Meny Vaknin shares how his food fosters asense of home
Tastemakers
FLAVORS OF A MEDITERRANEAN CHILDHOOD
Meny Vaknin shares how his food fosters asense of home
Meny Vaknin, the chef-owner of MishMish Café and Marcel Bakery & Kitchen, associates food with family gatherings, holidays and happiness ingeneral. It’ s no wonder, then, that the Israeli of Jewish Moroccan descent launched his career as a chef, moving to the global food capital of New York.
Vaknin attended the French Culinary Institute( now the International Culinary Center) and helped star chef Daniel Boulud open Boulud Sud. He then served as executive chef for a number of restaurant owners, and for a year and a half commuted from Montclair to Brooklyn, wherehe worked as a consultant until a friend of his in-laws invested in MishMish Café. Last month, he opened Marcel Bakery & Kitchen at the opposite end of town.
How did you find the right location for MishMish Café? My wifeand I were living on ForestStreet, and while I was driving our daughter to daycare, I saw a sign on the window that said: Rent by Owner. A shoe store was there before, so there are unique challenges. The main one is that the bathroom is down the hallway, which annoys people a little, and there’ s a new venting system. But we’ re finally getting it right.
How would you describe your philosophy of food? I want to nourish people. I want them to come in and say,“ Wow, that was really great, it felt like somebodythought about it and put energy and love and effort into it.” It’ s Mediterranean food. Italian, French, Moroccan and Greek cuisines all use the same ingredients, but every family and region has a different style.
MENY VAKNIN
MishMish Café 215 Glenridge Ave., Montclair( 973) 337-5648, mishmishcafe. com
Marcel Bakery & Kitchen 631 ½ Valley Road, Upper Montclair( 973) 842-4086, marcelbakeryandkitchen. com
How would you describe Marcel Bakery & Kitchen? It’ s a destination spot for breakfastand lunch, a grab-and-go kind of place. Youcan come in and have afull meal, take something for the morning train, or hang out when you come back. It’ s more casual. We’ regoing to bakeour own Middle Eastern and French rustic bread daily; that’ s abig passion of mine that I’ ve been playing around with for years. Bread is life.
What advice do you have for holiday cooks? Prepareahead. Makethe sauceone day, and marinate the turkey the next. Break your food prep down into steps.
What do you like best about being achef-owner? You get to work for yourselfand create your ownterms. Youcan have avision of the kind of experience you want customers to have; serviceis50percent of it. My vision isto create a space where people walk in, and they’ ll be transformed a little bit. Iwantthemtofeel at home. The flavors go back to my childhood. I put my grandparents’ pictures up on the walls.
What is the most challenging aspect? To be a small business owner is to feel constant anxiety, unfortunately. What if next week isn’ t as good as this week? You’ re dealing with vendors, other small businesses, and you’ re never really free, seven days a week. My family feels the heat, and that’ s the worst part. My 5-year-old daughter asks,“ Are you staying home?” and my 3-year-old son thinks my middle name is MishMish.
You made three appearances on the Food Network show Chopped before MishMish opened its doors. Was that helpful in getting the word out about your new place? The first time Iwas on the showand won $ 10,000, Iwas still at my consulting gig in Brooklyn. But it takes ayeartoair it, and thatwas just as MishMish was opening. The second time was the“ Tournament of Champions,” and people did ask me“ Are you that guy?” The whole Chopped experience was great— challenging, real and fast. And the money was good. Back then, $ 10,000 was really necessary.
If you could cook for someone dead or alive, who would it be, what would you cook and why? Iwould probably cook for mygrandma on my mom’ s side, who passed away when Iwas much younger. She didn’ t getachancetosee me as a chef. Iwould probably cook for her something really simple and enjoy it with her together, like mergueze sausage and bean stew with alot of breadand some aniseliquer on the side with it. That’ sagood day dream...
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AMY NEWMAN
34 HOLIDAY 2017 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE