What you need to know
Valerie Bertinelli has created some new traditions over the years, but her Thanksgiving dinner these days is anything but traditional.
The 65-year-old celebrity chef spoke to PEOPLE at the 2025 Food & Wine Classic in Charleston about his Thanksgiving plans this year ahead of the upcoming holiday.
Bertinelli’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen, 34, with her late ex-husband Eddie Van Halen, is currently touring with his band Mammoth.
“It’s been Thanksgiving, and the last few years have been interesting because my son has been on the road,” she explained. “So, my first Thanksgiving, I think it was four years ago, was in Milan with my band Alter Bridge. And it was amazing. It was fun. But we didn’t see Turkey!”
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“The next year, I don’t know where we went. And last year we went to Houlihan’s in Secaucus (N.J.) and it was so much fun. The restaurant was packed so we all sat at the bar and the band was there, my brother, his son, his wife, they were all there. It was fun. And this year I think we’re going to Kansas City. I love it. So wherever the Wolf bus goes, that’s where they take us and that’s our Thanksgiving destination.” ”
Although the holiday season is full of travel and festivities, Bertinelli says she’s looking forward to taking time to slow down and relax in the coming weeks.
“I travel a lot, so I’m looking forward to some really great family and animal time. But I’m planning on not traveling a little bit in December, so that’s good,” she said.
Bertinelli said she is also looking forward to filming more episodes of The Drew Barrymore Show, where she is a lifestyle expert, and releasing her upcoming memoir, Getting Naked, in the coming months.
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The book, scheduled for release in March 2006, features Bertinelli naked in her living room on the cover, an idea she says she came up with herself.
“I told my editor that I thought I should be naked on the cover. After I said that, I thought, ‘Oh, now I have to actually do it!’ Because I don’t do that,” Bertinelli tells PEOPLE. “I’ve never done a nude scene in a movie or anything. But I’m surrounded by a team that I use all the time and they’re like friends and family to me. The photographer, he’s like a friend and family to me and his team.”
