Chef Tara Thomas Makes Pretty Food That Actually Tastes Good

When I interviewed chef and culinary producer Tara Thomas last month, she spoke about the absence of sentiment and nourishment in the current food scene; what she describes as the fetishization of food. I knew exactly what she meant. And as I bopped around from brand event to brand event in the days leading up to New York Fashion Week , I noticed food that looked beautiful and fashionable but not at all appetizing was everywhere — from sprawling banquet tables of branded raw produce at the debut of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Gwyn to dry, deconstructed challah bread sitting on a bed of pink Himalayan salt at a Pandora party.

“It’s easy to create something that looks pretty but doesn’t make you feel anything,” Thomas says. “I want people to feel nourished. I’m trying to make my food as inclusive