In Dialogue: Chloe Walsh
In Dialogue: Chloe Walsh
I am overjoyed to feature Chef Chloe Walsh as a part of our In Dialogue series. You may immediately recognize her as our featured chef in Los Angeles, where we hosted the Wiley Dinner Series at Elise Joseph’s Highland Park home last November. To this day, I glean inspiration from the evening’s menu.
Chloe is an ever-thoughtful chef, food writer, and recipe developer, as well as an extraordinary supper club and pop-up host. Would you look at her recent dinner at Casetta? Swoon! Chloe’s upbringing in the U.K., as well as the community she has now cultivated in L.A., inspires her creativity, work, and lifestyle.
I have long admired Chloe for her commitment to careful sourcing and meals made with ingredients of high integrity. Chloe’s approach to food creation epitomizes, “Quality over quantity,” a values-driven process I find both aspirational and inspirational. Her Substack, Anchovies & Soup, is one of my very favorites. Her bean recipes! I also hope to make her recipe for roasted squash this Thanksgiving.
Below, I invite you to take part in our recent conversation. Chloe and I discuss her energizing work, inspiration, and self-care practice that gives rise to new ideas, as well as consistent physical movement.
Chelsea: You are such a fantastic, inspiring chef, Chloe (and so much more!). You also have enriching friendships, a beautiful partnership, a nurturing home, and very sweet pets. In general, what is your approach, or philosophy, to building a well-balanced, well-juggled life? Throughout different seasons, do you feel like your work requires more of you than others, and if so, how do you navigate this with close friends and a partner?
Chloe: Thank you so much for all of your kind words! I really do feel like I have an enriching life, and it feels so nice to reflect on that sometimes—because when I am in the thick of the day-to-day, I tend to forget. I think, for me, I do find it hard to say “no” to things, in many parts of my life—including work—because I am just so grateful for everything. In my brain, it feels counterintuitive to turn down work, for instance, or not go to my friend’s event that they so kindly invited me to. But, I am learning to recognise when I need to rest, or even just lighten the work load, which is easier said than done. I think in the industry that I am in, and particularly the many facets of work in food that I do, I can feel pulled in many directions, but I find being open and honest with communicating my needs is the biggest help. That could be in work, life, or marriage. Communication is key!
Chelsea: You are an independent and freelance chef, recipe developer, writer, and more, and you have been for several years. This is a very specific route, right? It has tremendous value and advantages. Within the food industry, many chefs choose a path related to restaurants, corporate editorial work, and more. Is there any part of you who craves being a part of a larger entity, or do you love being independent and freelance? As a business owner myself, which I very much love and appreciate, I find I admittedly crave feedback, and perhaps a team, from time to time. Is this a phenomenon you also experience? From where, or from whom, do you receive valuable feedback or a sense of teamwork, if and when you crave it?
Chloe: Yes, my work and practice is a specific route. I kind of planned it like that when I made the decision to go freelance, and somehow, it all is working out. But, to me, it makes sense because I cook, recipe develop, write about food and nostalgia, work with brands to create content food and lifestyle content, and host supper clubs and pop-ups, all as part of my job! And some might think this is a lot, and indeed it can be. But, it is all based around the biggest love in my life (aside from my husband)—food. And so it doesn’t feel like a lot, all at the same time. It feels synced and alighted, and therefore, it all makes sense.
I love the structure of my life and work life currently, as it allows me to decide my day-to-day, take on new and exciting projects, travel and truly design my working week (deadline dependent). But yes, the idea of having somewhere physical of my own has been the topic of conversation for the last year or so, and I am trying to figure out what that could potentially look like. Cafe June is the name of my pop-up currently, but perhaps it could be a real cafe one day. I dream of a cafe with homemade pantry goods that is a community driven space. I would serve simple, all-day food with a British sensibility but with a California heart. Perhaps we open for wine and dinner on the weekend—who knows! But, yes—I dream!
Regarding feedback, we all need feedback to push forward in life, I feel. I get that from friends, my husband, and fellow work colleagues. I am constantly running things by my best friend, Kate, or chatting things over with my husband. I feel very lucky and extremely grateful to have really honest people around me that are not afraid to tell me when they think something might not work, or perhaps something isn’t a good idea. At the same time, I am a big believer in trusting your gut. I am very confident in my ideas and the work that I produce, so if I need the final say sometimes, I will.
Chelsea: I very much admire how you create delightfully flavorful dishes that may appear simple but are, in fact, quite complex and dynamic. Two dishes that come to mind are a delicious lima bean dish or a vegetable-forward soup. As I have gotten to know your work, I have learned this may be, in large part, due to how you source individual ingredients. I often say, “Delicious ingredients lead to delicious meals.” When we focus on parts, the whole often takes care of itself. Can you speak to how you source, where you source, and why this matters so much to you creatively?
Chloe: I source most of my produce from the abundance of farmers’ markets that we have here in LA. We are so lucky to have multiple farmers’ markets running throughout the city, on any given day. I shop and source everything seasonally, but things are inherently going to taste better that way. You haven’t lived until you have tried a farmers market plum; I’m telling you!
Not everyone has the access, privilege, or money to shop at farmers’ markets on a day-to-day basis. I get that. But, one thing I always will encourage is to shop seasonally—even at the grocery store. Tomatoes will not taste good in January; it’s just a fact. In July, however—no matter where you get them—they are going to taste good. From a farmers’ market, they will taste heavenly!
Chelsea: Travel is a huge part of what inspires you; I absolutely love learning more about this through your Substack, Anchovies & Soup. In addition to travel, is there a person (or people) who have influenced your approach to cooking throughout the years?
Chloe: This is such a good question, and I have so much to say but almost don’t know where to start because I am so influenced by truly everything!
My grandparents both informed my taste, and indeed how I like to eat. I was eating tinned mackerel and homemade pickled celery with my grandad for as long as I can remember, and my grandma taught the joy of cooking and indeed how to cook. So, they inspire everything I do. Similarly, my parents were both very good cooks, and even better hosts. Our house was filled with people and dinner parties since day dot, and so I like to say my parents taught me how to really live, to host, to make a house a home—and for me (and them), that means filling it with food and people.
Books inspire me, and all kinds of travel inspires me. That could be to a new place, city, or country, but that could also mean a trip to the grocery store or farmers’ market. The beauty in the day-to-day inspires me. Memories inspire me, and food nostalgia. My friends inspire me and trying other people’s food. That could be in a restaurant or just someone else’s home. My childhood and growing up in the UK and Spain forever inspires me, but I suppose you can tie that back to food nostalgia, too.
I collect menus from everywhere I have ever eaten, and I have a screenshot folder in my phone, too, of menus that I see online.
Chelsea: Throughout the years, I have found home food preservation to be quite physical. In many ways, it is my exercise most days! Do you find this to be true in the kitchen, as well? If so, how do you take care of yourself physically in this profession? Do you have routine practices that feel restorative?
Chloe: Yes! I am always pickling something or fermenting vegetables here, there, and everywhere. It is an important part of my cooking in general, and it is especially part of my home kitchen. My fridge is half-full of condiments and half-full of my own concoctions, leaving little space for much else!
And yes, I love to look after myself—and that means mind and body. It is really important to me, as I have rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, if I need to take a day, I will—because I know, ultimately, it will aid in me having a better, more productive day/week/month afterwards. And this past year I have really made swimming part of my daily routine and main form of exercise. I absolutely love it. I feel strong, but it also allows me to think. I like to say I do best work in the pool—it’s where all my ideas are formed. It is also a lovely ritual of taking an hour to myself everyday, to tend to my physical needs, which is so important to me.
Chelsea: What is one food-related habit, priority, or value rooted in your past, with family or close friends, that you wish to carry forward into the future? If there isn’t one, what might you start?
Chloe: My husband and have very busy lives, and sometimes it feels like we are passing ships in the night. And so, in light of this, we like to have a date night out once a week, which we have always tried to uphold. It creates purposeful time for one another, and we find it necessary for deeper conversations than you might have just having dinner at home. And then always one dinner together at home—at the table. It helps us feel grounded in our relationship and allows us to connect.
You can follow Chef Chloe on Instagram here and on Substack here.
Photos by: Emily Ferretti