Kate LeSueur
Making Handmade Pasta
How did it all start for you - why food?
It’s really a roundabout story! My background is in art - I went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and then worked as a graphic designer for a number of years. Eventually I fell in love with cooking as a hobby. I’ve always been interested in healthy food, but I wasn’t always someone who cooked. I became interested in local produce and putting vegetables together in interesting, flavorful combinations. At the end of a long work day, instead of heading out to dinner, I became in love with the process - chopping relieved my stress and I loved the way colorful vegetables looked so artful as they were hitting a hot skillet.
I think the elements of design all apply to food and cooking: balance, color, texture, etc. Eventually I had the idea that I could combine these two loves - design + food into a food blog. Then I convinced my third love(!), my husband Jack, to come along for the ride. He programmed the website and deals with all things technical. We work on our photography together.
How did your blog start out?
Truthfully, at the beginning, I thought my mom would be my only reader! After a few weeks of Love & Lemons being live, we started to get little bits of press here and there. It was exciting to see that actual people were coming to our website! This inspired me to keep going and for two years I balanced blogging and freelance graphic design. I did a ton of free blog work not only on our blog itself but contributing to other bigger websites like Food 52, Refinery 29, and others in order to get exposure. I think it’s easy to look back and see that what I’ve done worked, but it was a lot of un-paid hard work that I did purely for the love of it.
How did you approach the photography side of things?
I’d like to say that my eye for design made it easy to pick up photography, but that’s only partially true. At the beginning, especially, it was a TON of trial and error. Capturing the beauty and details of food is hard because that arugula wilts fast! My husband Jack and I spent countless hours finding (and creating) the best light, learning the ins and outs of the camera and defining a style.
You say travel inspires your dishes, what country has had the most influence on your cooking?
My husband and I got engaged in Italy and that’s where we first started to fall in love with the concept of local, seasonal food. That’s probably the most influential, as it started us on our journey. Our travels to France, Japan, and Spain have also added quite a bit to the “inspiration pot.” However, I would say that all of these influences mostly come down to little things here and there that influence how I cook seasonal food with local ingredients here at home, so while we’ve eaten and learned a lot, I mostly care about what tastes great here at home.
Your dishes are veg-focused, can you explain a little about this and ways of cooking seasonally and locally?
When I originally became vegetarian, I tried to substitute meat with all kinds of awful fake-meat products that usually tasted like cardboard and left me feeling deprived. One day, over a very flavorful falafel, I realized that vegetables, spices, herbs, and tangy sauces (like the really lemony hummus I was enjoying) were no sacrifice at all. In fact it was quite the opposite - I got super excited and inspired by the possibility of the variety of flavorful foods to try. So many people think that vegetables are bland, and they can be unless you make them amazing with just a little love.
You recently moved from Austin to Chicago - what do you love most about Chicago?
I was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs. After 15 years in Austin, my sister having a baby, and Jack always wanting to be around a more vibrant comedy scene, we decided we would move to Chicago. So far, we love that this place feels endless - there are a ton of great restaurants and new things for us to explore. Plus it’s warm here all year, right?
What exciting foodie discoveries have you made in Chicago?
Indoor farmers markets are a thing! I thought I’d have to stock up on canned goods to survive the winter, but I feel like the farmers here are the most passionate - rain, snow, sleet, or hail - they’re at the markets with produce and it’s really amazing produce as well. Plus, Rick Bayless never shows up to farmers markets in Austin :).
Some restaurants we’ve loved recently are Kitsune, The Clever Rabbit, Left Coast, Lula Cafe, Antique Taco… I could go on and on.
What's the best advice you've ever heard?
"Follow your passion. Do what you love, and the money will follow" - Oprah.
If you could pick only 1 full dish, three ingredients and 2 pieces of kitchen kit to take with you to a desert island what would they be and why?
Ha, three ingredients is pretty limiting, but I’d take an avocado, a corn tortilla, and a lemon (maybe I could dry salt from the sea?) and make a queso-less quesadilla. Smush the avocado with the back of a fork with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt. Grill over an open fire! This is actually a go-to breakfast and/or snack for me, minus the open fire and homemade sea salt.
What advice would you give for anyone starting out on a food blog now?
This is a hard one because there are SO many blogs and beautiful Instagram accounts now. My best advice would actually be to ignore all of those - create something unique to you, something that looks visually appealing even if you have to get a photographer friend to help out. Find your own authentic voice and your people will find you.