Decolonizing food

Intuitive cooking, sourcing ingredients, supporting marginal communities and creating culinary experiences available to everyone.

Photo Courtesy: Tara Thomas.

It’s Friday morning and Tara Thomas looks nothing but chilled. She was listening to relaxing music and enjoying her slow-paced morning just before talking to me.

For those not so immersed in the culinary world, Thomas is a chef and food consultant. She is well-known in New York for her pop-up dinner events. For the past year she has been working on Premium Blend — a new restaurant that will open in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn — and with Sincerely Tommy’s owner Kai Avant de-Leon on her restaurant CHE, both Black-owned restaurants.

Her passion for sourcing ingredients, supporting marginal communities, and creating culinary experiences available to everyone are just a few reasons why she has turned her name into a business and has built an amazing community that does nothing but support each other.

Tara moved from Portland to New York City two years ago.

The move was really easy. I love New York — people are cool, the energy is great. I decided that Portland wasn’t my place, so I came to New York and I started a business here, and I think it was very brave of me, but it all worked out.

I do food consulting. I do menu development. I work for Caldera Magazine, where we are launching a food section. I do modeling. I do a lot of things. I feel comfortable in New York, so I try to explore and try different things.— and you know, it’s pretty central, so it’s easier to travel to Europe, Asia, South America…”

What was your last trip?

I went to Oaxaca City in Mexico and only stayed for 10 days. I wish I could’ve gone to Puerto Escondido and just chill. It was very ambitious of me to do that trip. I had just come back from a full-on research experience, and as much as I loved it, I was exhausted and I needed to do research on communities and source local ingredients. The trip was a very last-minute thing, but I always end up planning trips on a whim.

How did your journey in food start? Was it always something present even when you were a kid?

When I was a kid in Portland, we had a backyard, and my mom was very against me using technology or watching loads of TV. I had a sandbox and a picnic table, and I used to pretend I was making and serving food with the different ingredients around. Whenever I did watch TV, it was never cartoons. I used to watch the Food Network.

I always wanted to create an immaculate dinner for my family, but in school, I was more about science and math because I thought that would give me more opportunities in becoming successful, but I always came back to cooking because it made me feel good and grounded.

My parents met in Asia, so that introduced my palate to different things. My mom is Dutch, so we ate some Dutch food like potatoes and butter, nothing special — and my dad is from Louisiana, and he loves to cook. When they separated, I saw him cook a lot with vegetables and Creole food, and that was new for me because at home he didn’t cook like that. I became interested in it because he introduced me to spices and made me question taste, and I think that made me confident about my cooking.

What do you think defined your experience with food and cooking style?

I think when I became vegan. Cooking became more exciting because people were always asking if vegan food was any good. Whenever they tried something I made, they were like, “I would be vegan if I ate like this all the time.” So, I started doing events, getting the right ingredients. It all happened organically. 

How long have you been vegan?

Almost 5 years. Becoming vegan was very intuitive. I realized that in Portland, it’s very easy, and I just found myself being a vegetarian for two years without realizing I was doing it. When I made the conscious decision, I decided to be vegan. I felt more elevated and aware; I also lost tons of weight. Maybe it was toxins leaving my body because I was an athlete and was very muscular, so it felt as if my body was resetting.

What goes into menu development?

Asking a lot of questions… What season is it for is always a first, so that I can connect with farmers and distributors and get good ingredients? It is also important to ask what they are envisioning beyond the food because I don’t want the food to take away from the atmosphere, but also I don’t want it to get lost. They need to blend.

And when you are working on an event?

I like to be involved in every aspect of it. I always ask who will be there, what the guests are looking for and of course, I make it a priority to source from marginal communities

Tara is passionate about produce and sourcing locally. Even though Portland is well-known for its farming, she never felt like she belonged there.

In Portland, farming is so annoying because everyone was a part of it, but also everyone was white, so there was never any room for me. I could use an ingredient in a different way, and people would never appreciate it. It all felt like an experience for the elite, and that is something I would like to decolonize Black people deserve those experiences too because eating food shouldn’t feel like an elevated, expensive experience. In reality, it doesn’t cost much to grow anything, so why charge $300 for a plate? Even if you are paying for the experience, it feels like the food is being exploited and fetishized.”

Tara is breaking away from the stereotype of what “fancy food” should be and has created a whole new concept of dining that breaks away from the white patriarchy so predominant in the hospitality business.

I don’t fit in that white patriarchal cooking, and I am not a fan of it because it is very dissociative from the food, what it is and where it comes from. It feels very cutthroat, but in reality, it should feel meditative because everyone goes to a restaurant to nourish themselves.

Intuitive cooking and intuitive eating are definitely key elements in all dishes created and conceptualized by her.

What are your self-care practices?

Gardening and being involved in the growing process have been huge elements of self-care for me. Giving, a lot of giving. Giving my time and resources feels like self-care because I feel like I am helping others feel the same way. And obviously eating food.

What’s your favorite cuisine?

I go through phases. I am very turbulent. Last month I was loving 44 Thai food, but I always feel like Japanese-style food is somewhere where I feel grounded. It is easy to make, and you get all your nutrients.

My go-to side is a rice bowl with mushrooms, tofu, garlic, ginger and I put seaweed on top, add soy sauce and a couple of braised sesame seeds.

What would you say are the best practices in food sustainability?

Get your ingredients from someplace local. Maybe a farmers market. Avoid getting things with plastic. When I was in Portland, I was 90% plastic-free, and it’s a hard thing to do in New York because here, plastic is a culturally acceptable thing, but I never buy food that has plastic in it. I love produce boxes because you don’t have to think too much about what you will get; you get just enough for the week and nothing goes to waste.

I also think it is really important to think about what it takes for the ingredient to get to you. I always research the ingredients and origins of what I buy.

What’s coming next for you?

Apart from CHE and Premium Blend, I’m working on another three projects, but I’m not ready to talk about them yet. I can only tell you that I’m really excited because I love conceptualizing and strategizing. Food is such a great way to connect, and people will always be looking out to eat and find that experience. They want to come to a space they enjoy, so it’s a great thing to be able to work with brands and create very curated hospitality experiences.

Would you open a restaurant of your own?

I think so… A while ago I was like, “I would never,” but maybe it would be very fun and it would help me learn more. I think I would like to open a grocery store best because I really like sourcing ingredients and finding a way to eat food that isn’t capitalized and exploited. Finding a way to support people is something I am really passionate about

@cheftarathomas