The Pleasure Lists Q&A: Chef Jess Shadbolt, Co-Founder of King

Pleasures, Curated by Jess Shadbolt, Co-Founder of King

We’re back with another installment of

The Pleasure Lists

: Pleasures, Curated.

I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoy getting to know members of the Pleasure Lists community and what makes their Pleasures tick.

Pleasures, Curated by Jess Shadbolt, Co-Founder and Chef of King

Internationally acclaimed Jess Shadbolt is Co-Founder and Chef at the acclaimed restaurants King and Jupiter in New York. Leading the charge for women in the industry, Jess has been instilled with the values of some of the most pioneering female chefs that came before her. Originally from the UK, Jess joined The River Cafe as the assistant to Chefs Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers in 2009, before returning as a chef having graduated from world-renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School in 2012. In 2018, Jess was named Best New Chef by Food and Wine Magazine. At King, wrote Pete Wells in his 2018 New York Times review, “what you really notice is how many little moves they know that can raise a recipe from good to exceptional.”

Location: New York City

Social: @jessieshad

Pleasures

Dawn

It’s not too often that I witness the break of dawn - the years of staying up late enough to see it on the way home have long gone. On the rare occasion that I find myself part of the morning chorus, it is completely thrilling. I love the light, I love the potential, I love the new.

Strangely, I find sunsets a bit melancholy.

Marmite on buttered toast.

The variables are important here. The thickness of the bread needs to be such that it is thick enough to get a good, golden crisp in the toaster but have a bounce in the middle. I like wafer-thin shards of fridge-cold butter hitting the toast immediately (they must be pre-sliced in preparation) and then the generous smear of the marmite gets added into the mix so that the melting butter and the marmite becomes one. And really, you know you have been successful when there is butter dripping onto the plate and of course you mop that up with your finger to pick up any stray crumbs.

Waking a toddler from their afternoon nap.

This needs to be perfectly timed.

My sister and I would fight over who got to wake her babies from their snoozes. Sleepy heads would bob from their cots like seals on top of the water and as you picked them up you would be rewarded with the perfect warm and squishy hug that nestled into your neck. It would last moments before they were on the tear again.

NB - it doesn’t work with teenagers. Last time I tried to wake my niece Elodie (15) from her den, she threw a Wellington boot at me.

The clinking sound of spinnakers in a harbour.

I have always loved boats of every shape and size.

I think I missed my calling as a boatswain.

Dancing

I can’t dance with my eyes open and embarrassingly I am always the last one to leave a dance-floor especially if there is a live band or DJ involved. I can’t help myself.

The kitchen table at my parents house.

I feel like Life happened here and I wish I could read a transcription of every conversation that was shared around it. It’s what I miss the most having moved to NYC.

Swimming in the sea.

My ultimate pleasure.

And I love it when the salt dries on your skin and you go a bit scale-y.

Browning meat

The kitchen often demands speed and efficiency but this job rewards slow-and steady. Tempering the meat, warming the oil or the butter in the pan to the right temperature, controlling the flame below so that the pot doesn’t scorch. Having patience - enough so that each side colours evening - like a conker. Meditative and satisfying!

Nora Ephron.

A long lunch.

Lunching is my favorite hobby.

There is nothing more indulgent than a long lunch where the demands of the afternoon is only another scoop of rhubarb sorbet; the last dibble of rosé, etching away at the slowly-shrinking piece of Brie on the cheeseboard, “Espresso?” Why not…and on, and on, and on it goes before someone suggests a stroll, or a swim, or a nap, and that just feels like bliss.

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Who do you want to see next? Send me suggestions for who to feature in the next Q&A!

What Is “Pleasures, Curated”?

Each week, a new Pleasure-seeker will document their personal Pleasures and ruminate a bit on what Pleasure means to them. True to

The Pleasure Lists

style, I keep the list-maker’s je ne sais quoi in as much as I can — only minor editorial changes are made when necessary. I do this intentionally so that the writer’s inner world really comes through. The style of the list says as much about the writer as the list itself.

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Read Previous Q&A’s:

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Why submit a list?

Pleasure Lists are a summary of what you need, want, or have, or see at a particular moment in time. They are a survey, an overview, a summary of the crucial facts of the state of one aspect of your life. It’s a kind of blueprint that can be a guide to the future. 

Mull it over and if you’re moved to, send me a list.

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Questions? Comments? Send any recommendations or suggestions for what you’d like to see in these newsletters my way. I’d love to hear more about what you’re currently finding pleasure in.

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