My Journey in Home Cooking
Meals & Other Things That Have Made Me A Better Cook
Meals & Other Things That Have Made Me A Better Cook
The other day, I attempted to log into my long-since-abandoned Snapchat account to access photos from 2016 when I was living with roommates and traveling nearly every week for photo work. The meals I would make were… not quite giving meal and were more so giving vague bowl of food. I wasn’t worried about it at the time and was simply trying to sustain myself with microwavable bags of broccoli and seasoning with my roommates’ seemingly ancient salt and pepper shakers and calling it a day. Unfortunately, the photos of the bowls of broccoli and ground beef nachos that I proudly displayed on my Snapchat story for all to see are lost to time (and the pre-archive feature on the app, lol), and maybe that’s for the best. As far as getting from there to here: I started with a massive love for food, and for that, I can thank my parents who went out of their way to expose me to unique dishes and meals they loved even when I was so little that I theoretically shouldn’t have liked what they were feeding me. Their plan worked—maybe a little too well—and I was a three-year-old who was obsessed with steamed artichokes dipped in butter and a fifth-grader asking for tapenade on my lunchbox sandwiches. 😭
And now, here are some of the restaurants and meals that have inspired me the most—I thought this would be a great place to share some of my all-time favorites—and some things I’ve learned along the way that have improved my home cooking experience.
2017
The first piece of photographic evidence of my cooking, and the only thing I actually knew how to make for a full calendar year. I was the queen of the sheet pan dinner where nothing was particularly delicious, though it all got the job done. From here, the main things that started to pique my interest in cooking were having the kitchen space, the tools, and the time to actually make something worthwhile.
2018
This is the year things began to change. I was drifting out of a vegan keto era ??? (what I was even eating, I’m not entirely sure), and was simultaneously spending a lot more time at home in the Northwest exploring new restaurants.
Proud Mary had recently opened in Portland and became an instant staple: the hash plate, soft scrambled eggs, and ricotta hotcakes changed the way I looked at breakfast.
Same with Sweedeedee!
And small plates from Luce, which is still one of the very best.
2019
This is when the great shift began. I was buying cookbooks and starting to make things I never had before, watching Youtube videos of chefs talking through their recipes, and trying to recreate things I’d eaten at restaurants. I was in a huge chard phase at the time, which I’m now so worn out on that I can’t even look at it, and this looks like an early attempt at seared ahi.
If I had to choose a meal that really set me off, it was this one at Prosper Et Fortunée that did it. On our last night in Paris, Nick and I were searching for a unique dinner spot and I came across this somewhere on the internet. You had to call the chef, Erich, in this case, for a reservation, and he answered on the first attempt letting me know there was one table left for dinner. There were only 10 tables in the room, and he cooked for everyone right there over the course of three hours. It was a truly life-changing experience: each dish was so elegant and perfectly thought through. I wanted to know how to make everything and was immediately dreaming of cooking like Erich. *If you find yourself in Paris at any point, this is my number one recommendation! It was only about $150/person, which is a lot less than I feel it should’ve been for how charming and delicious the whole experience was.
More of the same throughout 2019— lots of constant cooking, learning to read through recipes fully before starting to cook (or even prior to grocery shopping to really set expectations), and experimenting with new dishes.
2020
In the early months of the year, I discovered Joshua' McFadden’s Kale Salad and Alison Roman’s Carmelized Shallot Pasta. They pair perfectly together, are some of my favorite dishes for hosting, and they’ve turned into the things I make the most when nothing else sounds good.
If you’re ever in Portland, please put Canard at the top of your list. Everything they make is wonderful and simply can’t be missed. This became our pandemic take-out comfort meal and I wouldn’t have had it any other way 🍔
Naturally, as the year went on— all there was to do was cook. Here’s this carrot recipe, btw.
I made my way through Six Seasons, cooking with kohlrabi and rutabagas— vegetables I’d never tried before. I became obsessed with perfecting carbonara and stopping into Providore for house-made pasta and Calabrian chili oil. If you’ve got a cute little specialty grocer wherever you are, ask an employee what some of their favorite things are or ask for a recommendation on what to get if you’re only walking away with one thing. One of the finest things in this life, IMHO, is trying local treats, infused olive oils, tinned fish, and the like.
2021
The year I got good at steak, discovered my favorite salad of all time (below), moved to California, and started to invest in better cooking gear. I will note that I spent years without good knives or cutting boards, and was still able to pull things off. In hindsight, prioritizing better gear would’ve made my life a little easier, but you can ultimately make do with not a lot!
The salad in question! I love this recipe so much and make it on every trip with friends— each time messaging the Airbnb host to make sure they have a functioning blender so I can whip this up lol
My counter space in Portland felt limited, but was still more significant than what was to come in LA 🤪
This has been my favorite pizza on the planet since 2006, better than anything I’ve had in New York or Italy (I know, I know) 🫠 and if you’ve been following along for any amount of time you probably know that by now. It’s not just me, it’s routinely at the top of various lists of the best pizza in the world. Ken’s is unassuming and has looked exactly the same since I first started going when I was little: it’s casual, affordable, and disarming, and you’ll probably be wondering what the hype is all about when you first get there. Naturally, this was my final meal in Portland before moving :)
The first thing I made after the long trek to California: a colorful brunch bowl, which really propelled me into a year of brunch bowls, one of the things I now love to make the most!
As the summer went on, I started leaning into what sounded good without relying on recipes: this was a chivey, limey, cashew dressing/sauce paired with crispy-skinned salmon.
And dreaming up ways to consume all of the freshest seasonal produce in new ways.
An early encounter with Courage Bagels inspired me to start making my own which has been an exciting challenge because baking doesn't quite feel second nature to me. Also, my best advice for successfully getting a bagel from Courage without waiting in line for an hour is to go 1-2 hours before closing on a weekday, or 15 minutes before they open on any day of the week. It’s worth it, I promise! I get the burnt everything bagel with spring onion cream cheese or the ‘run it thru the garden’, also on a burnt everything bagel !
Destroyer also changed the game for me— incredible Nordic-inspired breakfast, lunch, and coffee.
2021 consisted of leaning into instincts and simply making an attempt vs. looking up a recipe which I balanced out with figuring out proper techniques here and there— like poaching an egg without a silicone egg poaching cup from Target, and making things like confit vegetables and roasting whole chickens for the first time.
2022
In 2022, I was interested in the classics: coddled eggs, Chicken Provençal and chicken soup, chopped salads, spicy shrimp in purgatory, the perfect burgers and herby chicken salads, a thick and crunchy BLT, an exquisite jammy egg. It’s really thrilling to come up with the perfect recreation of something you’ve had a million times and turn it into something you cannot wait to eat. Here’s a highlight reel with my favorites from the year!
Also started doing regular dinners with friends which has made cooking all the more enjoyable and rewarding— there seem to be so many cookbook clubs emerging and you could probably find one in your area on TikTok if you’re looking for more cooking-focused friends!
Some favorite restaurant moments from this year: the turkey club from Sqirl…. Nick and I legally have to split this sandwich twice a month to function.
Coddled eggs and za’atar toast from Tartine in SF! One of the best breakfasts of the year 🏆
Also, this entire meal from Routier. Cannot recommend this spot enough if you find yourself in SF at any point.
2023
Had so many amazing dishes in Portland— you can see my reccs here!
Since moving to LA, Saffy’s has become my very favorite meal. Get the lobster skewer 🙏🏻 and the little gem salad and the hummus full and the bread and every skewer possible and the soft serve xoxo
2023
Okay, going to wrap this up here. I could go on and on but this year has been pretty akin to last and has consisted more of perfecting my favorites and continuing to rely more on what seems like a good course of action instead of meticulously following recipes and letting my favorite restaurants inspire what I’m making. And as you know because you’re here, I’ve been rounding up the best things I’ve been making and publishing my favorite recipes here on For Dining since the spring. I very much appreciate you being here! Thanks for reading 💙