August 31, 2015

ABP 002: Incredible Energy, Drive and the Path to Success. A Conversation with Award-Winning Chef Jenn Louis

44 minutes

Details: I’m so honored and delighted to have the amazing Chef Jenn Louis of Portland, Oregon as my very first guest on A Balanced Pursuit Podcast. I sat down for a conversation with Jenn, at her fabulous Portland restaurant, Lincoln, right before she was to head out on a very busy book tour. We dive into a discussion about her life and experiences, cooking, her path, launching, owning and maintaining 3 successful businesses and the absolutely exciting journey of researching and creating her very unique and awesome cookbook-Pasta By Hand. Her notables include [but not limted to] 2012 Food & Wine Best New Chef, James Beard Nominee for Best Chef Northwest, Top Chef Masters Contestant and, now, cookbook author. Jenn is a very cool, open, inspiring woman with incredible energy and I look forward to sharing our conversation with you here.

Quote ~ “Nobody hands you anything – you work hard for opportunities, decide on the ones to take and go all in”

Topics covered:

Jenn’s origins with cooking ~ growing up with her mom “reigning in the kitchen” and loving food to cooking for herself in college [because she hated the dorm food] to taking over the kitchen in her Outward Bound program [cooking for up to 50 people] and the path to cooking professionally

Her journey from California to North Carolina to Portland, Oregon

Launching her first restaurant, Lincoln, during the economic crisis and how hard work led to success

Sunshine Tavern – her second restaurant – and how it’s similar to Lincoln but also completely different [it is delicious and so fun – one of my favorite restaurants in Portland] and why

Being a woman in the [previously] heavily male dominated chef/restaurant owner arena

The rhythm of her restaurants and the importance of taking time to recharge every week

Balancing three successful businesses while writing a very different kind of cookbook

Her unique take on the “pasta cookbook” [you should definitely pick it up] and her research process [it’s super cool and special]

Preserving tradition and telling stories through recipes and food

Her game changing “secret ingredients”

SHOW NOTES:

Jenn Louis

Lincoln Restaurant

Culinary Artistry

Sunshine Tavern

Outward Bound

Buy the cookbook! Pasta by Hand: A Collection of Italy’s Regional Hand-Shaped Pasta

FOLLOW JENN:

Instagram

Twitter

SHARE: Please share with your friends, loved ones, co-workers for inspiration, exploration and actionable tips and lessons for YOUR balanced pursuit.

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By Michele Boyer