Page 129 - Tracy Anderson Magazine - Fall 2021

C OOKING

PHIL OSOPHY

Chef Neal Harden shares his inspiration for his craft—and a recipe (or two).

Chef de cuisine at abcV Neal Harden is one of the few Has nutrition always been a factor in how you create a plate?
plant-based chefs in New York. After years of cooking Yes, but I find it sort of comes out naturally when you
vegetarian meals for bandmates on tour and line-cooking focus on getting the best farm products and treating them
gigs, he decided to pursue his passion full-time and moved with respect and simplicity. I love to explore the many col-
to New York City to attend the Natural Gourmet Institute ors, textures, and flavors of fruits and vegetables, which
for Food & Health. In 2006, Harden took the helm at Pure often translates to increased nutrition.
Food & Wine and earned critical acclaim for his creative
raw food dishes. How has the title of being a “plant-based chef” impact
your work and connections?
Harden met Jean-Georges Vongerichten through col- In the beginning it wasn’t a highly regarded career for a chef,
leagues at Pure Food & Wine, and the pair quickly bonded and I think I always blended into the background. But now
over their love of beautiful ingredients and their desire to the world is catching up, and I meet so many amazing people
open a vegetable-centric restaurant whose sourcing, style, and regularly get to cook for some of the world’s greatest
and design reflected their values. At abcV, Harden and his chefs and thinkers while designing plant-based dishes for
team look forward to giving vegetables the respect they Jean-Georges.
deserve and allowing the season’s best produce to stand
on its own. What was one of the most surprising dishes you created
for someone who is not a plant-based eater?
We spoke with Chef Harden, peeling back the layers to We did a really fun plant-based barbecue pop-up at a
reveal the ethos that he carries into the kitchen as well friend’s butcher shop. My sous chef and I used their meat
as all over the world, and he generously shared two of his smoker to create a pulled maitake mushroom sandwich. It
tried-and-true recipes for you to create at home. was deep and smoky and insanely flavorful. I think plant-
based food has a lot to draw on from millennia of culinary
We all have to eat, and some of us can cook better than techniques, and of course the world is still seeing new ap-
others. Tell us how your career as a chef began. plications of these techniques on plants every day.
When I was little, I was always in the kitchen with my mom.
All my toys were kitchen implements, and I begged for a What is your favorite dish to make that reflects your
cookbook almost as soon as I could read. As a somewhat cooking philosophy?
shy kid, I always felt at home in the kitchen creating. As an It’s hard to choose a specific dish, as we are changing con-
adult, I was a bit of a wanderer, and I lived in a lot of places stantly with the seasons. I love whatever feels the best with
trying to figure out my life. I found you could always wash the season and the moment and the feel of the room. If I had
TK TK TK TK TK and moved to NYC to focus on plant-based and health-sup- it would probably be our simple lettuce cup, on the menu
to pick one dish that shows our philosophy at the restaurant,
dishes and cook. I decided to turn it into a full-time passion
since day one. It is very, very simple, but it brings so much to
portive cooking, which had always been my passion since
profile—aromatic, spicy, sour, salty, sweet, umami.
Opiorae hocchum, ustrum quam nonsil unir adhuctam aut fue inatus bon sta. Juliet Wells my teenage years. the table. It’s bursting with texture and almost every flavor

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