Defining Home with Christopher Stewart
Nestled in the heart of New York City, you’ll find this fashion-forward chef turning the restaurant industry on its head by doing things her way! Christopher, a fab girl with a fab name and one of my favorite people in the world. Christopher’s relationship with the culinary industry began at a relatively young age. Now, a classically trained Chef working in the restaurant industry by day handling reservations and operations, she admits that everything one would need to know about restaurants and dining runs through her veins.
When she’s not putting systems in place to increase the guest experience and revenue at the restaurants she works in, the other half of Christopher’s life revolves around Eating Fabulously!
“Eating Fabulously is a food, dining, and lifestyle brand where I share under 15 ingredient seasonal recipes, restaurant happenings, and everything else revolving around my lifestyle.”
And when she’s not serving us recipes or elevating the dining experience at New York’s most elite spots in town, there is The Mise Group, which is her unique food, restaurant & Chef management company. Even between her busy work schedule and all she manages for her personal brand, Christopher found time for this interview. Reason 154446941 why she is adored and loved. I had the pleasure of getting all in Chris’s business and learning more about what led her to the world of Culinary Arts, what life is like as a classically trained chef, and of course, how she defines home.
Get cozy; this is a good one!
Dvn Oasis is about finding ways to infuse life and style to curate a life worth living. What is your idea of curating an ideal life?
My idea of curating an ideal life is first realizing what type of life you want and then knowing that it exists and can exist for you—then aligning yourself on a path of doing things, going places, eating things, speaking, dressing, and moving in a way that looks and feels like the life you want.
When did you discover your love for Culinary Arts?
It started very early on. I come from a skilled family who not only had the extreme privilege of enjoying food and dining willingly and freely as much as we wanted but also allowed me the space to explore food and dining. There was never food that I couldn’t taste. My late grandfather was a Chef, and he immersed me in food, hospitality, technique, and flavor, so I like to say I was literally born to do what I do.
At what point in life did you know you wanted to venture into the Culinary industry?
I'm very blessed to know that this is what I've ALWAYS wanted to do. There was never a moment that I didn't think about becoming a Chef and working in the restaurant industry. When kids were going right, I was going left to go home and watch Julia Childs on TV, or I was ditching after school to go have sushi with my parents. I was highlighting recipes and practicing plating food in my grandparent’s kitchen. I "I was running and operating my own cookie business at 14. It was always in me to do this, which is why I'm so passionate about it to this day, even being 15+ years in.
What is life as a classically trained chef?
It's fabulous. It's extremely hard and tiring most days. It's constant, it's addicting. What I enjoy most about this classically trained life is knowing that I'm not eating bullshit and that you can't feed me bullshit, either.
Do you feel any disadvantages to being a skilled Black woman in a male-dominated industry?
Absolutely. To start, it was automatically trying to box me into a soul food corner, which I stood very firm on. I didn't even grow up eating soul food! I love soul food and its rich history, but I was not going to allow people to keep me there. I'm already coming to the table as a woman, a black woman, AND a woman who enjoys beauty and femininity in an industry that is very hard and aggressive, so the constant undermining was an issue in the beginning, especially during my time as Executive Chef when I was 25 years old. Everyone, even my close male Chef friends, would just ask me the most random and blank questions that I know for a fact were questions on whether I simply knew the answer. If I'm in the same kitchen as you, in the same restaurant alongside you, obviously, I'm here for a reason. And that's also why I make Eating Fabulously so soft and feminine. I want women to be able to sit at these restaurant tables with men and walk through these dining rooms absolutely gorgeous and know what they are eating and drinking just like he does.
In your opinion, what is the best restaurant in New York City? The best would include service, experience, food, and ambiance.
I am not one to chase the next best or most popular restaurant, but I specifically choose to dine at restaurants that are excelling by being themselves, no matter how the restaurant industry changes. And the best restaurant in NYC for me because of that is Dirt Candy. Dirt Candy is NYC's only Michelin Starred all vegetable restaurant spearheaded by Chef Amanda Cohen and general manager Jacqueline Carson-Aponte. The restaurant literally only serves vegetables, even down to their desserts and cocktails. The pastry Chef Rachel is turning vegetables like mustard greens and asparagus into desserts that are mind-blowing. Dirt Candy operates on a tasting menu format, and you will never experience vegetables anywhere else like it, and this is coming from a meat eater. Aside from vegetables, Chef Cohen is re-shaping the restaurant industry and setting a new standard by implementing incredible policies in her restaurant, including paying staff a real-life living wage, removing tipping, and involving the Chefs in her kitchen in the menu design process. When you dine there, you learn things about vegetables that you never even knew existed.
How is home life for you? To you, what is the definition of healthy home life?
I didn't realize that I didn't have a home life until Covid happened and we were quarantined. The thing about working in the restaurant industry is that you are always at work. I like to joke that I only sleep, change my clothes and get my mail at my house but being quarantined at home during that time made me realize that's actually true; I'm not here often. So now that I know that, I'm readjusting to what home life looks and feels like. I know that home life for me feels like I can release my day here as soon as I walk in the door in a safe space.
And I'm thankful for that.
Lately, at Dvn Oasis, we’ve been celebrating the Fall season; what is your go-to dish during the Fall season?
I know it's fall when I want to make my sweet potato soup with caramelized pecans. But most recently, I've been loving chicken & dumplings when the temperature changes. And without fail, every fall, I start making bone broth. I love sipping bone broth on colder nights right before bed.
“Home right now, for me, is a feeling of safety and growth. I’ve experienced home in a person; I feel at home in a restaurant, but right now, home is the growth I’m moving through and the safety of going through it and expressing it to people who care and love me. ”
How do you prioritize your life?
This is a hard one because, on one hand, I feel like I don’t, and on the other, I feel like I do.
I’m very goal-oriented, so I always have something to achieve; however, this year is my year of self-prioritization. I specifically and intentionally allowed myself to have 365 days off from everything. Doing this was a big priority for me. I prioritized doing the least, allowing myself the opportunity to do whatever ( I just recently came back from a solo trip), and being ok with doing nothing. On the flip side of that, I prioritize sleep. One thing about me, I will lie down and close my eyes! Once a month, like clockwork, I sleep for 13hrs, and I swear this is what helps keep me going. I also prioritize doing something by myself about once a month. Even if that’s ditching public transportation and taking an Uber for that 20 minutes of peace, quit. Or simply having dinner by myself.
Describe your idea of the perfect Oasis; where would it be if you could live anywhere in the world? How would your space feel?
My perfect oasis in this current phase of my life is being in a hotel. I’m having a full circle moment because with my grandfather being a Chef in some of the most well-known hotels, we also had the privilege to stay (live) and enjoy them. Now that I’m older, most recently I find myself craving and desiring to be in a hotel. It’s being up on a high floor with the outside world completely silenced, looking down at the city or across the water, curated decor, and just being in a relaxing state. Room service also helps !
What is your favorite place to spend your time in your current home? The bathroom! For some reason, I love being in the bathroom. It’s where I sit in my thoughts, go over my to-do list, and just calmly think. It feels like my own little room, and when I walk out of the bathroom, I'm ready to face my day. In my next home, I definitely plan to focus on putting together a bathroom that visually looks like how being in there makes me feel.
What scents best describe your home?
I do not have a scent for my home, but I enjoy gardenia scents. So when I do begin to create my "home," I know gardenia will be a part of it.
Flowers in your front yard or a fruit tree?
Definitely a fruit tree. It would be great to grab a lemon or a fig outside my window.
Countryside or City living?
City. I am the definition of a city girl. City life literally runs through my veins. Living in a major city has made me into the woman I am today. I think it's just a determination, hustle, and swift kick in your ass that the country will never provide. The city keeps you on your toes, tires you out to the point of tears, and then fabulously rewards you for staying true. I’m literally born & made in NYC.
Single-story home or a loft?
Loft. I have always always always desired to have a loft in my life—real industrial, raw material, and tons of open space. I love lofts that look like you’re not supposed to live there, but it feels like home.
Jazz or R&B on a Saturday morning?
R&B. I will sing an R&B album like I’m going through something ok!
What’s your favorite flower?
I’m not a flower girl, but I love a big fluffy bouquet of hydrangeas. The white ones are so classic, but all the shades are gorgeous. I love having them specifically in my bedroom.
How do you create space in your day-to-day life for happiness?
I’m a ‘treat’ person. I allow myself to have a small treat every day, no matter what. I'm literally like..."what treat do I want today?" A few days ago I got a hot churro after a long, kinda stressful day at one of the restaurants. Everyone deserves and should have a treat every day, whatever that treat is specifically for you. Whether that’s the grande Starbucks, the freshly baked croissant, a new sweater that makes you smile, or the ring you’ve had your eye on ever since you saw it walking to work. I think allowing yourself to have a “treat” every day keeps you even keel and just lets you know you are worthy of having whatever you want.
With all the hats you wear, which brings you the greatest joy?
I think the hat I’m wearing right now brings me the most joy, and that hat is just being myself and exploring Christopher Stewart. I’m in a really transformative phase in my life right now, and we all know when we are growing and stretching, that’s when life decides to tap dance on your last good nerve. The joy in this is being able to be open to what comes, and I think I’m moving through feeling that as best as I can within this moment.
I’ve learned over the years that home isn’t specific to a place; home can be found in a person, place, or thing. Based on the current flow of your life, how would you define home?
Whew, this is tough for me right now. Home right now, for me, is a feeling of safety and growth. I've experienced home in a person; I feel at home in a restaurant, but right now, home is the growth I'm moving through and the safety of going through it and expressing it to people who care and love me.
