FAB Exclusive: Nadia G's Tips for Halloween Style

Its Halloween week!  I always host a party to celebrate Hallows Eve.  I also sneak in some Gothic, scary style.  One of my favorite people who masters all of the above is Nadia Giosia (A.K.A. Nadia G.) the punk glam diva and chef of the Cooking Channel’s Bitchin’ Kitchen and Bite This with Nadia G.  Ms. Fabulous was able to grill her on macabre fashion and creepiest recipes:

Ms. Fabulous: We are big fans of your fashion style on the show, so we want to know what are you going to be wearing for Halloween?

Nadia G: Man! You know what I want to do this year; I’m a big fan of dressing up scary for Halloween. It sounds obvious, but a lot of people use it as an opportunity to kind of dress slutty. It’s cool, but where’s the scariness

What I’m going to do, I always loved those vintage nylons that have the seam running up the back. I’m going to be doing that as an open wound with stitches. It’s going to be pretty cool, essentially I don’t know how to describe exactly what I’m going to do, but I’m going to turn some of my favorite fashion elements and turn them into disgusting wounds.

Ms. Fab: Here at Ms. Fabulous, we always love your nails makeup on the show.  What are your best tips on looks for Halloween?

N. G: Well, you know, a style of nails that I have been doing a while, which is the half-moon around the cuticle. I think it’s cool for Halloween to use black nail polish with a white or blood red half-moon around the cuticle. 

Ms. Fab: We always appreciate that you have great cocktails on your show.  What do you suggest for an   elegant and spooky drink for a party?

N.G.: The idea is to come up with a cocktail that’s creepy and tastes great.  The issue with Halloween is that people tend to use a lot of coloring. In food, they use lots of fondant to make it look creepy but it doesn't taste good.  So for a cocktail, wine cocktails are really popular these days.  I like to make something called a Witches Brew. 

Essentially, you use Once Upon a Vine Chardonnay, pear nectar and savory thyme.  You have a drink that’s a little sweet, the pear contrasts with the thyme and it’s really delicious.  To make that creepy, I fill up a surgical glove with water and pop that in the freezer.  Remove the glove when it turns to ice and have this hand floating around the punch that adds a scary touch, but in a drink that’s sophisticated.

Ms. Fab: Speaking of Halloween food that looks scary, juvenile or doesn't taste good, what do you suggest for party hors d’oeuvres that actually taste good, a little Goth, but appropriate for foodies?

N.G.:  I love to make coffin-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches. It’s easy to cut out the coffin shape.  You can use pumpernickel bread for a darker look.  I stuff them full of Tallegio cheese, which is like an Italian brie, which is one of my favorite cheeses.  It melts so nice and gooey, add some caramelized onions and fresh apple slices and there you go.  You know you have a treat that’s coffin shaped, but not juvenile and tastes fantastic.

Ms. Fab: Is there a way to pair wine with Halloween candy?

N.G.: Oh sure! Red wines are notoriously great with chocolate.  What I like to make is bacon chocolate. That’s always delicious and easy to make as well. You can pair that with charming Pinot Noir.  It has the flavor of ripe cherry, black currant and red wines are just fantastic for chocolate.

Ms. Fab:  What are some easy, tongue-in-cheek décor elements one can use to decorate for Halloween?

N. G.: Get creative with it! There’s nothing I hate more than that cheap pharmacy décor where people end up spending a fortune on it, and then everyone ends up with the same stupid ridiculous skeletons.  What I like to do is think of things that are actually creepy, like decapitated doll heads; really old broken dolls that are pretty scary.  You can use pictures of your ex with a knife through them… Things like that, just think outside the box about what can be creepy for Halloween.

Ms. Fab: Did you do a lot of Trick or treating as a kid?

N. G.: Yep, I have the fillings to prove it!

Ms. Fab: Thank you so much for chatting with us!

Witches Brew

INGREDIENTS

• 4 oz Once Upon a Vine ™ Fairest Chardonnay™

• 2 oz Pear Nectar

• 3 Sprigs of thyme

• 1 oz Lime Juice

• 1/2 oz Simple Syrup

DIRECTIONS

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and strain into chilled glass.

For more cocktail recipes and treats, visit Once Upon a Vine's Wine Bar.