Folks We've Met: Action Bronson
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Folks We've Met: Action Bronson
A rapper, a chef, and a kitchen takeover: what happens when Action Bronson hijacks dinner?
Ben Shewry
Published 23.10.25
Action in the kitchen at Leonardo's
Action: “What pizza do you want, Ben?”
Me: “Whatever you think, man!”
Action: “Leave it with me.”
A real pizza G
Action Bronson is at my table. In his thick Queens, New York, drawl, he is asking (demanding) to make me a pizza. A few moments ago he was a customer dining, but now, mid-meal, he’s decided to become my personal pizza chef and heads off to hijack the unsuspecting kitchen. Kylie and I laugh as the chefs try to play it cool while a hero sidelines them in their own kitchen.
Before he was a rapper and musician, Action Bronson was a chef. His father, an Albanian immigrant, owned a Middle Eastern restaurant in NYC where Action learnt to cook. He was a personal chef to the Mets, but after a fall on a wet kitchen floor resulted in a broken leg, he turned to rapping during recovery and, while he’s never forgotten where he came from, he’s never looked back.
Chef Nick Stanton and Action
A couple of years ago, as I was writing about the merry-go-round of awards and ‘best of’ lists in my chapter Bats and Hats for my book Uses for Obsession, the Spotify algorithm shot out a song by The Alchemist called “I Hate Everything”, featuring Action Bronson on the mic. I took it as a sign. I understood from Action’s lyrics, “Three Michelin stars I'm not impressed” that The Alchemist, who has produced beats and records for every hip-hop artist worth listening to, is not a fan of fancy restaurants. I wondered if we shared the same distrust, so I decided to drop Action a line.
Me: “What’s up with The Alchemist, man? Why is he not impressed by fancy restaurants? “
Action: “We’ve just been so many places around this world to eat and three Michelin star, four stars, this star, that star – every acclaimed chef that you could have imagined and no matter what, The Alchemist after that has to go get himself some sort of burger or chicken nuggets or something like that. He’s not impressed by three Michelin stars whatsoever. None of the theatrics of food get to him. He eats like a gerbil; he could literally just eat crackers as long as there’s a beat machine and play music and that’s it. That’s really what I meant – I just hate everything, he’s never satisfied. Three Michelin stars what? What the fuck does that even matter?”
What does it matter indeed? Touché, Action and The Alchemist.
Ben and Action in the Attica Kitchen for the Vice "Munchies" Youtube Show
Ben and Action in the Attica Kitchen in 2016
