Graza

Q: How do you describe yourself?

J: Very prone to fixations. 

Q: Finish this sentence, cooking for me is... 

J: The most functional artistic practice. 

Q: What's your never-fail recipe to make at home?

J: Steamed mussels, steamed artichokes, fries. Or Okonomiyaki. Usually just with green cabbage, which I always have in the fridge, so it's pretty regular "there's no food in the house and I'm on my last brain cell" dinner in my household, and it always delivers. Or spaghetti with Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce, which there's always a pint of in the freezer. We'll usually have that with roasted broccolini. 

Q: Take us through the process of conceptualizing a project with food as the medium

J: Most of my clients these days are brands and institutions, so usually my menus are responding to something, whether it's a color palette, a collection of art, a lookbook, or a specific product. I try to pull as much inspiration as I can from those references with regards to color, shape, composition, and texture, and I apply those references as literally as I can to food. From there it's a lot of scattershot note-writing and flipping through my favorite sources of inspiration until I start to see the connections between a lot of seemingly disparate ideas. I'm also usually trying to sneak in at least one ingredient, tool, or technique that I'm excited about at the moment. 

Q: What is your perfect day of NYC eats? A breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks spot? 

J: For breakfast, Delight Diner in Ridgewood. My boyfriend and I live nearby so we're there a lot on the weekends, and the entire staff is incredibly nice. For lunch, masala dosas at Ganesh Temple Canteen in Flushing. And since we're already in Flushing, let's stay there for dinner and go to Haidilao Hot Pot. It's enormous and there's a dancing noodle master and a robot waiter shaped like a cat. A whole day of Queens! For drinks maybe I'd splurge on cocktails at The Grill, which is one of the most beautiful dining rooms in New York.

Q: You utilize food as a way to convey and reflect on consumption habits and the social media atmosphere, what is one takeaway you hope people get from your art?

J: That it doesn't all have to be so serious. 

Q: Who do you turn to, watch, or follow for food inspiration?

J: My favorite food books. Dalí: Les Diners de Gala, Martha Stewart's Entertaining (the 1982 edition), The Flavor Bible, Barbara Cartland's The Romance of Food, J.M. Erich Weber's Theory and Practice of the Confectioner, and the Instagram account @chinese_plating, which isn't a book, but should be. 

Q: Are you more of a Sizzler or a Drizzler?

J: I go through phases. Summer is more Drizzly, winter more Sizzly. Olive oil cakes have gotten so trendy in the past fifteen years, but what I didn't understand until a few years ago is that oil-based cakes retain moisture much better than butter-based cakes, and have much better texture straight out of the fridge than butter cakes. So my ideal olive oil cake is baked with Sizzle in the batter and than has a bit of Drizzle brushed on the layers before frosting, for a bit of extra aromatic flavor and moisture.

Q: What are your all-around life mottos, mantras, and or philosophies?

J: It's okay to change your mind! Listen to your gut feelings! And (sorry): Just do it! 

Q: What's on the horizon for you?

J: Hopefully something delicious 

 

 

Photography: Marcus McDonald