Meet Rachel Nichols — a New York City-based Chef Guided by Intention, Togetherness and Respect for the Planet
Rachel’s ethos: “I create everyday food for people who value what they eat. I spent the last 8 years working on farms and in New York City restaurants. To be able to share what I beIieve is essential to all people : cooking and eating with intention, togetherness and respect for the planet. Founded on these principles, I offer expertly cooked meals, tailored to clients’ tastes and dietary needs.”
1. What are the three words you would use to define the journey that has brought you to this point in your life, your career, your development?
Necessary
Humbling
Grounding
Do you want to tell us a bit more about this journey?
Way back when I was in Undergrad at Temple University, I worked in restaurants as a side job. I knew immediately that I wanted to work in restaurants in my future because I witnessed a very strong community amongst the servers; my 19-year-old self saw a group of really cool people getting along really well, working together in a unique space. (The restaurant was called Sabrina’s Cafe and it was in an old converted house in South Philadelphia.) There was always a feeling of warmth as everyone worked hard together and had fun while doing so.
I didn’t actually need a job at the time: my parents were helping me through school, but I wanted to be engaged in real life while in school so I worked there for a year and a half (which is long at 19 years old!). I met great friends there and was sad to part when I graduated and tried to find a job in Media and Journalism, which is what I studied.
The hunt for a different type of job didn’t last long. I saw a summer program in Chester County, PA working on a CSA. I jumped on the opportunity. This was my first exposure to real food. Before this, I had no idea what went into growing food. This experience was completely transformative.
I have a vivid memory from that summer: I was standing in the kitchen of the Waldorf School where we helped afternoon programs with kids (cooking lessons). I had volunteered to be the person who would assist the head of the cooking lessons. I was standing in that kitchen washing bunches and bunches of basil, looking out a window from the sink into the garden. The feeling I had at that moment is hard to describe but I knew just then that I had never felt so engaged in my life. The smell of the basil and the feeling I got from using my hands to complete such a simple task (washing and picking basil) felt so satisfying. It was like nothing I had ever experienced.
It became clear to me after that short summer program that I needed to know how to cook. I walked into a restaurant in Philadelphia and got a job in a kitchen that served a very busy breakfast and lunch. I chose that restaurant because the chef-owner made everything from scratch, even the bread. I knew from my farm work that I needed a place that had integrity, or practiced ‘scratch cooking.’ I was worked so hard in that restaurant for a mere $7.50/hr. I felt like a complete failure. My family didn’t understand my choice to work there. The whole experience made me question myself and I struggled. But something told me to keep going and that this journey would pan out to be meaningful and important.
Nine gruelling months later, I moved to New York City looking for new inspiration to figure out what I wanted to be. I saw that in NY, there were a lot of women that were being profiled as chefs, cookbook writers and people I looked up to. This was not the case in Philly. I knew that moving to New York meant starting a career though I had no game plan whatsoever. I took a leap and ended up as a line cook at The Smile. That was over seven years ago. I then moved up and up in the kitchen and ended up managing my own kitchen and catering side of the business as Head Chef at The Smile to Go.
2. What are the 3-5 food ingredients that you couldn’t cook / live without?
Lemon, salt, olive oil.
Oh and any vinegar - and from there you can do a lot of things. I’m basically just pickling everything.
3. Is there a project that you’re working on that you’re excited about and could share with us?
I wish there were! I’m floating a bit right now. I took a course at the Natural Gourmet Institute to understand how to cook with people with health issues; this has been an element of interest of mine for awhile. There I learned about health-supportive cooking and about understanding food as a means to deepening a connection with oneself. I have become weary of a lot of the trends around wellness and people taking ownership of expertise in a field that I don’t necessarily feel comfortable advising people on.
My goal right now in my private cheffing is to connect people with their desires; it’s to make food about joy and pleasure and not get too hung up on the nutrient part — let people get in touch with what they want, let people question what do I need, what will bring me pleasure, joy? If you allow yourself to experience that, that’s nourishment. I struggled with food and body image in the past and what’s helped me is to make that connection, precisely to be aware of what I want. I don’t eat junk because I know how it’ll make me feel but of course I enjoy indulgent things from time to time. Over time, when you begin to get in touch with yourself and food, you develop a taste for quality.
4. What is the best meal someone made for you?
To this day, I’m very close with my friend Samantha from childhood. Her mother grew up in southern Spain and I would spend a lot of time at their house as a kid. Her chicken paella was the best meal someone made for me: simple without chorizo and saffron short grain rice. Pure heaven on earth: delicious and comforting, with so much love in the food. I was mesmerized watching her make it.
5. What is the importance of ritual in your life? What are a few of your daily or weekly rituals?
Oh! Ritual is really important to me. I’m a Virgo.
I have to exercise; I need some physical movement basically every day. It’s really good for me as a cook because it allows me to feel strong and grounded in my day to day. To make me feel like the best as a cook, I need to feel strong!
Right now I’m loving interval training classes at Orange Theory.
And I drink coffee in the morning; 1 cup, listen to music and reflect.
6. We see sustainability as an ever-evolving process, a continuous striving toward a better way of living and being. How are you trying to make your way toward being more sustainable?
That’s a great question. Well, I think that stepping out of the restaurant was one way of looking at the sustainability of my career. Allowing myself to create my own schedule and prioritize my need for ritual, self-care and rest.
Environmental: also stepping away from the restaurant, I now do work that feels very manageable to me.
I’m currently cooking at the artist Urs Fischer’s studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn. There, I create meals without waste. I feel really in control of the food that’s in the kitchen there. I get ingredients delivered from a CSA once a week and come up with menus based on what we have that week from the farm.
7. Nutu — from the French nous tous, meaning “all of us” — believes strongly in the interconnectedness of all beings. In what ways do you connect to your community, or to the world at large? How do you give back?
Through my cooking. When I worked on that farm and had that experience ten years ago, having this introduction to people who seemed very independent and self-sufficient was very radical. I look at cooking to give back and provide to my community.
8. What new (or old) ingredients are you excited about right now?
Moringa - duh! I am using it in the studio for lunch tomorrow. I’m doing tacos — the CSA delivered hunks of pork shoulder so I’m cooking it in chiles and banana leaf… and I’m going to make a moringa drink.
9. How important is it to you to know where your ingredients come from and how they’re grown?
Very important but I don’t want to get all soap boxy either. I think it’s more important for people to cook for themselves and for others than to get hung up on the source, and making sure everything is certified organic. It’s powerful just to cook for yourself and for others. As you get into it, you get more discerning and a natural evolution from there is to know more about your ingredients.
10. What are your top three places to get healthy, simple food [anywhere in the world]?
Well, I’m going to one of them right now. Abuquir — an Egyptian fish restaurant near where I live in Queens. I tend not to like restaurants a lot but Abuquir makes everything very home cooked, so delicious and so simple.
Buvette in Paris - little salad and love your life with your glass of rose.
11. Can you share with us what resources you turn to for healthy and happy living?
I use this app called Calm — meditation app with mindfulness techniques. It’s fun to integrate into my cooking.