i just want to wine and weed her

Taylor is 30 years old, and works as a Database Coordinator in a non-profit office. She resides in Seattle, WA.

What role did food play in your life growing up?

Growing up, restaurants played a bigger role in my family than food necessarily did.  There are only a few things I remember my mom cooking because she was just not the type. Neither are my grandmothers, really. When I think about food and family, I think about the restaurants we frequented.  I think about the wait staff and owners that we would ultimately befriend and eventually heckle, and there is a lot of joy in those moments and memories.  But, I don’t come from a sit-around-the-dinner-table type of family.

What was it like defining your own relationship with food?

Growing up my mom worked as an aesthetician doing make-up and waxing (and was hella good at her job) so she always had cash tips. I remember us always going out to eat. Going to eat at certain restaurants on certain days became a ritual for us, so those moments with her around food will always be strong memories for me. It’s interesting because I don’t think I really began my own relationship with food until now. Growing up I didn’t really feel comfortable in my own kitchen, or even at a friend’s house. Like, where is anything, what do you do with food, like I truly don’t know? -laughs- I didn’t know how to cook rice until I was 27 and I didn’t even do it right.

It’s been something that has been a little more personal to me in my adulthood. Being able to buy the things that I like at the quality that I like, that are good for me and worth eating. It’s been something I’ve picked up from my friends and people I’ve dated, but not necessarily my family.  

Figuring out what you want to eat and how to nourish yourself is so basic and necessary.

I’ll have spurts where I’ll want to cook things, so I’ll go on shopping trips. There are other times when I need to go to Dick’s (a famous fast-food chain in Seattle, WA) and get a cheeseburger. It’s pretty cyclical with my period. There’s comfort in that. -laughs-

Speaking of Dick’s, what are your munchies?

I love saucey things. I love chips. I feel like I grew up on bags of chips. They are my favorite snack.

Sometimes, if I’m hungover, and this hasn’t happened to me in a while, because who even drinks alcohol anymore? -laughs- but I have to order Dominos. Which isn’t even pizza.  But it brings me back from the dead and therefore it is magic. 

One word that keeps coming up in interviews is the word control. Do you think that relates to how you view food?

Throughout my twenties, I sometimes tended towards melancholy and that would often manifest in eating everything that’s unhealthy. It doesn’t happen as much anymore but these days I’ll notice that when I get really anxious or stressed out, I won’t eat. Then when I get a sense of relief, I’ll eat.

Do you feel like there is a body image component to that?

No. I mean, there are times when I’m in a bathing suit and I’ll be like “hmmm, I wish I hadn’t eaten so many burgers” -laughs- But it’s definitely more psychological.

What do the arts of eating and cooking mean to you?

My favorite things about cooking are the finished product, but also that whole process. For someone who feels lucky to have maintained independence since leaving home, that process and the end product is really satisfying and rewarding to me. When that happens and I can share it with someone, that makes it even better.

Sharing those moments, even a fast-food run, a bag of chips, a meal with someone is really special.

I miss that in these times. I love a chip bowl, but at this point, I’ll never put my hand in another one. It’s a very sad thing for the snack world.

-Laughs-

What are you cooking or where are you going in a post-covid world?

In a post-covid world, I’m going to the patio at Bar del Corso. Some outdoor seating, under cute little market lights, some wine, some salad, a pizza I cut with scissors and some chili oil.

What’s your most indulgent pleasure?

My most indulgent pleasure is ordering the most expensive meal on a menu and then having it delivered.  My guiltiest pleasure, which is way more fun, is definitely chicken nuggets from McDonald’s. But actually, I don’t even feel guilty about that.

What’s your sauce?

I love sweet and sour and hot mustard. I think hot mustard got discontinued, though.  That or people can’t understand me through the drive-thru because I feel like I’m always coming back with honey mustard. Not to knock the honey!

Another snack that I’m into these days, following a trip to Mexico, is chicharrones. I wanted to bring them on the plane home with me. There are many pictures from that trip, and I’m just in the background, with my hand in a bag of chicharrones. 

-Laughs-

Healthiest pleasure?

I always feel like I’ve cheated the system when I eat a rice cake instead of bread.  

Have you ever toasted one?

No?!

Oh shit. You have to do that.

In like, a toaster?

In a toaster or a toaster oven. Not for very long. But it gets toasty, nutty, crispy, crunchy.

Mmmm.

Final question, which celebrity are you sitting down for a meal with?

Rihanna.

Where are you and Rih Rih dining?

Somewhere in Barbados. We’re outdoors so that we can smoke blunts together. Our feet are in the sand, we have drinks, and are actually just on a romantic date. I just want to wine and weed her.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.