Dan Pelosi will be in Chicago on Friday, September 5th at Everybody’s Coffee, located at 935 West Wilson Avenue, Chicago, IL 60640. Tickets are $52 and include a signed copy of Let’s Party. Get them here.
When the world shut down in early 2020, Dan Pelosi, who is now known to hundreds of thousands as GrossyPelosi, found himself in his kitchen seven days a week. What began as a creative outlet during an uncertain time evolved into a thriving online community, multiple cookbook deals, and brand partnerships that are a natural extension of his own life.
I met with Dan to talk about his journey, his philosophy on content creation, his new cookbook, and how he’s using food to connect people and inspire creativity in and out of the kitchen.
“I grew up in an Italian-American and Portuguese-American family, an indoor kid in everyone’s kitchen,” Dan laughs. “Food was always at the center. There were constant gatherings, with constant cooking. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was setting me up for everything I do now.”
Dan’s path to internet success started during the pandemic. He had already built a career in marketing and design, working as a creative director for the Ann Taylor brand, so when he suddenly found himself at home, what was once weekends spent cooking elaborate meals for friends turned into an everyday practice.
“I was making my own breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and because I’ve always been a bit of an oversharer online, I started posting everything that I was making. From how I made a sandwich, to my lunch, dinner spreads… it was this very organic journey that snowballed into book deals, brand partnerships, and a whole new life.”
Photo Credit: Johnny Miller
I immediately found Dan to be warm and gregarious – he’s the sort of person you want to be around, and you hope will invite you over – and that translates through the screen.
While many people like to share their food online, Dan’s approachability turned him into more than just a passionate home cook. He loves to host dinner parties and enjoys showcasing approachable menus that he hopes everyone will replicate in their own homes – and he’s not opposed to you putting your own spin on it.
“I share food with the purpose of spreading joy,” Dan explains. “I’m most excited about people picking a menu and saying they will host for the first time, and seeing how it goes, whether they make the whole menu or a few items.”
This is the heart of Dan’s second cookbook, Let’s Party: Recipes and Menus for Celebrating Every Day, which has a different approach than his first cookbook that focused on individual recipes. This time, Dan is weaving his love of gatherings into full menus.
“It’s written with guides and tips to bring your community together, and have some face time. I want to encourage people to take a break from their phones and interact. I’ve always done that through food, and I hope I get to see people using this book through that lens. The focus of this book is creating a full menu at home, and I hope my words help people feel better about inviting others into their homes. I hope that it inspires people to truly think about how they can create tablescapes and menus, and even the way they send an invite.”
Dan’s love for his community, and observing how his followers interact with his content, is one of the things that sets him apart. But unlike many overnight success stories, Dan’s pivot came with years of personal and professional growth behind it.
“I was 38, and I’d already worked on myself a lot – therapy, and I had a whole career in marketing and design. When people started connecting with my content, I understood the language of brand-building,” he explained.
Within weeks, he had a logo, a website, and a rallying cry: “This Too Shall Pasta.” The phrase became a unifying theme for the GrossyPelosi community during a time of uncertainty.
“I designed merch and sold T-shirts to raise money for SAGE, the country’s oldest organization supporting LGBTQ+ elders. These are people who’ve lived through two pandemics and are often less supported by family, so I wanted to help. That was the first moment I realized: I can design, create, and sell something meaningful. That’s when I knew Grossy was a brand.”
Being an influencer is a mix of business and personality, and I wanted to understand the balance between Dan’s previous professional experience and how he integrates his authentic personality while creating his posts and stories. While many influencers have content calendars and rigid strategies, Dan takes a different approach.
“My ‘strategy’ is to be myself, because that’s all I know how to do,” he explains. “I think that’s what draws people in. My content performs best when I bring in my world: my family, my boyfriend Gus, my travels, my home. Food is at the heart of it, but it’s really about life.”
This personal approach carries into his cookbooks, where loved ones and storytelling are just as much a part of the recipes as the ingredients themselves.
But if he had to pick, I wanted to know about his favorite content to create.
“My favorite thing to create? Carousel posts. I love beautiful photography – the linens, the tablecloths, the mood,” Dan says. “Reels and videos are fun, but a whole different beast – you have to be a filmmaker. For me, telling a story through photos feels natural.”
And then there are his Instagram Stories, which have become a signature part of the GrossyPelosi experience.
“I call them my daily journal. I share what I made for lunch, a song I’m obsessed with, or something silly Gus did. I even made a book called The Screenshot that’s basically a time capsule of my Stories. It’s where I connect most deeply with my audience.”
Beyond his own platforms, Dan also writes recipes for The New York Times. His dishes, often rooted in Italian-American comfort food, are infused with his playful, heartfelt approach that regularly introduces his audience to creative yet approachable ways to cook at home. It’s another way he extends his passion for food and community beyond social media, reaching a broader audience while staying true to his voice.
“Writing for NYT Cooking lets me share recipes that feel deeply personal but are also meant to bring people together. My goal is always to make cooking approachable, joyful, and fun.”
From hundreds of thousands of followers to working with The New York Times, having a brand as large as Dan’s has to involve a lot of people, right? Not in his case. Despite his large reach, Dan runs GrossyPelosi with an intentionally lean team.
“It’s really just me and Gus. He’s my creative producer and has a background in production and theater, so he helps bring my content to life. I’ve got my manager Adam, who handles brand deals and the money conversations I hate having, and my literary agent at WME. That’s it.”
The choice is deliberate: “I used to manage 15 people as a creative director. Now I get to be my own boss and build a team that feels personal, not corporate.”
With his small team, Dan still delivers on authenticity when it comes to brand partnerships.
“I work with brands I genuinely use and love, like KitchenAid and Barilla. They’re already in my kitchen,” he says. “The best partnerships are when brands want to enter my world, not the other way around. It has to feel organic to be successful.”
Because of his experience in marketing, Dan is intentional about shaping the business side of his platform.
“I was lucky to have savings, so I didn’t have to take deals just to survive. That gave me the freedom to be selective, and I think that’s why my audience trusts me.”
While Dan has built an impressive brand, he’s still dreaming big.
“I launched GrossyWorld, an online community where people can connect in themed chatrooms and share advice,” he says. “I want to grow that, host more live events, and maybe even do TV or video projects. And honestly? I just want to keep making people smile and cooking food that brings joy.”
Between his growing community, live events, and new cookbook, Dan shows no signs of slowing down. He’s excited to meet fans in person at his upcoming Chicago event at Everybody’s Coffee and continue building spaces both on- and offline, where people can connect through food, stories, and shared experiences.
And for anyone hoping to break into social media, Dan keeps it simple:
“The most interesting thing you have going for you is you. No one else can be you. And honestly, you can’t post too much. Most people don’t see half of what you share. Be yourself. Be annoying. Keep posting.”
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