Our friend Judy Kameon authored a gorgeous landscaping book called Gardens Are for Living. I have given it to several friends here in Los Angeles because Judy is masterful at showing how to make these painterly yards with drought tolerant plants, and loves to entertain (she’s a superb cook), so it really makes for a stylish gift to those of us living in warm climates. For her first book signing (we also did one at Individual Medley, pictured here and here), Heath Ceramics hosted a party that we were delighted to make some room temperature snacks for.
With weddings, we get a lot of requests for chicken breasts (snore), and our chef, Matt’s answer to that is to debone whole Jidori chickens, flatten them out, spread an even layer of stuffing, and then roll them up and cook them. They are not only so pretty with their kaleidoscope design, but they are juicy and cleaner to eat than a boring chicken breast. These roulades are staples on our menu because they are so versatile. Above they are used in a cobb salad.
Our friends at Smog designed Judy’s book as well as the menus for the evening. They incorporated Judy’s watercolors which she painted for her book, and then displayed the originals on a wall at Heath. I was touched to tears when Judy let me pick out one as a gift. I loved them all so it was crazy to just choose one. When these things happen you just have to let your heart speak, and my heart was drawn to the pink sweet peas up there. I’m not typically a pink person but there was just something really charming that drew me in with those pink sweet pea flowers.
Here’s Matt and I with George, our Drop-Off Kitchen Manager, prepping in the back where all the unfinished pottery is stored. I wasn’t much help to the kitchen because I wasn’t dressed for it (oops) and also because I couldn’t stop staring at all the beautiful objects in this storage room.
Adam Silverman is a good friend of Judy’s so of course he was there to support her. He even lended some of his beautiful hand-thrown pottery for Judy to put a plant in as seen above. This was my first time meeting Adam and I was working real hard to play it cool because I love his work very much. Do I look cool there? I don’t think so either. I only complimented him about five times when what I really wanted to do was gush excessively. His work is so distinctive and he has really done an impressive job at building his (second) career- he was also one of the co-founders of the clothing line, X-Large. I remember meeting Judy for the first time and I felt the same way about her. Now we are very good friends. Isn’t it funny this life, how people collide and sometimes connect forming a circle of friends, and you wonder how you were ever nervous to meet them? In most cases, cooking bridges the gap of nervousness. You make food for people before you extend your hand. In a way, presenting the gift of food, something we all must indulge in, is actually a very sweet handshake, and when I think of it like this, then I feel much less shy about meeting anybody.
Photos: Glen Nakasako
