Credit: Ray Kachatorian

The Power of Simplicity: Giada De Laurentiis Is Letting Go to Focus In

10 Minute read

20 Apr 2025

Journalist

With a bestselling cookbook, a growing lifestyle brand, and a renewed creative focus, Giada De Laurentiis is entering a new chapter—leaner, clearer, and more intentional than ever.

Giada De Laurentiis is running late—but for good reason. She’s juggling a full slate of projects: a television career, a growing lifestyle brand, multiple restaurants, and a new cookbook that’s already landed on the New York Times bestseller list. But when she finally sits down to talk, the first thing she wants to discuss isn’t strategy or scaling. It’s simplicity.

“I’ve simplified all of my jobs a lot,” she says. “I don’t want to pay the bills. I don’t want to micromanage anymore. I want to spend my time doing the parts of my job that I love.”

For De Laurentiis, simplicity isn’t a retreat—it’s a refinement. It’s not about doing less, but doing what matters most: creating vibrant food, sharing Italian culture, and making it all feel accessible. Her new cookbook, Super-Italian, distills decades of experience into recipes that are nutrient-rich, flavor-forward, and intentionally pared down. But the philosophy behind them runs deeper than minimal ingredient lists.

This is a chef, entrepreneur, and cultural translator who’s learned—through burnout, evolution, and age—that clarity is power. Simplicity is her lens, her lifestyle, and, increasingly, her legacy.

Simplicity as a Survival Strategy

In recent years, Giada De Laurentiis has spent less time expanding her reach and more time refining it. Not less ambitious—just less chaotic. More distilled. More intentional.

“I’ve learned to be more protective of my time,” she said. “If it doesn’t serve the bigger picture—or bring some joy—I let it go.”

At this point in her career, De Laurentiis knows what drives her—and what doesn’t. She no longer gets lost in the minutiae or bogs herself down with logistics. She’s clearer than ever on where she wants to spend her time: in the creative space. That’s where she thrives. Envisioning recipes. Crafting menus. Traveling. Sourcing ingredients. Building a brand around not just Italian food, but a whole way of thinking and living.

Simplicity isn’t just how she cooks—it’s how she works. It’s how she lives. And Super-Italian, her latest cookbook, is just one reflection of that larger mindset. The book is brighter and more relaxed than her previous work, a snapshot of where she is now—personally, professionally, nutritionally. Not a reinvention, but a recalibration.

“I think we overcomplicate a lot of things,” she said. “You don’t need a lot.”

Chicken Piccata Meatballs. Credit: Ray Kachatorian

Giada's new cookbook Super-Italian.

A Taste That Keeps Changing

As she’s gotten older, De Laurentiis has found her palate shifting in unexpected ways. The sweet tooth has dulled. The punchy, complex flavors she once steered clear of—bitters like radicchio, briny fish like sardines— now excites her. “I too have, over time, loved more and more bitter foods that I did not love when I was younger,” she said. “Sardines? I wouldn’t touch them before. Now I eat them all the time.”

That evolution shows up in her cooking, but also in her thinking. At 54, she’s less interested in trends and more drawn to depth—flavor, yes, but also meaning. In Super-Italian, she introduces nutrient-dense condiments like anchovy-laced breadcrumbs and citrusy Parmesan dressings, not because they’re buzzy, but because they’re practical. Real food, made better.

She’s also less concerned with labels. “Americans think eating healthy just means eating salads,” she said. “But that’s not sustainable. We need to eat better—not less. And we need to find pleasure in it.”

The dishes in her newest cookbook reflect that balance. Lighter, brighter takes on comfort food. Chicken piccata meatballs. Sardine-studded pasta. Ingredients she once shied away from now form the backbone of her pantry—and her philosophy.

That palate shift isn’t just about flavor. It’s about how she’s choosing to live. “In your 50s, you start to realize you have fewer days ahead of you than behind you,” she said. “And you start asking: what do I want to spend the rest of this time doing?”

“I want to better people’s lives in the kitchen, through food and through Italian culture,” she said. “If I can do that—even a little bit—I’ve done my job.”

Giada tossing pasta. Credit: Ray Kachatorian

Giada with Giadzy Pasta. Credit: Ray Kachatorian

Owning the Empire

De Laurentiis is the first to admit she didn’t always know how to let go. “I used to micromanage everything,” she said. “I don’t do that anymore.” These days, she’s clear about where her energy goes: toward the creative vision, not the daily grind.

Across her restaurants in Las Vegas and Scottsdale, her lifestyle platform Giadzy, and her expanding retail presence, she sees her role less as operator and more as curator. “I’m not in the weeds anymore,” she said. “My job now is to see the whole picture—creatively, strategically—and make sure it still reflects who I am.”

That clarity didn’t come overnight. She described her business evolution as a slow peeling away of control—one that’s allowed her to focus on big-picture storytelling, recipe development, and sourcing Italian ingredients that connect back to her heritage. But it hasn’t all been smooth scaling. Giadzy, in particular, has faced growing pains as tariffs, supply chain shifts, and global economic realities have forced her to reevaluate how to grow a brand that depends on importing from Italy.

Still, she’s pivoting. Retail partnerships are expanding. The product line is evolving. And through it all, she remains the brand’s beating heart—shaping not just what Giadzy sells, but why it matters. “My job is making information, especially about Italian culture and food, digestible,” she said. “If I make it too gourmet, too highfalutin, I lose people. And then I lose the opportunity to get them to try something new.”

A Life in Chapters

For De Laurentiis, storytelling isn’t just a professional skill—it’s how she makes sense of her life. “I come from a movie-making family,” she said. “My grandfather made over 600 films, so I see my life in stories. That’s how I understand everything—through chapters.”

It’s why her work, from cookbooks to restaurants to Giadzy, feels personal without being precious. Each phase reflects a different chapter—early television fame, wellness wake-up calls, pandemic pivots, new ventures. And now, Super-Italian, which feels both like a return to form and a quiet revolution.

“I want to better people’s lives in the kitchen, through food and through Italian culture,” she said. “If I can do that—even a little bit—I’ve done my job.”

Giada De Laurentiis isn’t slowing down. But she is focusing in. And for a woman who’s long championed simplicity and joy in the kitchen—this might be her most intentional chapter yet.

The Chef

Giada De Laurentiis is an Emmy Award–winning television personality, longtime NBC Today show contributor, and the author of 11 New York Times bestselling cookbooks, including her latest title, Super-Italian. She is the founder of Giadzy, a lifestyle and e-commerce platform offering recipes, travel tips, curated Italian products, and thoughtful insights into Italian culture. With a culinary career spanning more than two decades, De Laurentiis remains one of the most recognizable and influential voices in food media today.

20 Apr 2025