Off-Leash With Steve Schirripa & WillieBoy

Welcome to Off-Leash, a series spotlighting Biche’s community of tastemaking dogs and humans.

Steve Schirripa and The Sopranos go together like peanut butter and jelly, but Steve Schirripa and WillieBoy go together like corn chips and dog paws. The actor, who you might recognize for his iconic portrayal as Bobby “Bacala" Baccalieri on The Sopranos, is quickly becoming known for another role: dog dad.

A longtime dog lover, Steve took home WillieBoy, a Miniature Dachshund, in 2019. “We’ve been inseparable ever since,” he says. Six years later, the two regularly appear together on Steve’s Instagram, sharing bites of pizza and pasta at New York establishments like Luigi’s Pizza and Da Nico.

Their heartwarming Instagram content has inspired Steve’s latest project, a children’s book called WillieBoy Eats the World, “about a guy and his dog who make friends at the dog park and each breed introduces them to a new type of cuisine and encourages them to step outside of their comfort zone,” in Steve’s words. “After all, our favorite thing to do together is eat — especially in New York, where we live with Willie’s mom.”

Ahead of the book’s launch, we chatted with Steve and WillieBoy about what they’ve been eating, reading, watching, and barking at