With its black cabinetry and oversized island, Liza Koshy’s Los Angeles kitchen is certainly contemporary in style. But around the holidays, the actor and host, who first gained popularity on the now defunct social media platform Vine and parlayed that into a successful career on YouTube, as well as traditional film and TV, is all about leaning into cozy traditions.
In a new video, Koshy shows AD how she prepares to host a holiday party at her home, which was designed by Tyka Pryde Edwards. “We gotta set the mood,” says Koshy, lighting a festive row of white taper candles in brass candlesticks tied with red ribbons lining the windowsill over her kitchen sink. Greenery sprinkled with pine cones and red berries adds cheer to the space, and the pièce de résistance of her holiday decor is definitely a Santa Claus figurine “from the 1950s that I inherited,” says the Texas native, noting that it belonged to her grandmother and her mother before her. “For whatever reason though, he does look like Steve Buscemi,” she continues, pulling down the little doll’s white beard to reveal more of its facial features. There’s no denying the resemblance.
Koshy, who rang in 2023 in Times Square cohosting Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve alongside Ryan Seacrest, proceeds to prepare a meal consisting of baked-brie bites, harissa date chicken with yogurt and dill, and a spiked pumpkin spice dirty chai latte. She uses chai tea concentrate in her drink, and says her father, who hails from Kerala, India, “would never” allow this in his home. “My dad makes chai from scratch.”
And while the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts star is willing to cut corners when it comes to her signature cocktail, for her chicken dish she pulls out a gorgeous triangular wood spice box that her sister brought back from a recent trip to their “fatherland.” As the chicken simmers (we can’t help but notice that Koshy is a member of the Our Place Pan club) it’s time for her to put on her party dress and prepare to greet her guests.
Shop out the look of the house here ⤵
The soirée will take place in her living room, which is directly adjacent to the kitchen and incorporates a palette of brown, cream, and green, and plenty of rich textures for a warm and cozy feel. “It’s only allowed during the holidays that you can eat in your living room,” says Koshy, perched on a sculptural green velvet chair from Sunbeam Vintage in LA. (Many of her other pieces are BR Home, Pottery Barn, or CB2.) Two sides of the room feature floor-to-ceiling brown drapes, while the rest of the walls, and the ceiling, are painted a brownish color with a highly textural effect.