Jessica Koslow - Everything I Want to Eat

Acknowledgments

Thank you to all the customers who have made their way through our doors over the last half of a decade, and who continue to bring positivity and good energy to Sqirl. To those friends and Sqirl family who took time out of their days to come and sit for a portrait, thank you. I love you for those minutes. Vi Ha, Im looking at you.

The same goes for my kitchen and FOH crew, past and present, who possess the openness to play and the rigidness to keep it tight, keep it right. Special thanks to: Meadow Ramsey, Javier Ramos, Royston Garza, David Prado, Patch Troffer, Jayme Darling, and Sara Storrie. Hands please.

To all the farmers, both in my heart and listed here: Robin and Ross Koda, Peter Schaner, Ron Cornelsen (RIP), Barbara and Bill Spencer, Kong Thao, Andy Mariani and Ken Brown, Steven and Robin Smith, Elizabeth Poett, Shu and Debby Takikawa, James Birch, Bill and Linda Zaiser, and Romeo Coleman. Thank you for honoring the land and letting us take your produce on a journey.

Thank you to everyone at Abrams who worked to bring this book to life. To Holly Dolce and Michael Sand, for believing in me from day one. Thank you to John Gall, Liam Flanagan, True Sims, Sarah Massey, Mary Hern, Liana Krissoff, Sally Knapp, Claire Bamundo, and Melissa Esner for being the crossers of all ts.

To Katherine Cowles, our shepherd! I feel so lucky to be under your discerning guidance. To Scott Barry, I could not have done it without you. To see how far weve come is sometimes just incomprehensible. Wishing you Meyer lemons for life and sending love to Rich Barry for all eternity. To Peter Meehan, my east coast shoulder, like a great 80s suit with shoulder pads.

Thank you to Lynda Obst and Michael Krikorian for lending their words to this book. A huge thank you to Claire Cottrell, Jaime Beechum, and Nacho Alegre for giving this book a powerful visual narrative. And to Chris McElrath and all those at Contact Photo Lab who helped to develop a unifying tone. Cheers to that (with Laphroaig!). To Brooke Intrachat, thank you for managing, defining, and contributing talent. To Peter Shire, thanks for allowing us to shoot in your studio and home, for being a kingpin in this community, and for being true to your minds work. Youre a legend.

To Maria Zizka, for distilling Sqirls essence while becoming a dear friend in the process. Love and thanks to Graham Bradley for his unwavering support.

A very special thank you to Anne Quatrano, for taking a chance on a kid who stared longingly into kitchens wishing she could be in one. You taught me teamwork, tough love, and to always stay true to my visionno matter how challenging that may be. To Ryan Erlich, my rock, the most wonderful person I know in this life. Your support and love mean everything to me. And last but not least, thank you to Mnk, my four-legged wonder and teacher of unconditional love.

Wendy Yao and Laura Owens make lemonade

... Ive often thought of Jessicas food that its exactly what Id like to be cooking for my family if I had the tools to do so, and now I do. The creativity, the ingredients, the people, the delicious exuberance that make Sqirl so specialand makes LA one of the worlds most exciting places to eatits all here. And you dont even have to stand in line for an hour to get it.

Besha Rodell, restaurant critic and author

Jessica once joked to me that Sqirl is a place where beautiful people come to eat on uncomfortable chairs. And this book is full of them, the beautiful people, eating her beautiful food, shot by fantastic photographers: Nacho Alegres stacked-food shots in the latter third joyously evoke Irving Penn. But the proof of a cookbook is not in how much we want to climb inside the pages and live in them, the proof is in the pudding: here there are two, coconut and cocoa, as well as the recipes for all the jams & eggs & toasts & things that made all those beautiful people want to line up on an ugly corner in almost-Silver Lake for an uncomfortable seat at Ms. Koslows cantina. Now youve got the power to conjure that kind of draw at home. Use it wisely!

Peter Meehan, editor of Lucky Peach

How do you translate to print a restaurant that feels like taking a step back in time, even though its exactly of the moment, while also offering a glimpse of our culinary future? Jessica has done just that in this perfect collection.

Jeremy Fox, chef

Everything I Want to Eat is an engaging view into the life and times of famed LA corner spot Sqirl. Influential and eclectic, Jessicas storytelling through foodalong with the people who grow, eat, and cook it in her worldtakes us to the creative core of modern West Coast food culture.

Chad Robertson, chef and owner of Tartine

If you must know the secrets to the Los Angeles phenomenon that is Jessica Koslow and her beloved restaurant Sqirl, then you need to get her terrific new cookbook Everything I Want to Eat. But, hey, Im not one for secrets, so Ill spill the beansand the grains. Jessicas first book reveals the success of Sqirl is simply based on one criteriathat the recipes be delicious. So, and this is especially true to the rest of the country who cant make it to Sqirl, I highly recommend this cookbook for its stories, for its recipes, and for bringing Jessicas scrumptious touch into your own kitchens.

Nancy Silverton, chef and co-owner of Mozza Restaurant Group

Eggs & Toast

When I was first trying to figure out what kinds of eggs I might like to serve at Sqirl, I kept thinking about that video of Jacques Ppin cooking an omelette. Youve probably seen it. Its from his first cooking show series, the one that aired on PBS. He begins by saying there are two ways to cook an omelettethe American way and the classic French way. Because hes Jacques Ppin, he kindly says that one is not better than the other. But then he goes on to show how to make an American omelette, cooking it until the eggs are completely set and the bottom is brown. Next he shows the French way and turns out onto his plate the silkiest, supplest, sexiest omelette with no crispy bits whatsoever. I think its clear which one is the winner. And toast? Yes, always.

EGGS OF ALL KINDS

FRIED

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Set an oven-safe pan over medium heat. We use French de Buyer iron pans that are naturally stick-resistant because they are coated in beeswax. At home, nonstick or well-loved cast iron would work. Slide a pat of butter into the pan and let it melt. Before the butter browns, crack in a few eggs. Once you cannot see the pan through the white, move the pan to the oven. Finish cooking the eggs until the yolks turn bright golden and the whites are set but not totally firm, 3 to 4 minutes. Make sure the white part nearest the yolk is cooked through. At this point, if you prefer hard-fried eggs, use the corner of a spatula to break each yolk, then flip the eggs over and pull the pan out of the oven. Leave the eggs in the pan for a minute or so, until the second side has cooked. Even for a hard-fried egg, I dont like crispy bits. I want the whole thing to be soft and tender. Dont forget to season with fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper. (The same technique works for one egg, or two eggs, or however many eggs will fit in your skillet.)