Pasture

120 day dry-aged wagyu. Now available at Pasture Pantry for contactless pickup via our Tock page. Link in bio.

At Pasture we’re known for our beef. We get in whole New Zealand wagyu cows and butcher them right there stretched out on the chefs counter before hanging them up to age and get funky and perfect for getting ravaged on the fire accompanied by some ACDC. Exactly the Pasture experience our Hell’s Bells, the most baller pantry box, is named after.

While I never imagined making these ingredients we pour months of our time and energy into available for people to work with at home, having to rethink the entire restaurant to keep moving forward during the COVID-19 pandemic shows me how differently this time has made me. Instead of worrying about others working with something I typically get control freak over, I’m genuinely excited to let people create with the same things I do. Instead of worrying about “selling out” I’m happy to provide to people a piece of me, like I do when they sit down at Pasture, and give them something to make them happy and excited about food.

Working with the team as we speak on putting these boxes together for you all. In between, testing a menu that will be an entirely new approach for Pasture, a result from time off and introspection, from myself and the team. Exciting things on the horizon.

With the final week of lockdown announced I’m feeling excited with a heightened sense of comradery and appreciation. Feeling lucky to be able to come back into our kitchen next week with new inspiration and energy.

Having been shut down for a whole month I think we all appreciate the little things. For me I feel closer to my team, suppliers and regulars, who have all made compromises and gestures in support of this restaurant that was always a dream of mine.

Along the way during all of this I met - food writer, travel writer and LA journalist. Together we worked our way through lockdown, herself in a foreign ghost town and myself suddenly having to use the home kitchen.

Tonight we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and thought it’d be fun to post a little collage of what we were up to in a kind of Pasture at home. Working on Pasture’s new bar , making sushi, teaching sourdough, distilling weird things like lobster heads.

While there are too many little things that I’ll always remember from this weird wild crazy time to possibly chronicle, I’m thankful to for giving us the chance to showcase some pieces on stories today. If you’re interested, pop over and take a long look.

Excited about a new menu, a new chapter and (very unexpectedly) a new sort of world when we all come back from this. Love Pasture x

I don’t want this post to be about the virus. This post is about my team.

Last week I found myself in LA trying to get back just under the wire as airlines cancelled flights and borders locked down around the world. Today is day 5 of my mandatory self-quarantine. For the last two weeks my team has been running Pasture entirely without me. A prospect that would have been unfathomable to me just a couple of months ago considering that in three and a half years I have not once missed a service at pasture. There hasn’t been one diner I haven’t personally greeted or a plate touch the table that I haven’t had my hand in. But now all that has changed. And while part of that is because I’ve changed and become a different chef and person than I was when I first opened Pasture, it’s largely because of my team.

It’s given me so much pride these last few weeks to watch this group of amazing chefs that I am fortunate enough to be able to call my team. From ordering and executing to welcoming the diners into our home at Pasture, my chefs have made me realize that part of the reward of being a leader is being able to step back and see them flex, on their own. I’ve watched them grow in confidence as I’ve given them more responsibility. They’re looking after my baby like it’s theirs and seeing them take pride in it makes me realize that it is theirs just as much as mine now. Thank you, guys.

If I’m honest with myself, as I’m trying to be more and more these days, I wasn’t always the leader I should have been for my team. I would snap or yell instead of guide and explain. I would keep recipes and techniques to myself for fear of them not being properly executed instead of teach, mentor, and share. I had to learn how to be a leader the hard way. I still have a long way to go but I know the direction I’m moving is finally the right one.

Feeling strong, fulfilled and proud and truly that Pasture is stronger than ever. Today was monumental for the team and I as I finally loosened my death grip on my bread recipe and FaceTime walked the team through it from quarantine. (Continued in comments below...) @ Pasture

Fresh Jersey Cow cheese, set just ten minutes before serving with whipped whey and summer truffle. @ Pasture