7 Questions With Sqirl Chef Jessica Koslow
Her food is your jam.
Pop by sweetgreen LA through November 20th— we extended it! — and you’ll see something special: The Sqirl Dinner Bowl (don’t worry, you can get it at lunch, too). With pickled carrots, tahini-marinated yuba noodles and Jess’ signature sorrel pesto, it’s “the bowl of your dreams” and “the hippest bowl in LA.” We sat down with the girl behind Sqirl to talk about her purpose, why she loves cottage cheese, and her obsession with Rihanna.
1. Sqirl and your style of cooking are very distinctly Californian — what inspires that approach to food?
I feel a responsibility to California and the environmental issues that affect the land. I try to be mindful of the land, the environment and the seasons, and to reflect that in my cooking and recipes. I’m very passionate about who grows the food I cook with, and how they grew it, and I want to honor the food and the environment by being respectful of how it fluctuates.
2. You’re a chef with a very clear vision and an always-busy restaurant — what’s the hardest part about running Sqirl?
Finding people and rallying them behind the vision, the passion and the purpose behind Sqirl. My team members are so important, and they all “get it,” but getting other people excited and passionate about your goals and passions is the most difficult part of running a restaurant, or any business.
3. Your first cookbook, Everything I Want to Eat, just came out — how is it uniquely Sqirl, and why should people check it out?
I approached the recipes in a way that would allow everyone to cook from it, even if you are a beginner and don’t want to make every little piece from scratch. There’s a salad in the book that has tomatoes done three ways: dehydrated and pulverized into a tomato powder, roasted, and made into a paste. But if you want, you just use store-bought paste.
4. You work with some less common ingredients, like sorrel and aleppo —what do you think is the most underrated thing in the food world?
Prunes have gotten a bad rep for being a laxative but they are delicious. And cottage cheese if you whip enough turns into this great ricotta-like consistency. I’ve seen it used as a cream cheese replacement before, mixed with herbs and seasoning in Australia and New Zealand. It’s such a versatile ingredient. But, that’s it, I’m not giving away any more of my secrets!
5. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since opening Sqirl?
To always ask myself what is most important. I’m constantly making decisions for the business and have to gut-check myself to make sure I’m focusing on the right things and not getting carried away with all the things that are just cool, like Nitro coffee. Like, do I want to put it on tap? Is that really important?
6. We ask everyone this question when they start at sweetgreen — who do you wish you could have dinner with?
Abraham Lincoln — he worked so much on equality, and I’d like to have dinner with him to talk about the world today because it’s something that 100 years later we are still working on. I’d love to hear his thoughts on the world today and the progress we’ve made.
7. Lastly, if you could see anyone in concert, alive or dead, who would it be?
Johnny Cash in his prime, but also maybe Bad Gal RiRi? I’m super into her fearlessness and bad-girl attitude. Like, I want to be her.
All photos by Masha Maltsava.
