AM: When you have completed this race, what do you do after that? Does your body just feel incapacitated for like 2 days?
CHEF EF: By the time you have trained for it, you’re so amped for it. This year in Santa Rosa it was nice the first day and then it rained the last two days. I had never ridden in the rain before so I was a little scared about that as it was something that I hadn’t really done. I was like, I will try it, but if it feels scary, then I will stop. We ended up riding the whole day except for when I met this women from Canada who had a flat about half way in the day which is fine and we came back which I was fine with because it was freezing. Then we got rain gear and on the 3rd day, we were maniacs and we just didn’t really care and we were riding around in the pouring rain. But the camaraderie was just so much fun and everyone was so supportive and it’s a really great event and it raises a lot of money too!
AM: We were just going to ask how much did you raise?
JD: I don’t know the year by year count, but since we have started, we have raised $2.5 million just in the rides and we have about 4 or 5 under our belt.
CHEF EF: Like I raised, $8,500 last year and I’m shooting for at least that this year.
AM: How do you decide on your end what chef goes into what program and what is that process like?
JD: Again, I’m fortunate to have started at this organization which was 20 years in. There were a wealth of chefs that were already taking part. My old boss, Danny Meyer (Founder and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group) had been on their board for years and years. Knowing people through No Kid Hungry had already been a connection point for me professionally. We’re very lucky that people come to us and that a number of people come through other chefs like when Elizabeth will say, “I did this crazy ride and you have to come do it too.” Sometimes we’re branching into a market that we haven’t been in before and I’ll ask the chefs who we work with who they know. We’ll do some reading. We’re thrilled to have chefs who have been reviewed and have received rewards, but that is not the starting line. I want people who are passionate about food and feeding others and wanting to make a difference. Those are our people.
AM: So non-chefs can also participate?
JD: Everyone has a role in ending childhood hunger! For my specific work, we talk about engaging culinary professionals because there is front of house, beverage folks, office types and those that are involved in making restaurants exciting places for eating and a lot of fun. We want all of those people working with us!
AM: With Thanksgiving, knowing that you guys do things year around, what are initiatives that are taking place during this season that we should know about?
JD: The Tuesday after Thanksgiving is known as Giving Tuesday and it’s a very big day for charitable giving whether doing it in person or online. That’s Dec 3rd this year. You can go to NoKidHungry.org to see everything that we are doing or following us online @NoKidHungry. I think that 2 things that are especially interesting are the generous community at Food52 is benefitting us in our work through their Food52 Holiday Swap which has gone on for years. You bake something and send to someone else and they kind of match make between the bakers and everyone makes a contribution to be involved. That is happening at Food52.com.
This year, we’re benefitting from a fun holiday auction that Bon Appétit is doing they issue a bunch of different covers to go with the Nov issue and you can collect them all. To do that, you can go to Ebay for Charity for No Kid Hungry on that page.
AM: As we head into the Christmas season, are there specific ones for that as well?
JD: I think that end of year giving is the big push at that point. Throughout the year we have these incredible culinary events that we have mentioned: Taste of the Nation, our No Kid Hungry dinners and you can find out more about this through our events page on NoKidHungry.org. Of course there is also Chefs Cycle and we look for folks to make a contribution and to support their favorite chefs at ChefsCycle.org.
CHEF EF: Yeah, you can just support a rider on the website or a team – like Team Themyscira.
AM: Just in case you wanted to know about one team in particular ha!
As someone who is out there whether you’re cooking to raise funds, being at events, charitable functions being on social media etc – how important is it for chefs to do this kind of visibility and activity in terms of their culinary careers?
CHEF EF: I don’t think that a chef has to do things like that. Some people may think that you have to in order to be more successful. I think it depends on where you are. I know a lot of chefs who work in their kitchens and they don’t have time to do stuff like that and I don’t think it’s a negative and you can probably see it in their food. You put that much more work into your food, it’s going to show! I think it’s great when people are showing stuff and the power of social media where people are able to show their food and what they are doing – I think that that is amazing and how that can go around the world.
AM: Will there be another restaurant?
CHEF EF: It’s not my goal to open another restaurant. I have already done that for a good chunk of my life. It’s not that it’s too hard work for me. It’s just that I’m so involved in food policy, food waste and I talk a lot about helping kids, teaching kids and speaking a lot more on all of these different issues. I’m constantly doing recipe development. I don’t even know how I would have another restaurant at this point in my life because I’m so busy!
JD: Well that’s a nice thing!
CHEF EF: Well there’s a lot to do!
AM: We enjoy seeing your social and seeing you do all of the things that you have mentioned and really just getting in there and doing the work.
CHEF EF: I learned a lot from the food business too and if you can do that in what I like to call a theater – the restaurant, but you can also take it on the road these days. I ended up cooking in China this year and I ended up cooking in so many places this year at all of these different places and I actually like cooking with ingredients from different parts of the world too because it helps me change it up.
AM: What are your 3 favorite ingredients to have on hand?
CHEF EF: Oh my goodness. I have to have Olive Oil, that’s a critical one. It changes, but I’m in love with some of the things that I experienced in Asia. I came back loving this fermented Broad Bean Paste which is slightly like fermented Chinese Black Beans which is more like a Fava Bean. It’s a fermented spicy Chinese Sichuan specialty that’s in Mapo Doufu for example. I have this obsession with Chinese food that makes me hungry just thinking about it!
Then I think having Meyer Lemons is kind of one of my favorite ingredients. I’m from California and I need that zest and I love citrus. I still try to sprinkle into my food whenever I can.
AM: What are your 3 favorite ingredients to have on hand?
JD: I’m a big stock person. My slow cooker is always going with chicken stock – I feel that it boosts us. Ginger so good – it’s great for external and internal. Cardamom is another one. It's so holiday to me.
AM: What’s for Thanksgiving this year?
CHEF EF: It’s so funny. I’m making breakfast for my brother and girlfriend for this Thanksgiving. Then they’re going to go to her parents house which I love going to. Her mom is Korean American and I enjoyed going there as she is a really good cook. It’s a cross between classic Thanksgiving dishes and a number of Korean ones and I think that I like all of the Korean ones better! So then I am working on a project right now so I don’t have time to really spend around Thanksgiving so much – so I think that I will just spend time making more Chinese food!
JD: I’m actually getting together with my neighbor and we’re going to brainstorm our menu as we are cooking together. Lots of things happening at the Green Market right now. I have one of those mega Brussel Sprout branches right now. The top sprouts are so huge it looks like Choi and the farmer told me that he actually had people taking it and slow roasting it whole with the stalk in the oven – I’m very curious and may have to go there. Lots of squash – love a red curry squash. There will still be turkey, there will still be pie.
CHEF EF: I feel like, unfortunately, that it’s put all on one day which is not how I really think about this time of year. I think Thanksgiving lasts from Oct – Dec because it’s all about this harvest.
AM: Is there anything else that you want to share with us?
JD: I want everyone to know that everyone has a Strength to Share in the fight against hunger. There are so many ways to get involved and make a difference. You can certainly donate online, host a bake sale, a personal bake sale that you do on your own, attend our events and find an opportunity to speak up on behalf of kids to your elected officials. Once again, all of that can be found on No Kid Hungry.org.
CHEF EF: I just want to say that every dollar helps and I don’t think that any kid should be hungry when they’re going to school or summer programs. How are you going to be able to think or do all the things you need to be a kid at school if you’re hungry?
JD: Elizabeth is right. Every dollar that No Kid Hungry receives, we can connect a kid with up to 10 meals so it’s really impactful!
IG: @NoKidHungry
@ChefFalkner
Hear No Kid Hungry's Jennifer Dirken and Chef Elizabeth Falkner this month on our show, Athleisure Kitchen which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multi-media podcast network! Make sure to subscribe to find out when the episode drops. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts and wherever you enjoy listening to your favorite podcast.
