If you ever find yourself inside Margot McCormack's Riverside bungalow, you're either there for an elaborate theme party or looking for a pair of tongs. We dropped in on a sunny Monday morning (one of Margot's only days off) with an immediate awareness that the warmth emanating from her kitchen isn't merely the color scheme or the east facing windows. Dressed comfortably in jeans and a dark orange thermal, McCormack is your typical friendly, down-to-earth neighbor: A natural story teller ready with the best sugar on the block if you ever need to borrow a cup.
Favorite utensils:
Many many pairs of tongs, sharp knives, metal mixing bowls and wooden spoons
Always in the house:
Nuts, yogurt, popcorn, cheese, bread, fruit
Working five days a week on the line and administrating for two restaurants, she admits the kitchen is her partner Heather's domain a majority of the time, especially taking care of their 3-year-old, Jacob. At home the focus is on comfort. Heather makes bread, tends the gardens, and turns the produce into homemade jam. She's even tinkered with making yogurt, but anyone who's been around a toddler for two seconds understands why that's now out of the question.
If you drop by you'll get to eat whatever they're havingroasted chicken, steak on the grill, a garden salad, or a pasta dish at least one night of the week. But it's unique dinner parties the pair are known forheld at nearly every holiday, major award show and whenever else they dream up. That means jambalaya for Mardi Gras, corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day and an Indian buffet the year Slum Dog Millionaire was nominated for an Oscar. Beef bourguignon for Julie and Julia? You know it.
For most of us, the kitchen is where people tend to congregate and this home is no different. We were whisked into the cozy and bright space with the genuine hospitality that marks McCormack's character. The late 30s/early 40s home has received much improvement since they moved in 10 years ago, and they've got their eye on the kitchen next. A multi-functional butcher block island anchors the rectangular room with a stove on one end and an expansive pantry well stocked with farro, baking supplies and kid's snacks.
Through the eyes of her son Jacob, food has taken on new meaning. His discovery and "mmmm, yeah, ooh, whoa's!" over something as simple as squash puree is a reminder of McCormack's own youthful curiosity. It started simply with a desire for donuts. Instead of pleading with her mom to go buy a dozen, she asked her how to make them. Donuts lead to three-cheese bread, which led to a lifelong love of food. As we're all standing in her own kitchen, McCormack shares stories of the kitchens that brought her back to Nashville, of Saturday's spent baking days with her mother, and about the connection between her Quaker roots and her work ethic.
After turning 50 in December, McCormack is keen on staying healthy citing the flavorful vegetable dishes found in Yotam Ottolenghi's Jerusalem and Plenty as her current food muse. She's actually got the bones of her own cookbook in the works. Defying convention, this won't be a French dish collection but a combination of recipes and memories. "It's a lot of things that I ate and how my style developed… there's no Anthony Bourdain and heroine usage or anything. It's pretty tame."
Maybe it's natural inclination or coming up before the 'chef-turned-celebrity' generation, but McCormack lacks any air of pretension. Even after 13 years as chef, co-owner, and namesake of Margot Cafe and Bar in East Nashville, she still runs a "mom and pop shop." Don't look for a Margot Cafe on Charlotte or the Gulch, because it won't happen. Not because she lacks ambition, but rather, in her eyes more does not equal better. "We don't do Open Table because I like to talk to the person. I like that contact. That's really what the restaurant is all about, that personal connection with people. "
She's happy (and busy) just where she is. It is in feeding her dogs, her plants, her fish, her family, and the rest of Nashville that she reveals the secret behind all great kitchenslove and care for the people inside.
More with Margot at MargotCafe.com.
