Tag Archives: Gourmet

A Chat with Katie Quinn AKA The Food World’s Next Star

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You’ve seen epicurean extraordinaire Katie Quinn on Today Show, The Meredith Vieria Show, covering Sundance, and more, and now is your chance to get to know this amazing lady a little better.

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I met Katie way back when in the NBC Page Program, and she’s gone on to strut her stuff as a seriously inspiring self-starter, covering all things food. Her passion for the food world and drool-worthy YouTube Channel had me all kinds of curious, so I caught up with Katie to pick her brain about cooking, traveling the world, and how she made the brave decision to take her career into her own hands. Bon Appetit!

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After working for larger companies like the Today Show, Serious Eats, and NowThis News, how did you make the brave decision to go into business for yourself?

It was, indeed, a tough decision. A saying I kept in mind throughout the whole process was “Leap, and the net will appear.” I’ve found it to be outstandingly true. Here’s what happened for me: I was offered a staff position at a big network and going through the whole interview process, I completely intended on accepting the offer. Once the offer was made, though, I had a crisis: I did not have that feeling of excitement that you should really have when diving into a new position. I immediately knew why: I had to give myself a chance to make it on my own, for my own brand. It was a hard decision to make, but as soon as I made it, I knew it was the right thing. My heart was smiling. And it was time to hustle to make it work.

For many people, self-employment equals Netflix and sleeping in, but you post videos on your YouTube page twice a week, in addition to a ton of other amazing content. How do you stay on track, and what is your day to day workflow?

This question makes me laugh. For anyone who knows me personally, they know that I’m entirely too Type A for the pitfalls of self-employment to be much of an issue. Even in college, I was bordering on being the stereotypical obnoxious achiever. I think it’s probably just a personality thing. I’m a morning person, so I usually wake up with the sun. I do set a schedule for my days, which helps me organize the different projects I have and allows me keep my YouTube videos a priority–even though they are not the most profitable part of my work.

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Where does your love of food come from? What are some of the specific meals or dishes that inspired you to work with it full time?

I love this question! My love of food is inspired by the incredible variety of dishes that exists all around the world and the fascinating characters who make them. When I worked backstage at the TODAY show, I would get as excited about Thomas Keller coming on the show as other people would get about Kim Kardashian being a guest. Every morning, I hung around the TODAY kitchen set and would interview as many chefs as I could. Their stories and their passion is what wrapped me into the food world. So my love of food is less focused on a specific dish, but rather embellished by a good story, or an interesting person behind the dish.

I can’t help but notice the global feel of your recipes, which are no doubt a result of all your travels. What are some of the places you’ve traveled, and which ones have inspired your cooking the most?

Yes! Travel is SO inspiring, for so many reasons, but especially when it comes to food. Peru and China have had the greatest impact on the way I look at spices, at which parts of the animal can be eating, and at the eating ritual.

A lot of people reading are city dwellers, who maybe don’t have the time or resources to make extravagant meals. What are some staples you recommend keeping on hand to avoid a steady diet of Seamless and Chinese Food?

Lentil soup or a stew where you can just use up the variety of things in your fridge. Pasta tossed with sautéed veggies (whatever kind of veggies you like or have on hand). You can swap out the pasta for rice, quinoa, or any other grain. Put a fried egg on top–and you’re golden.

PHOTO CREDIT: Robert Caplin

In this video, you call YouTube your “metaphorical table” to gather and talk about food. If you could sit down at a real life table with three people from the food world, who would they be?

Holy moly, I love this question. I’ve never considered it before. Off the top of my head I’m going to say: Ina Garten, David Chang, Anthony Bourdain.

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2 Jews, An Italian, and A Food Festival

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As a New Yorker, I spend a lot of time celebrating other people’s cultures through the city’s vibrant restaurant scene, but Sunday was all about the traditional foods of my fellow chosen ones. Thanks to The Workmen’s Circle “Taste of Jewish Culture” event, I ate  latkes, pickles, corn beef, falafel, chopped liver, and most importantly, the three B’s: Babka, Borscht, and Brisket. And I was lucky enough to be joined by my good friends Pamela and Michael.

Walking through the various stands brought back so many memories… Helping my grandma make rugelach when I was too little to reach the counter, Shabbat dinner centered around my mom’s secret brisket recipe (Heinz Ketchup and Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix), and the annual Hanukkah party I threw at my old apartment in Harlem. I am so proud of my heritage, and without getting too political, now feels like an important time to honor it. It was also nice to share this experience with Michael, who was eating some of these foods for the first time, and creating new memories of his own.

Big thanks go out to all the musicians, volunteers, and chefs who made this amazing event possible. My restaurant to do list just got a whole lot longer. Below are some snapshots from the festival, and links to my favorite vendors.

*Breads Bakery – 18 E. 16th Street

*Mile End – 53 Bond Street / 97A Hoyt Street (Brooklyn)

*Shelsky’s – 141 Court Street (Brooklyn)

*Peck’s Homemade – 455A Myrtle Ave (Brooklyn)

*Kossar’s Bialys – 367 Grand Street

*The Pickle Guys – 49 Essex Street

Pre-Summer Discoveries

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A few things to make the best time of year even better…

The Meadow – 532 Hudson Street

The Meadow came into my life on a recent post-Sixteen Handles walk. Thankfully my frequent froyo partner in crime Emmy knew it was the kind of place I would be pretty into. The Meadow sells three things: salt, chocolate, and bitters. Shoppers can taste test different varieties of all three, while navigating the tiny shop, and every inch of the store is filled to the brim with gourmet goodness. Emmy suggested we try the truffle salt and black salt, and both were great. Fun fact: salt has flavors… I didn’t know that before. Prices at The Meadow are pretty reasonable, especially when it comes to the wall of chocolate bars. I got this treat for $4. And before you judge,  think salty/crunchy/sweet to inform your opinion.

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Ed Sheeran

Before you judge Ed Sheeran for being 22 and the opening act on Taylor Swift’s tour, listen to his album “Plus.” Good music doesn’t always have to be loud and in your face, and Plus is a subtle, almost hypnotic record that gracefully weaves together rock, folk, R&B, and hip hop influences. Since Ed is lumped into the “teen pop” world, it’s easy to overlook him, but after his performance at the recent Billboard Music Awards, that’s no longer the case. Following over-produced, vocal track-heavy acts like Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Will-I-Am, Ed took the stage with a guitar, an amp, and his voice, and blew them all out of the water. I was lucky enough to see him perform at a small Fuse-hosted event, and his raw talent is something that doesn’t come along often. Also, “Kiss Me” might be the most romantic song ever written, and I’d argue that with any music aficionado out there.

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Saturday Window Shop – Various

Combine the fashions of Kate Spade with those crazy touch screens in Minority Report, and you have the genius that is the Saturday Window Shop. Use the touch screen to literally window shop through Kate Spade’s more affordable Saturday offerings, and whatever you choose to purchase will be delivered to you an hour later. Just like that. The only thing left to be desired is a brick and mortar Saturday shop. Though, my bank account would probably disagree with me on that.

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Faux-Cro-Nut – Gregory’s Coffee – 874 6th Avenue 

Last summer you couldn’t read a food blog without reading the words “Mission Chinese Food,” but these days it’s talk of the Cronut that’s crowding the blogosphere. The donut/croissant hybrid created by Dominique Ansel Bakery is the most desired sweet treat out there, resulting in Disney World-type lines, and Craigslist schemes inflating the pastry’s price upwards of $40. If all that sounds like crazy talk, then do what I did, and buy the Cro-Dough from Gregory’s Coffee. Same results, without the extraordinary measures. Maybe once the hoopla dies down, I’ll head over to Dominique Ansel’s, but in the meantime, the flaky and sweet faux-cro is just fine.

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