my home, but I want to showcase how beautiful it is and ask all the questions I want to freely.

Alex: Can you talk about the decision to curate your own list for each city rather than basing the show directly on Nat Geo's established lists? Was that more of a logistical need — we're going to Mexico City, we need an hour of content — or were you passionate about finding your own things?

Antoni Porowski: It was all of those things. We had Nat Geo, we had Twofour, a UK-based production company, and they struggled a bit with the London locations since most of the team are Brits with very strong opinions about what should be included. With New York, we were torn between experiencing the city the way I have over the past 15 years, versus being shown a side I probably wouldn't have sought out on my own.

Thankfully, we chose the latter. We got to explore the New York City Marathon, which I had been actively avoiding since I moved here — just too many people. And now I'm completely humbled and embarrassed that I never leaned into it, because meeting the volunteers, the people not only running but cheering them on, the woman who finished dead last a few years ago and now volunteers to put medals around people's necks as one of the first faces they see at the finish line, that was such a beautiful, unifying thing. The very thing I'd been avoiding reminded me of how deeply in love I am with this city and why I moved here in the first place.

Alex: Fans who know you from Queer Eye and No Taste Like Home know you best when food is involved, and that's very much in the DNA of this show. How important was it in each destination to meet with chefs, peek into their kitchens, and see their process?

Antoni Porowski: That's just an extension of who I already am. Wherever I travel — whether it's 24, 48 hours, or a week or two — I always have a list of places I want to check out. But food continues to tell me so much about a people. On No Taste Like Home, learning about street food in Senegal, where there was a baguette with ndambé — it offered me a glimpse into the history of colonialism and the French coming in and then leaving, and the Senegalese saying, we're going to make the baguette better, a little softer, and fill it with this incredible bean stew we've been making for centuries.

Any type of food, when you unpack it, there's always a story. And when you have somebody who chooses to make a dish with intention — when it's personal — I can taste that, and I need to know what's at the bottom of it. I want to meet that grandma, through a translator or Google Translate, just to understand why this is so incredible. Because the flavors and technique matter, but it's always the story behind it and the human who made it. It's such an intimate thing to show yourself through your food. Songwriters do it with their music. I do it with the meals I prepare for my loved ones. It's in my DNA.

Alex: My last question is on that note. On No Taste Like Home, you got to pair with someone famous for a meaningful experience. Taylor Swift is mentioned a lot in Best of the World. Is she your number one dream get?

Antoni Porowski: I'm not as self-aware as I thought, apparently! It's not a secret to anybody, I'm just a big fan of her as a human being with the most beautiful heart, and also as the Shakespeare of our time. In her own right, of course, not being derivative of a male, just want to clarify.

I think it would be a fascinating experience. I don't know her family history, but that's something I'd be really curious to explore. She is such a deeply curious, inquisitive, caring person. She loves to understand how people's brains work and is very driven by the psychology of things, which I can definitely relate to. On No Taste Like Home, when we had Issa Rae understanding that she's standing on the shoulders of giants — we all have that. And for someone who is so finely tuned into relaying emotions and feelings into vocabulary that millions of people can see themselves in, I think it would be an incredible journey. Start a petition.

Alex: Nat Geo, please get on that. Congratulations, Antoni — I can't wait for the world to check out Best of the World.

Best of the World with Antoni Porowski premieres Sunday, June 7th, at 9/8c on National Geographic. All four episodes will be available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu beginning Monday, June 8th.