The 6 Most Delicious Moments in Stanley Tucci’s Career​

Tucci and Edie Falco, 58, starred in this Broadway two-hander by Terrence McNally about the aftermath of a first date between a short-order cook and a waitress who work together at a greasy spoon. Is it a one-night stand, or could the evening blossom into the start of a relationship? While the play received attention for its nudity and frank sexual talk, there’s also something sensual about McNally’s approach to food. At one point, Frankie whips up cold meat loaf sandwiches, and Johnny later cooks a Western omelet as they fight. As David Finkle wrote in his review for Theatermania.com, “The finesse with which Tucci breaks eggs and dices peppers for that omelet, as if he’d spent years wielding knives in a Benihana branch, is only a small part of the command with which he takes over his role.”​

Watch it: You can’t watch the play online, but you can see the meat loaf sandwich scene (1:38 mark) on YouTube

DON’T MISS THIS: Stanley Tucci Explores the Landscape of Love and Early Dementia​

Read: The Tucci Cookbook and The Tucci Table: Cooking With Family and Friends (2012/2014) ​

Taste isn’t the actor’s first foray into the world of writing books — in fact, Tucci has already published two cookbooks. In 2012, he collaborated with his parents and chef Gianni Scappin (whom he had shadowed when writing Big Night) on The Tucci Cookbook, a collection of 200 recipes and wine pairings, including that famously complicated timpano. Two years later, he wrote The Tucci Table with his wife, Felicity, a literary agent and the sister of his The Devil Wears Prada costar Emily Blunt.​

Buy it: The Tucci Cookbook and The Tucci Table: Cooking With Family and Friends on Amazon Prime

Watch: Instagram Negronis (2020) ​

In April 2020, as we were all adjusting to the new normal, Tucci released a three-minute Instagram tutorial in which he taught viewers how to make a perfect negroni. It’s a simple cocktail (gin, sweet vermouth, Campari and an orange slice) and a simple video (he’s just hanging out in his kitchen with Felicity), but it caught on like wildfire. Captain America himself, Chris Evans, reposted the video with the caption, “I. Love. Stanley. Tucci.” Food & Wine and Bon Appetit wrote about it. The Guardian even published an article entitled “Why is Stanley Tucci making a negroni so hot? I decided to investigate.” More than 1.2 million viewers (and counting) watched the video, and he’s gone on to release a slew of other bartending and cooking lessons, for dishes like “eggs in purgatory” and “11pm marinara and leftover pasta.”​

Watch it: The tutorial on Instagram

Watch: Julie & Julia (2009)

​In this warmhearted Nora Ephron biopic, Tucci stars as Paul Child, the diplomat husband of Julia Child, opposite his The Devil Wears Prada costar Meryl Streep. Paul gives her a copy of the Larousse Gastronomique cookbook, encourages her to pursue a culinary career, and later writes in a letter to his twin brother, “Julia in front of her stove has the same fascination for me as watching a kettle drummer at the symphony. The oven door opens and shuts so fast, you hardly notice the deft thrust of a spoon as she dips into a casserole and up to her mouth for a taste check like a perfectly timed double beat on the drums.” Food is a common thread throughout their relationship, best summed up by his simple toast to her at a party: “You are the butter to my bread, and the breath to my life.”

​Watch it: Julie & Julia on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube

Watch: Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (2021)

​Following in the footsteps of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, this six-part travelogue series (with more on the way!) took the Italian American actor all across the boot to learn about regional cooking — and he earned an Emmy for outstanding hosted nonfiction series in the process. Along the way, he dives into the history of pizza in Naples, samples balsamic vinegar in Emilia-Romagna, cooks up pizzoccheri (Lombard buckwheat noodles) in the Alps, and drinks wine created by a groundbreaking female winemaker in Sicily. Be warned: Don’t watch this show hungry! ​

Watch it: Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy on HBO Max

Nicholas DeRenzo is a contributing writer who covers entertainment and travel. Previously he was executive editor of United Airlines’ Hemispheres magazine and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Sunset and New York magazine.