The Surprising Connection Between Chef Frankie Celenza And Lady Gaga

TV personality and chef Frankie Celenza is the man to turn to when you need inspiration to enter the kitchen and prepare something delicious for dinner. Best known for his popular cooking series "Struggle Meals," Celenza makes it a point to prepare delicious, affordable recipes for his fans. The chef hopes that his content can inspire more people to experiment with recipes at home instead of relying on takeout all the time (via Food Sided).

Celenza's background is quite unusual, though. Per the OC Register, he studied music at the Tisch School of Arts and is a gifted vocalist. Plus, he's pretty good at playing the guitar and drums. No jokes here. 

You see, he always had inspiration right at home. His family is closely connected with the music industry: His father plays drums, while his brother is a music composer. Celenza's decision to pursue cooking full-time may seem unexpected, but his passion is rock solid. His primary reason for embracing cooking at first was simple: When he was living by himself, he discovered how important it was to master the basics. He said, "I left home in high school and I realized how good I had it with my family. Once I left, I was like, 'Oh, I gotta learn how to do all that. It doesn't just happen.'" 

But before he got into cooking professionally, he really was exploring the world of music and had come across Lady Gaga several times. 

Frankie Celenza explained to the OC Register that Lady Gaga was a member of the same class when he was studying at Tisch School of Arts. He said, "I was over at the recorded music school, which was completely separate from the drama kids and the TV kids, you know, where Lady Gaga went, even though she was my same year, they were all in a different school."

However, they often crossed paths and she even opened for Celenza's band a few times when they were performing in front of live audiences. Pretty cool, right?

Celenza does not regret changing his career path, though. He's actually pretty self-aware. He said, "I just don't write great songs. I can technically play music well, but I realized that there's a lot more people that want to be rock stars. I have a much better chance and probably have a bigger impact teaching people and making food good for everyone."