SCOTT WINEGARD. In conversation with Scott Winegard from Los Angeles, United States

Transcription

1 58 EDITION FOUR FEATURE INTERVIEW FEATURE INTERVIEW EDITION FOUR 59 SCOTT WINEGARD In conversation with Scott Winegard from Los Angeles, United States

2 60 EDITION FOUR FEATURE INTERVIEW FEATURE INTERVIEW EDITION FOUR 61 Renowned raw food chef and musician Scott Winegard fell into the restaurant business after somewhat of an epiphany struck him while on tour with his band at the time. Now Director of Culinary Operations at M.A.K.E. in Santa Monica, he is helping revolutionize the way people consider raw food, alongside restaurant founder Matthew Kenney. PREVIOUS DETAIL PORTRAIT Winegard has an impressive oeuvre that includes working for Angelica Kitchen, Matthew Kenney s Pure Food and Wine, as well as Denmark s two Michelin star restaurant Noma. Thanks to his innovative creations and relaxed nature, Winegard is bringing a new face to the movement often associated with rigid standards and 100% devotion. The musician/ chef isn t asking anyone to give up their carnivorous ways or become religious devotees to raw food (he himself confesses he s vegan 99% of the time). Instead, the bassist for post-hardcore band Texas Is the Reason is studiously making clever dishes inspired by traditional (rather than plant-based) chefs for those willing to consider new options. Did you always want to be a chef? What drew you to the profession? I haven t always wanted to be a chef, but I have always had a strong connection to food and I think that is what helped me find my way. I love the energy that surrounds restaurants. I think that s what keeps drawing me in. Please talk about the significant moments in your career that have brought you to where you are today. During the 90s, I spent most of my time working at a vegan restaurant Angelica Kitchen, in New York City s East Village. I also played in bands and did a lot of traveling. I knew I couldn t play in bands forever, but thought I would still work within the realms of music. However, after trying a record label and booking some shows and tours, I wasn t as satisfied as I was while in the band. And I continued to work in restaurants for my income. In 2000, I was asked to join a band that would be based in California. So I packed my things and headed out West. Everything moved fast we wrote an album around ideas the singer had, and in no time, we were in the studio with a producer and had an album out on one of our favorite indie labels. At that time, one of my roommates was a chef. She had a big collection of cookbooks and was attending culinary school. It wasn t until I got to know her that I really started to think about my future in restaurants. After about a year, I realized I wasn t in a band situation that I was super excited by. So on a European tour (after a few band blowouts), I decided I should leave. We finished the tour and my immediate plans were to return to New York and attend culinary school. However, I ended up staying in the Bay Area for almost a year. I worked as a Kitchen Manager/Sous Chef for a wholesale natural foods company and became very familiar with the food offerings of the Bay Area. I cooked a lot at home and studied cooking/nutrition; I really wanted to figure out my way into a restaurant kitchen. I had also planned on doing my own thing someday. I ended up back in Brooklyn and got hired to be a chef for a vegetarian café. However, after a much more experienced chef came in, I was asked to take over as Manager (since I was in a similar role in my last few years at Angelica Kitchen). After doing that for a little while, but still wanting to cook, I found out a small macrobiotic restaurant was opening nearby to my apartment in Brooklyn. I introduced myself to the owner and chef, and started working that same week. During that time, there was big buzz a well-known chef (Matthew Kenney) was opening a raw food restaurant. All the employees from the macro restaurant went for interviews (none were hired). I was content working and learning as a part of this new adventure I was on. Then, one day, I showed up to work and we were closed due to improper removal of asbestos in the basement. I went home, opened up my computer and saw a listing: Matthew Kenney s Pure Food and Wine are hiring Line Cooks. I headed over with my résumé, knife kit, and hat. I was hired that day. At Pure Food and Wine I was quickly promoted to Sous Chef and not long after, Chef de Cuisine. I definitely came into my own and found out that raw food cuisine was both amazing and incredibly challenging; we learned something new everyday. At one point, we had such a creative and talented staff. I still remain close and maintain great friendships with many co-workers from that time. I never lost touch with Matthew and we always keep each other informed on future plans.

3 62 EDITION FOUR FEATURE INTERVIEW FEATURE INTERVIEW EDITION FOUR 63 PROCESS How did your time at Noma influence your work? What did you take away from that time? I was highly influenced by Noma. René and the team I felt a strong connection to their views on cooking and aesthetics right away. Being a part of that team was incredible. I learned so much no matter what, if you think you don t have time, you make the time and you do things right every time. You always try your hardest and do what s required. This is something I always strive for, but wasn t fully realized until being around that team. The team at Noma was super proud of the hard work they put in and the rewards they received for it. When they received a number one spot on the top 50 list after I was there, I was in Oklahoma. I watched the live feed and jumped out of my seat. I had that feeling you can only have by knowing firsthand how much goes into their days. What is it about the raw food/plant-based movement that inspires and excites you? Traditional chefs inspire me more so than plant-based ones. I look at what they do and apply it to our menus. It s exciting to have guests come in expecting one thing and leave with a great surprise. I have a ton of chef friends, who I respect and consider amazing, come through and have a tasting menu. They take things we do to incorporate into their menus that just blows me away. What do you feel are the individual, social, and environmental ramifications of eating a raw/plant-based diet? Which ones resonate with you the most? I know I feel good after I eat this way, though I am not as strict as I used to be. I don t really feel that I need to take a political stance about it, and I m not really sure the entire world needs to be vegan. However, I do recognize that if we all knew where our food came from and how it was produced, the world would be a much more conscious and thoughtful place. What are some challenges working as a raw food/plant-based chef? Do you think the limitations create a new level of creativity and innovation? I don t really see it as limiting I think that s why we succeed at it. I don t need to fry stuff. I don t need to add bacon. I use the best produce I can find, and work with that. We use tons of techniques that put us on par with any contemporary modern kitchen. The chefs on our team are encouraged to be creative that s something that doesn t happen in every kitchen. In an interview, you mentioned your grandfather s garden in Long Island being influential in your decision to become a vegetarian. What other factors influenced this decision? The main reason I became vegetarian I hated eating chicken. Being involved in the hardcore and punk scene, vegetarianism was promoted and often surrounded me. Most of my friends were either vegan or vegetarian for a very long time, so it was a natural transition for me. Basically, a girl in high school said she was a vegetarian and I thought to myself: I don t have to eat chicken anymore if I am a vegetarian. Then I heard a guitar player from a hardcore band I liked tell someone he was a vegetarian while standing in line at CBGB. I thought that was amazing. Additionally, in 1988, the band Youth of Today released a song called NoMore. The song was about vegetarianism and it seemed to be all downhill for me from there. After the fact, I started to realize all the punk and hardcore bands I listened to had some connection to vegetarianism and or animal rights issues. You were also a vegan for a number of years. Are you still vegan? What non-vegan indulgences do you allow yourself? I am not as strict as I used to be. I will pretty much eat anything, but I will say my diet is 99% vegan. I know the 90s vegan me is calling the current me a sell-out jerk right now! Have you noticed a change in the raw food/vegan movement since its beginning? Have people become more open to the idea and more aware of where their food comes from? Yes, there is definitely a change. Everyone knows what green juice is. Years ago you could only buy soy milk in small hippy health food stores and now there are multiple non-dairy options everywhere. I think most people want to be conscious about what they are eating, but I do recognize that in some places, these options are not always available and or affordable.

4 64 EDITION FOUR FEATURE INTERVIEW FEATURE INTERVIEW EDITION FOUR 65 Do you have any pet peeves about people s preconceptions towards the raw food movement? What would you like to say to these people? It s only frustrating with the people who feel it has to be 100% or the people who won t even give it a try. If you eat this way as much as you can or even once a week, I guarantee you ll feel the difference. We have couples come in all the time to our restaurants and usually it s the husband/boyfriend who has a preconceived notion that he s going to hate the food. Most of the time if they have even the slightest open mind, they end up loving it. I remember doing an event where we had little tastes of a bunch of our menu items and so many men would come up and say Oh my wife has been bugging me to take her to your restaurant, or you guys are my wife s favorite restaurant. Then they tried something and immediately wanted to try something else. There is no doubt there is big flavour in our food and it makes you feel good. Where do you find inspiration? I find inspiration everywhere: through music, nature, friends, and even through competition. I am always looking for new ideas, reading, drawing, pushing around on a skateboard, walking down to the beach, strumming on a guitar, or playing air drums. I don t have much downtime and even when I do, I use that time to find something to do. Who do you test new dishes out on? What are some of your favorite dishes that you ve created? Have there been any remarkable failures (as I imagine it is quite a trial and error process)? I don t really have a process. Sometimes I have an initial idea, but it s usually walking around the farmers market and talking to the farmers that gives me ideas. I never really think about what it s going to look like on the plate until I have everything I want to put on the dish. That s something I get asked all the time, but I don t spend too much time thinking about what it looks like. At Noma, I was shown how the dishes should look and where things went, but no one has ever taught me how to plate. As far as failures, there are many. The last one was pretty amazing. I had gotten some fresh shell beans from the market and wondered if I could cook them sous-vide. They were in the circulator all day and weren t softening that much. I had them in some stock and I knew the gas that beans release could be an issue, but nothing was really happening. So it was the end of the night and they got a little soft so I thought I ll just leave them overnight. At 7am, Sean, our lead instructor in the academy, sent me a text of a photo of the circulator bath bubbling over with the words I m scared. The bag exploded because the beans finally released the gas. Who knows when it happened, but it was a pretty amazing thing to wake up to. So yeah, do not try and cook beans in a sealed bag. One dish I created at M.A.K.E. that I am proud of is the Black Pepper Kelp Noodles. Being inspired by an Italian favorite Cacio e Pepe, I showed everyone that black pepper has a great flavour and it s silly to crack black pepper on every plate right before it goes to the table. What are some tips to help readers baby step their way into a more conscious way of eating? Start by staying away from all pop/soda and fast food. I grew up on Coca-Cola and Taco Bell. It wasn t until I cut out high fructose corn syrup that I really understood how messed up it is for your body. Read ingredients lists and if you don t know what something is, Google it. Try and eat as much as you can that is not packaged and or premade. You reunited with Texas Is the Reason in 2012 is this a longstanding reunion or was it for a special event? No, our last show was in London and we have no plans to reunite. Personally, I would play with those guys in a room of just us or on a stage anywhere, anytime they wanted. However, all of us have a ton of responsibilities so if it ever happens again, it will be a super rare occasion. Technically, I say we never will break up because of our connection. We are best friends and even as I am doing this interview, I am texting with all of them regarding different things. I love those guys. We grew up and learned so many life lessons together. What kind of music are you drawn to? I love a lot of different stuff. I grew up on punk and hardcore. My parents raised me on pop music on the radio from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. I was old enough in the 80s and 90s to be exposed to some awesome music. I don t listen to one type of music at all. I love a lot of pop stuff, I love a lot of experimental noise stuff, and I love the classics I grew up on.

5 66 EDITION FOUR FEATURE INTERVIEW FEATURE INTERVIEW EDITION FOUR 67 PREVIOUS PROCESS COMPLETED DISH Recently, I went to the FYF Fest and I was running back and forth to the different stages to see Future Islands, Built to Spill, Slowdive, Slint, Interpol, and Phoenix. I like a lot of stuff. It s so hard to pinpoint. I like music that is challenging, thoughtful, and makes me pay attention while not taking over my life. I could listen to Black Sabbath s Master of Reality everyday, just as I could New Order s Power, Corruption & Lies. I could go on and on Did any particular instance inspire you to become a musician, or were you always musical and encouraged to be so? I was always encouraged to play. I had a bunch of toy guitars as a kid. I guess I also liked to smash them and I would make other things into guitars and pretend I was playing. In grade school, my music teacher always wanted me to do chorus, but I was too shy to sing. I ended up finding a trumpet at a garage sale and joined the band for a few years. I didn t take it very serious. I actually got kicked out of band, but that s another story Getting into skateboarding brought me to punk rock. I always liked the guitar and bass, but I wanted to play the drums. My parents were not going to let that happen because my neighbor played and everyone could hear him practicing. I went to a show and saw a band. I noticed they had a different bass player and also heard they were going on tour. That s pretty much what made me want to be in a band. This new bass player wasn t much older than me. I didn t want or think to be in that band, but I wanted to be in a band and I wanted to travel. So I got a friend (who knew how to play the guitar) to take me to a used guitar shop and I bought a bass. Then, before I even knew how to play the thing, I was trying to start a band and I did. I still don t consider myself very good at it, but I can figure it out when I have to. I figured out enough to get me around the world a few times, so I must have done something right. Do you play any other instruments besides the bass? I try and play everything, though the bass is what I am most comfortable playing. I play the guitar mostly when I am alone. If I am ever around a drum set and no one is sitting behind it, I jump back there and try to play. I spent some time a few weeks ago in Maine and the house I stayed at had a piano, and I played it for a little while everyday. Do you feel like your work as a chef and as a musician fulfill contrasting components of your creative self? That is, if you neglected one, do you think you could be content with purely doing the other? Or perhaps it is like choosing a favorite child I always say I like being a chef more. I loved being in Texas Is the Reason and playing in other bands, but it s a hard life to chase and like I said, I don t really think I am a great bass player. I am more confident in my cooking. I could never produce as much great music as I do great food. I am happy with the balance I found between both. Where would you like to be in 20 years time? Wow, in 20 years I ll be in my 60s! Hopefully I ll be somewhere close to the ocean, but near the woods, and we won t have to do much more than forage for food and watch the waves crash. Maybe a 40-year Texas Is the Reason anniversary tour? Haha, I have no idea! M