Giada De Laurentiis Travels to Japan for Thanksgiving (Exclusive)

Giada De Laurentiis will fulfill a long travel goal this Turkey Day.

“I just decided yesterday that I’m going to go crazy and go to Japan, which is what I always wanted to do for Thanksgiving,” the celebrity chef, 54, told PEOPLE in October when discussing her upcoming cookbook: Super Italian.

“My family says, ‘What? You can’t leave because I’m usually the cook on Thanksgiving, so I think they’re freaking out a little bit,” she said. “But I’m so excited.”

The Food Network alum’s 16-year-old daughter, Jade, was on board with the plan, she added.

“I’ve been talking about it for five years,” De Laurentiis explained. “I think Jade is saying, ‘Let’s just do it so I don’t hear about it anymore.’ Anyway, yes, we will go to Tokyo and Kyoto and do a little excursion in Japan.”

“I’m so excited,” she said. “I think it will be very inspiring for me.”

The culinary star also opened up about her dynamic with her daughter, revealing that she doesn’t consider her only child a “mini-me.”

While Jade sings with her band and performs in musicals and plays, her proud mother says singing talent is not a trait she has passed on.

“It’s crazy because neither her dad nor I sing,” the chef told PEOPLE of her ex-husband Todd Thompson. “No one in my family sings. I mean, we all love music, but not like this. Maybe in the shower. I’m always speechless when it comes to Jade and her music, because she can write music.”

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Jade taught herself to play the keyboard during the pandemic, and is now learning to play the guitar herself, De Laurentiis said.

“I don’t have that gift, so I’m so in awe of her willingness and openness to teach herself these instruments, which are just beyond me,” she said. “I don’t play the piano. I don’t play any instruments. It’s really sad. It wasn’t something my parents emphasized, and I just never chose it.”

De Laurentiis said she is “really impressed” by Jade’s talent, and looks forward to seeing what path high school will take when she graduates.

She added: ‘I’m really fascinated to watch her because she looks nothing like me. I know everyone says, “She’s like a mini you,” but she really isn’t.

Super Italian: more than 110 delicious recipes with the healthiest foods in Italy will be released on March 4, 2025 and is available for pre-order now.