Welcome back to the Pizza Interview, a series from New York Times Cooking where the Q&A has a catch: Our guests have to make pizza.
In episodes of the Pizza Interview, we often get a sense of how much our guests cook: Do they love a big project? Do they take more of a supporting role in the kitchen? Do they avoid it at all costs?
The cast of the Netflix show “The Four Seasons” — Tina Fey, Will Forte and Kerri Kenney-Silver — recently visited our kitchen studio to promote their latest season. And it turns out that, in the kitchen, both Ms. Fey and Mr. Forte find themselves in supporting roles.
“I’m not a natural cook by any means,” Ms. Fey says in the interview. “My husband is a natural, great cook. So over the last 15 years, I’ve slowly been gathering a handful of moves.”
One of her moves? Melissa Clark’s lemony white bean soup with turkey and greens.
Ms. Fey is not alone in her admiration for this soup recipe, which has more than 21,000 reviews and a five-star rating. As one reader put it, it’s “INCREDIBLE” in all caps.
To find out what else Ms. Fey says she can cook and how the stars’ pizzas turned out, watch the full video below (or on YouTube). Read ahead for excerpts and outtakes, which have been edited and condensed.
Tina Fey, Will Forte and Kerri Kenney-Silver stop by the New York Times studio kitchen to make pizza and talk about “The Four Seasons.”Credit…Victoria Chen
Have you ever made a pizza before?
TINA FEY Yes, I feel like I’ve been to little kid birthday parties where you make your own pizza. I’ve made pizza on the grill before.
KERRI KENNEY-SILVER Now you’re bragging.
WILL FORTE I have placed frozen pizzas in an oven.
KENNEY-SILVER I place a lot of frozen pizzas in an oven, but I’ve also tried to make pizzas before. It hasn’t been all that successful. But edible.
FEY There’s no wrong way to make a pizza, though. No matter how it comes out, it’s delicious.
KENNEY-SILVER Well, you haven’t had mine.
Do you like to cook?
FEY I kind of do like to cook. I’m not a natural cook by any means. My husband is a natural, great cook. So over the last 15 years, I’ve slowly been gathering a handful of moves.
FORTE I like to cook, but I hardly do it. My wife is such an amazing cook that I usually just like to go in and help her. I’m her sous-chef.
KENNEY-SILVER I’m sorry. This is not the place to be saying this: I don’t like to cook.
FEY But Kerri’s an amazing baker!
KENNEY-SILVER But I do love baking!
FEY She makes elaborate, gorgeous, professional-looking cakes.
KENNEY-SILVER This is true. I do do that, but we’re not doing that today.
What’s your favorite pizza place?
FEY This is going to be controversial because we’re in Manhattan. I think some of my favorite pizza is Manco & Manco Pizza. Ocean City, N.J. Don’t at me. Because I don’t have any public accounts.
FORTE I’m a real deep-dish person. I like a very deep pizza. I can’t even remember the name of it, but we used to get these pizzas from Chicago.
FEY Oh yeah, Steve Carell sends those as gifts to people sometimes.
FORTE Yes, do you remember the name of it?
FEY Yeah, give me one hour. It’s Lou Malnati’s!
FORTE That’s it!
KENNEY-SILVER I’m a deep dish, too. I’m going to go with the same.
FEY Also, Amy’s spinach frozen pizza that our kids all eat. Sometimes, the most delicious thing you have in a year.
KENNEY-SILVER Or three times a week.
Credit…Taylor Miller for The New York Times
Growing up, what was your family’s pizza order?
FEY In the ’70s, we didn’t even have money to get pizza.
KENNEY-SILVER I know, I was going to say. Did we even order food in the ’70s?
FEY Like, we didn’t get pizza. Sometimes after a sporting event, after a Little League game, you would go to a brick-and-mortar Pizza Hut. There was one by my middle school. There was also tons of like, Greek-owned kind of like, they would be pizza or cheesesteaks, but we would get cheesesteaks.
FORTE We were well-off, so we got pizza quite a bit.
FEY Wow.
KENNEY-SILVER Wow, guy.
Do you like pineapple on pizza?
FEY I do not.
KENNEY-SILVER In the same way that I don’t think cottage cheese should even exist. I do not think pineapple belongs on pizza. And you can at me.
FORTE I like cottage cheese. And I am fine with pineapple on pizza. In the same way that anything can be art, I think anything can be pizza.
From left, Tina Fey, Will Forte and Kerri Kenney-Silver of “The Four Seasons.”Credit…Taylor Miller for The New York Times
Have you ever worked in the food service industry?
FEY The only time I worked in food service was when I was 14. I worked at a swim club snack bar where I was in charge of scooping what we would call water ice. Italian ice. And making fries, onion rings, cheesesteaks, burgers.
KENNEY-SILVER I waitressed, and it didn’t go great. Not even waitress, I didn’t make it above bus person. But I did work for many years in a place here in New York called the Cleaver Company by the brilliant Mary Cleaver. It was a catering company. I used to work in the bakery. I had a TV show at the time, but I was still making cookies because I enjoyed it so much. So I would go shoot my show and then go make cookies all night.
If the cast of “The Four Seasons” opened a restaurant, what would everyone’s role be?
FEY Ooh, I think Colman [Domingo] would be the host. Colman is very front of house. Clearly Will is the head chef. I think I’m probably doing the books in the back. They’re like, “Don’t go out front, you.”
KENNEY-SILVER I’ll do the baking.
FEY Marco [Calvani]’s serving. Yeah, you’re baking!
KENNEY-SILVER Oh, Marco’s for sure serving.
FEY All right, I’ll be the chef, but I can only make three things: chicken cutlets, turkey white bean and kale soup from this app and pancakes.
If you were a food dish, what would you be? Can you answer for each other?
FEY I think you’re like [pointing at Kerri] — I feel like you’re a bag of mixed candy.
KENNEY-SILVER Ooh, that’s such a compliment!
FORTE Like a tart yogurt with a bunch of different toppings on it.
KENNEY-SILVER Aw, guys!
FORTE Not that your personality is tart.
KENNEY-SILVER What would Will be?
FEY There’s a California element, right?
KENNEY-SILVER It’s healthy, but it’s also fun.
FORTE Am I allowed to pitch in on mine? Turkey burger?
FEY California-style turkey burger with like, avocado.
KENNEY-SILVER Fun stuff on it. Maybe fries on the side.
FEY Pickled onions and sweet potato fries.
KENNEY-SILVER Yeah!
FEY OK, what about me? Cream of wheat.
KENNEY-SILVER It would be something of substance because of your brain. Something sweet and delicious.
FORTE Classic, iconic meal.
KENNEY-SILVER Classic. Classy. She’s a tarte Tatin. Because she’s classy, she wears glasses.
FORTE It comes with Champagne, and it comes with a little pickle juice shot.
FEY Ooh! It’s fun and a little something to ruin it.
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