Q&A WITH JILL DONENFELD, OF THE DISH’S DISHMar 9, 2010 | by kendall | Read | No Comments

You may recognize Jill Donenfeld’s name from the New York Times, Vanity Fair, or Lucky magazine. At the ripe age of 25, she and her tremendously successful, bicoastal catering company, The Dish’s Dish, have garned some pretty major buzz. So, we sat down with the young entrepreneur to hear about her thoughts on the rising food ethics movement and some of her favorite restaurants.

GHOST: When did you start The Dish’s Dish? And can you explain to our readers what it is?

Jill: I started the business in 2006. It’s a weekly home chef service with offices in NYC and LA. We offer customized menus that we will come to your house to prepare once a week. The menus are composed of dishes that are meant to be mixed and matched throughout the week to create various meals. We grocery shop and clean up, too. Dream, huh?

GHOST: What had you been doing before The Dish’s Dish?

Jill: I wrote restaurant reviews at Time Out, worked for Karen DeMacso at Craft, worked at Little Giant, catered with a former editor of Gourmet… But that was all part time because I was also in college.

GHOST: What is one of your first food memories growing up?

Jill: Well, I remember sleeping over at my friend’s house and developing these very elaborate plans that involved sketching layouts of the house, synchronizing our watches, scheming how to divert the dogs and not wake the parents… all so we could sneak down to the kitchen in the middle of the night to stuff our faces with marshmallows and fruit roll-ups. That was when I was about 6 or 7.

GHOST: How do you select which cooks to hire?

Jill: Excellent chef skills + excellent interpersonal skills. Never one without the other.

GHOST: If someone wanted to be considered, how could they apply?

Jill: They’d email me their resume: thedish@thedishsdish.com.

GHOST: What are some of your favorite restaurants?

Jill: Raoul’s is the best in NYC–the ambiance, the food, the everything. So sexy. Always a fun night. And there’s a special spot in my heart for Balthazar. Tacos Por FavorI love in LA–cheap Mexican spot with quality burritos and tacos. And great pozole if you are in the mood.  I also like Sushi Zo in LA and Matsuri in NYC for Japanese.

GHOST: How looped in to the food ethics movement are you–like have you read Eating Animals or any Michael Pollan or seen Food, Inc? How important are those ideas to you and your company?

Jill: Yes, I’ve recently read Eating Animals and watched Food, Inc–all in the same week while doing a cleanse. It was great because this information made me not want to eat anything. I haven’t read in full any Michael Pollan but I always pick up his books and say, “Yes, yes, yes, I know,” and then put them down. These books are good for people who were raised eating crap, but I wasn’t and don’t feel I need to read them. What he says is obvious–and that’s really the beauty of it.  Eating food that is actually food and that makes sense to the environment and our well being in the long run matters a lot to me and within the context of the business. Our mission is to help people become more conscious of what they are putting into their bodies – and I think this can be done by eating at home in a more controlled context. However, at the end of the day, The Dish’s Dish is a client-driven business which means that you can have whatever you want. So, if you want junk food and you want us to buy your chicken at Costco, we’ll do it for you without judgement.

GHOST: For your last meal, what would you have?

Jill: Oh gosh, that changes all the time, but if I were to die later today, it’d be thick onion rings and Graeters chocolate chip ice cream.