Carrie Nahabedian: Behind The Dish

In the spirit of Women's History Month, Naha's star Carrie Nahabedian talks about the women who inspired her.

Cooking is an artistic endeavor; inspiration is key. One of Chicago’s most famed female chefs, Carrie Nahabedian, chef and co-owner at Naha, recently dished (couldn’t resist the pun) to TCW about her cooking, her heritage and the women who inspired her.

On her mother, Helen "My mother, who’ll be 80 this year, is an exceptional cook and baker. Growing up, she cooked for us every day and my dad barbecued outside. We ate really well, very healthy. My dad would come home after a long day of work and he wanted the whole family to sit at the table together, which I love."On her grandmother, Rose "My grandmother was an exceptional Armenian cook. She taught me about Armenian food and influenced me about the importance of the family table. She was just such a wonderful woman, totally devoted to her family. The minute you walked into her house, you felt at home."

On the food she grew up with "Growing up, my mother’s favorite dishes are still my favorites today. I love her leg of lamb with tiny little slivers of garlic stuck under the skin, potatoes roasted underneath, then a little pan dripping with squeezed lemons over the top. My favorite from my grandmother was her bread, called pagach, an Armenian version of bread made like puff dough. It’s made with layers upon layers of butter in between dough, then you make it into a spiral and roll it out."On the Armenian influence at Naha "We don’t use pagach at the restaurant because it’s addicting - I’d sit down and eat a whole loaf. We do leg of lamb like my mother does; of course, we jazz it up with flageolet beans or Amish shell beans, and oven-cured tomatoes, kalamata olives and caramelized fennel, so you can see the bridge between the cooking. My mom provided the inspiration, I just took it to a different level."

On her family inspiration "I saw my childhood and growing up through the lens of the kitchen and the food that the women in my family cooked. And then I just took it to a different level from there. When we lived in Chicago my father would barbecue on the gas grill, even in winter with the snow all around. I loved the wood-burning grill when I was building the restaurant - it sets the tone."

On her other main influence "Growing up, I watched Julia Child on TV. She was just so larger-than-life. I thought it was cool that sometimes she opened up the oven to show a big roasted chicken that she made, and it would be raw because she forgot to turn the oven on. I liked the creative process because I’ve always been a creative, independent free-thinker and liked that someone stood in front of you and cooked. It was like watching an artist painting."

On making your mark "There are chefs who want to educate and expand and I love that. I like to do my own interpretive cooking of French, Mediterranean and American, so it’s my own melding. And then of course I take my own heritage and mix it in. My mother would always say that from an early age I did things differently from everybody else. I’d set the table differently from my sisters, maybe I would do the napkin fold differently, or I made sure the plates were arranged a certain way, but that’s just a personality thing."

On being a woman and a chef "I think the first thing that people notice is that you’re a woman, so that sets you apart right away. But behind every great man is a woman - any of the top Michelin-starred male chefs in the country will say their mother or their grandmother cooked, and that’s how they found that connection. Has it been hard for me? No. I think you shouldn’t let the moniker of being a ‘woman’ get in the way. You should be recognized for your talent and your ability to do the job. Going through my whole career, doors have opened for me first based on my talent - then they would ask, ‘Are you going to be okay working with all these men?’ Men are okay working with a woman as long as the woman is holding up her end of the job."

On her love of cooking "I’ve never gotten bored, ever. I’ve been cooking since I was a senior in high school and that was a really long time ago! I love the excitement and the passion of it and the melding of flavors. I just love that every day you can make something new or create something that someone is going to enjoy and remember."